Potential days per wear calculations-the scientific formula :)

If you saw my potential days note re: white denim, you may be wondering how I got those numbers! Or- maybe you have your own way, if so, share

5-6 days a week I work, biz casual. Jeans are not part of the dress code-but wouldn't be my first choice.
Saturdays are casual, but still prefer smart casual in every instance. Sundays is my at home chores reset day, I don't go out.
Any day I'm working is a potential gym day, so 5-6 days a week, year round.
I'm a lady of childbearing age, so dark bottoms are essential a week of the month.
6 months, May-October, it's warm enough for skirts with bare legs, sandals, sleeveless-and can do for work. A good deal of the time is in the high 80s to 90s and very humid. I dress for the weather outdoors, but bring a comfy topper for potential ac.

6 months of pants or skirts with tights.
April and November are transitional, usually rainy, so feel colder. Need a coat of some sort, usually a warm one. Lightweight outdoor only toppers, with the exception of raincoats, are unneeded.
So- a calculation example would be shorts (dark):
6 potential months, x4 Saturdays per month-24 possible days per year!

Anyone else do similar?

7 years ago

smittie

Veteran

I have done a similar thing, yes! And it sort of helped me. I'll explain:
In the back of my head, I always felt like I didn't have enough summer weekend wear. I couldn't figure it out because we only have 3 months of summer x ~4 weekends per month x 2 days per weekend = 24 weekend days of summer. You don't need much for 24 weekend days, so I was confused as to why I was always feeling like I didn't have enough.

But then I realized that I take a lot of vacation in the summertime, often around 3 weeks, so that's 3 weeks x 7 days = 21 extra days of weekend in the summer.

Then there are few hot days in May and September that are kind of like summer days, so that adds a few days.

All in all, there are about ~50 days where I need summer weekend wear.

So, 2 pairs of shorts and 2 tshirts is not going to cut it.

So armed with this info, I added some more things. Everything I added was either a t-shirt, tank top, or solid-feeling pair shorts. Very utilitarian. I tried adding a few spicy things to the mix, but interesting things = complicated, and I have found anything complicated doesn't work very well for me.

Anonymous

Yay! I think it helps with making sure of having enough-and seeing what is overrepresented.

cjh

(website)

Yes, I’ve done that sort of calculation many times. Usually it helps to avoid overload in a particular category such as seasonal transition times. When it gets to this time of year and my winter things feel too dark, heavy or warm, I am tempted by lighter fabrics, 3/4 sleeve, pastel colors, etc. but in reality, those are only needed for about three weeks before true warm-hot weather clothes are required. So I can be satisfied with the 4 tops I have that for the category.

I just tell myself it’s okay to go back to the winter items on the cold days, unlayer when I need to, and more or less gut out the transition weather. In past years when I’ve purchased what I’ve believed to be needed, it goes to waste and out of style before getting enough wears to justify the time and expense of shopping.

anchie

suntiger - I have almost the same pattern for wearing the white jeans. I have 5 pairs - all different - skinny, flared, straight, cropped and wide cropped - and I manage to wear each pair about 5 times per year. It takes almost 5 years to get enough wear to replace them.

DonnaF

I find that vacations, days, or trips outside my home micro-climate really skews my clothing needs. At least that’s my excuse for having so much warm and hot weather clothing!

Some things just feel right in context don't they! On a vacation or a couple weeks of the year- when the normal clothes feel wrong. Then the other 11 months or so they sit in the drawer and laugh at you for buying such a one off :p

Sal

Absolutely! Good calcs. It does keep things in perspective when we want to keep shopping. I can overbuy true winter or tee summer pieces when in reality I need mid weight transitional items.

Gear is by far the hardest working in my closet - i wear it six days a week and the favourites are worn at least once a week, usually twice. The running shoes get at least five wears a week. My favourite heels get two- three wears a year (have three pairs). I do not need more heels but I should not skimp on running shoes.

Jenn

This is a great way to put things into perspective. I also think about it in terms of my overall wardrobe size and the number of days in a year. If I have 30 tops, all things being even, I'm only going to be wearing each of them a bit more than once a month.

Of course I'm not discounting CPW- for those important things like the running shoes, or JPW (joy per wear) either
Just more of a way to keep good proportions!
Hopefully all-or at least most of our wardrobes- relate to our real needs and spark lots of joy

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