One in one out question - YouLookFab Forum

Category

General

Welcome! Read about what to wear and how to wear it on the YLF Blog. Join the YLF Forum to ask specific questions or just chat about fashion and personal style. Or check out the curated list of things we love in YLF Finds.

Outfits Ensembles Trends Advice

One in one out question

annette

For those of you who do this, can we get a general idea about the quantity of each item? Now that I am using Stylebook I can easily see I have 19 summer skirts. I clearly need to edit, but would love to have a goal in mind. How many of each item, sweaters, blouses, tees, pants, jeans, etc is enough to keep it simple but still be able to get creative?

General

16 replies

Latest reply was from annette

lyn*

(website)

Veteran

Yay, Stylebook!

I think it depends on your lifestyle; most people will have more pants than me, for example, because I don't like em.

Anonymous

As Lyn said, it depends on your life style and your dominant season. Those who wear business casual to work will have more use for skirts than maybe a SAHM with toddlers. How many times a week do you wear skirts? How many times a summer season might you wear them? Can some be worn in colder months too? If you live in Texas, you can wear summer skirts longer than in Chicago. If you live in Chicago, you'll get more wear out of your sweaters and coats.
I like to go basic on pants, skirts and layering knits and get more playful with tops, jackets and accessories.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

I can answer that, for myself, I have roughly 15 of each item type. I bounce between two diverse climates - snowy mountains and hot beach - so I may have more than the average gal. I wear a uniform for work that includes jeans/pants, so I do not have a separate work capsule.
I have the most:
dresses - 20
jackets - 25 from the lightest of cotton short sleeve toppers to full length wool coats.

11 skirts
20 pants/jeans
10 shorts/capris
15 sweaters

55 tops:
16 tanks
15 short sleeves
14 long sleeves
10 layer tanks

Don't know how much that helps or not . . . I am aiming to get down to under 150 items once I move back to the mountains and only have 3 months of summer to deal with again

lyn*

(website)

Veteran

For myself, I can tell you I have...

Tops:
- 8 Tanks
- 11 T-shirts
- 10 Cardis

Bottoms:
- 4 Jeans/jeggings
- 17 Skirts ... (10 skirts; I'm returning a bag of them today)
- 1 Trouser
- 1 Leggings

Shoes:
- 7 Boots
- 1 Sandal
- 3 Flats/Runners
- 4 Heels

Dresses:
- 8 Founcy
- 2 Straight
- 8 Patterned

Bags:
- 3 Cross Body
- 2 Messenger
- 3 Totes/Shopping Bags

Accessories:
- 4 Leggings
- 6 Scarves
- 27 Belts
- 18 Necklaces
- 10 Bracelets/Sets
- 15 Earrings
- 2 Rings

Outerwear:
- 3 Coats
- 8 Jackets/Blazers
- 3 Vests
- 7 Accessories

Kate

Veteran

It definitely depends on the person, but here's what I have (and what I think I should have, as applicable):

pants: 3
jeans: 3 (I only need 2)
leggings: 3
shorts: 2 (I'm playing with the idea of 3)
skirts: 10 (I only need 7)
dresses: 14 (I could to just fine with 8-10)
long sleeved tops: 6
short sleeved tops: 14 (I only need 12)
tank tops: 10
blazers: 7
cardigans: 11 (I could to just fine with 7-9)

I certainly don't have the smallest wardrobe of anyone here, but I think it's on the smaller side for YLF members. I also live in AZ, so I have more dresses and skirts than I would if I lived in a colder climate. I hope this helps!

Refugee

Veteran

This is so different for everyone. I found The Lucky Shopping Manual to be very helpful in establishing wardrobe guidelines. It helped me consider what was appropriate for my lifestyle, climate and body shape. I used it from the other end. That of building a wardrobe but I think it could be helpful in paring down your wardrobe as well.

devon7

(website)

Wow, I can see that I really do have too many clothes! I will have to count and report back, but I know that I have close to 100 tops (short-sleeved, long-sleeved, tanks). I have probably 20 skirts and maybe 15 pairs of pants (those are hardest for me to find, along with dresses). I have about 10 dresses, I think, but would LOVE to have more. I am hard to fit for dresses due to my height (5'10").

I have LOTS of jackets, cardigans, and coats. Although I live in San Diego, I am near the coast (much cooler here) and get cold easily. I wore a coat with a long-sleeved shirt to an outdoor concert tonight and still needed a blanket - LOL. It really doesn't get very warm here, but it doesn't get too cold, either.

I know I need to pare down my wardrobe, but it is a big challenge for me. In my defense, I have about half as many clothes as I had a year ago, so I am making SOME progress. I have a tendency to shop too much (in "binges," so to speak) and that gets my wardrobe numbers up a lot. I buy lots of tops (mostly tanks and short-sleeved) because I am easier to fit on top than on bottom (partly height and partly hips - I think they are big, but I think it's more that they are normal and I am quite thin elsewhere).

I am actually going to count my items, but I have to admit that I am scared to see the numbers! But awareness is the first step to change, right? I

lyn*

(website)

Veteran

Whoa; I have more necklaces than skirts :p

Saretta

(website)

Interesting to count how many items you own. I'm afraid to try, I might not know how to count that high! Will have to check out this Stylebook!

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Saretta, the idea of counting scares me a little too, even though I did another mini-purge yesterday while starting to pack for my trip. Lots of boring tees went away!

I am curious though...

modgrl

(website)

Veteran

Depends on your lifestyle and your needs... I have 3 separate capsules. Skirts that I would wear to work are not going to be worn on the weekends for errands or on date night. So for me, 16 skirts sounds like a lot but it might be just right... that could be 10 work skirts, 3 MOTG and 3 dressy... just right in my world. Are you wearing all your 16 skirts, which ones for which capsules in your life, and are there any orphans, fit, wear or style problems?

Queen Mum

Veteran

without getting up to go count, I'm pretty sure these are my numbers

dresses... 18 (this doesn't count a couple special occasion dresses)
jeans... 6 nice, 5 play, 1 too small that I am determined to get into this winter
shorts..3
skirt... 1
tanks/camisoles... 10
sleeveless/ss blouses... 12 (includes a few for just schlepping around)
long sleeve layering tees... maybe 5
3/4 or long sleeve blouses... 6
pull over sweaters... 5
cardigans... 5/6
jackets... 7/8

summer shoes... 8 (my allowance is 10)
winter shoes... 8 (again, with an allowance of 10)

I like to have enough clothes to give me about 3 weeks worth of dressing without repeating the main part of the outfit (like the dress or blouse) So this means that for the summer, I have about 10 dresses and 10 summer weight blouses to work with.

Also, since you didn't ask (LOL) my goal is to replace 1/3 of my wardrobe annually... thus keeping most clothing items an average of 3 years. Kindof like congress Shoes need to have a closet life of 5 years. This means that I would purchase roughly 2-3 of each type of item each season, with an allowance of buying a few disposables each season (casual knit tops and knit summer dresses, etc)

Queen Mum

Veteran

lyn... I have more necklaces than any other item in my closet. I'm sure I have at least 30.

modgrl

(website)

Veteran

@Kim, what a great clothing shopping strategy. I've had some clothes hanging around for years and years on. I need to be a better editor!

Isabel

Veteran

QM - I really like your strategy too. You had mentioned it once before. I am editing now as we move into Fall and I have been keeping it in the back of my mind.

annette

These ideas are all very helpful! I want to pare down my wardrobe so everything left is fabulous. Then I love the one-in-one-out rule because it will really make me think before a purchase. Like many women, I tend to buy because something is so cute or such a great sale, but I don't really think too much beyond that. This led me to buy several very cute summer skirts, all of which go with one top and make exactly one outfit. I hope to avoid that in my fall shopping. I am having trouble editing those skirts out because I just bought them!
Stylebook is great because you can download a picture of an item and try it out with your current pieces. I did that and found that a Magenta skirt makes over 25 outfits in my closet! I would never have guessed. And the same skirt in navy was a total snooze.
N