Revisiting the 'how many pairs of jeans' question - YouLookFab Forum

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Revisiting the 'how many pairs of jeans' question

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

I know we've discussed this before, but I am thinking again about the eternal question of how many pairs of jeans is enough, maybe because my jeans drawer is currently overflowing. For those of you that pretty much live in jeans, like me, how many pairs do you own? I just counted and I have 13 pair that currently fit me - and that's just the denim, not counting the winter cords that are hung with my dress pants, or the cropped and white jeans that are packed up with my summer things. No two pairs are alike - each differs in wash or cut from the others.

On a regular week I wear jeans at least 4 days a week, sometimes all 7. Probably an average week would be 5 days in jeans. So I've got 2 and a half weeks worth of jeans without repeating. That seems like a lot, maybe too much, but then I only wear certain pairs with certain tops, and then there's the shoe factor - some work with flats, some with boots, and a couple with heels.

Dressing

53 replies

Latest reply was from Catnip

Eternity

I wear denim all the time also - as a student it is the most practical option right now. I own seven pairs right now, including two pairs of capris. I'm on the lookout for a new pair of skinny jeans and a new pair of flair jeans so once I acquire them I'll have nine. I don't think nine or thirteen is a lot - it really depends on your needs. I don't wear skirts or dresses often - about once a week.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

I have maybe 5 pair of blue denim jeans and the rest are colors or cords, etc. I have a dozen pair I'd say, not including 4 pair of trousers/pants. Since I often wear jeans 2 and 3 times before washing them (unless worn to work in the bar) I don't need more than this for laundry reasons. The blue are BF, bootcut, straight leg, distressed, and skinny; so each a different silhouette or style.
I used to have a dozen just blue jeans, in addition to the colors and cords, but purged the so-so ones last year. So glad I did.

dustt

Veteran

not much of a denim girl so I have a measly 3 pair - one boyfriend(faded), one skinny, one dark wash bootcut to wear with heels. oh and one white pair packed away for the winter - so I guess technically that's 4!!

minimalist

Veteran

Three. That's all the pants I have at the moment, so yes, I live in them.
- Second Yoga bootcut jeans, in black
- Levi's bootcut jeans
- Joe's curvy bootcut jeans

I'd rather have just one pair of jeans and swap out the other two for decent pants, but that might be too few jeans. I'm also on the lookout for thick white jeans, but for whatever reason don't think of them as jeans that count for these numbers.

RunswithDolphins

4 pair right now - dark straight leg, black skinny, faded straight and white skinny. That's enough for me.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

At the moment I have 7 pair altogether, and I live in jeans. It's not really enough, particularly since two are super skinny jeans that these days, I really only like to wear tucked into boots. Which means, realistically, that they don't get worn very often. Of the others, one is a BF, one is a distressed slouchy skinny, one is a white skinny, one is a bootcut, and the last one is a slightly slouchy dark wash skinny.

Isabel

Veteran

Coincidentally, I culled my jeans yesterday. I felt overwhelmed by them. I wear jeans, in the Winter , about 90% of the time. I want to wear my 3ponte pants more, so I kept one skinny, light color ankle jeans to wear with boots and booties; one pair super straight dark wash for everything including heels, winter shoes with a heel and to wear with tunics ; a baby bootleg to wear with flats or sneakers. I am hoping this works for me. I culled from 10 pairs. These were the ones that I wear the most and work with all my tops.

Marmee

Veteran

As a MOTG, I wear jeans pretty much every day. I have 22 pairs, including colored, but not including cords. Three are faded, lighter weight jeans for summer. They are all from the last three or four years, in two sizes. I still wear the bigger jeans because I kind of like the slouchy style.

Included in this figure are three new jeans, all from a brand that's new to me, Kut from the Kloth. I almost didn't try them on, because of the silly spelling, but the SA thought they would fit me well (and they weren't even in her department!)

ETA: I was so horrified after my count that my brain sort of shut down. I know that most of the time I wear a fraction of those jeans. It might be time for me to do a bit of editing, or at least take note of the jeans I wear, and those I don't wear, and try to figure out why.

carambola

Veteran

Ok, taking mental inventory by category:
7 skinnies - white, grey, burgundy, brocade, black, dark blue, distressed blue
3 straights - white, 2 blue
1 BF, 1 trouser, 2 bootcuts

So 14 total. Seems like too much considering I only wear jeans 2-3 days a week, but I do wear them all except for the bootcuts. Those have been languishing in a drawer for years because they require 4" heels, which I don't wear anymore. Must either hem or purge.

Refugee

Veteran

To me the how many is not as important as the question of do you wear them all. Are there pairs that you regularly pass over? Even though you see them all as different, are there certain pairs that you often find yourself debating as to which pair to wear with a particular outfit? If either of these things is true, you may have some that could go.

Lyn D.

Veteran

Let's see:
7 full-length, 1BF, 2 7/8 length, 1 flocked, 1 waxed plus 2 'jeggings'.
That's 14 I can think of excluding 3 long denim shorts.
I only have one skirt and 8 or 9 dresses though.

Makrame

Veteran

9 pairs for me. 2 pairs of skinnies - haven't worn them in a while but now that it is getting colder and there is some snow on the ground, they came out to be worn with boots. 1 pair of boyfriend jeans. 1 pair of nice dark boot cuts. 3 identical pairs of GAP real straights - one was hemmed for flats but is now getting too short, one is long to wear with heels, one will be hemmed for flats soon. 2 pairs of colored jeans. All of these get worn a lot, except for the colored jeans - for some reason I am not wearing them as much this year.

unfrumped

Veteran

What Refugee said.

I think it's important to align clothing storage space with what you have so things aren't jumbled and frustrating.
If you wear and love them all, find good space for them. If you tend toward jeans-creep or hoarding, just work on a regular culling/ updating plan- maybe 10-12 paid and one in, one out.
I wear dress pants of some kind most days, and I have more than 13 pairs for sure, when I include some for August vs. January temps.

Still, I'm enjoying all the closet edit and clothing count posts because I have the sense that, if I get more critical and only buy and keep the BEST trousers, rather than sometimes settling for " good enough" , I will need fewer total and will enjoy repeating more.

So that kind of goal can work with your jeans, and not to worry about numbers per se.

Sveta

(website)

Veteran

I don't wear jeans that much lately. I have 3 dark wash Paige pairs : bootcuts, flares and straight. I also have 2 pairs of KUT BF jeans - light wash I wear all year round because they are long enough and white pair for warm weather only because they are not full length and I wear them rolled up only.
What I really want and would wear all the time year round is white straight jeans but - alas - I cannot find them long enough and with good fit for over 3 years now!

Susie

Veteran

I wear jeans 2-3 days a week though usually only once during the work week. I don't count white or black jeans as jeans because I wear them as "pants" and have them hanging with my pants. So for regular denim jeans I currently have about 10 pairs. I do tend to favor just 4-5 of them so I may be purging a few.

Anonymous

Yikes! I counted 15 pair of jeans total, although only a fraction of these are out for a season. They are a variety of lengths, weights, colors and styles. I wear jeans at least part of nearly every day. Some take the place of gear for exercise, a couple pair are for yard work. A difference of only 2 or 3 pounds puts me into a different size, so some accommodate the low or high end of weight fluctuation. At the moment I'm not ready to edit any out as they are all different and serve a purpose.

Caro in Oz

Veteran

I have 5 pairs - straight legs in black, dark denim & a med blue, white that are a lighter weight so good for warmer weather & light blue boyfriends. I wear them 2 to 3 times a week for 9 months of the year. I'd like a more winter weight white pair & a pair of trouser jeans for evening (with heels) but haven't found the ones I want yet.

peacechick

Veteran

I recently did a purge and now have 10 pairs: 2 boot-cuts, 5 skinnies in white, purple and shades of blue (low, mid rise), 2 pairs of jeggings (low & high-waisted). The last pair is a pair of too small straights that I'm keeping in case I lose more weight.

What I purged: 2 pairs of maternity jeans, 2 pairs of jeggings

I don't need any more jeans but may be susceptible to adding a pair of BF jeans or the right printed jeans but only if there's a sale and I like how they look. I only wear jeans in winter anyway, and cords not at all these days as I find them too warm for other seasons.

WingGirl

I have 8 pairs but wear only 2-3 regularly. Sadly, my favs are wearing out...

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

Oh good, I'm not the only one with 10+ pairs. I realized after I posted the topic that I had forgotten to count the two pair that are in the back of my car that are waiting to be taken to the tailor to get hemmed, because I finally admitted that I'd wear them more if they could be worn with more than my highest heels. Well, they're not wearable right now, so they don't count!

13 is tight in my dresser drawer - probably 10 would be a good count as far as the space I have available. But it's not often that all my jeans are clean and put up at the same time. Tomorrow I'll have to make a list of all the shapes and sizes, see if there's any overlap.

Irene

Veteran

I have too many but I only wear six of them comfortably:

Black
Dark wash
Medium wash (but these are too big right now)
Light wash (bought them yesterday, it's the exact same style as the other three but in my current size)

And then I have the same pair of colored skinnies from H&M in light grey, dark green and maroon.

All of them are skinnies because I like tucking into boots in winter and I don't have to shorten them for a specific pair of shoes.

CocoLion

(website)

Veteran

Great question! I love any and all topics "denim."

I have one of those plastic storage bins you get at Wal*Mart. Are they called totes? They must have 12-15 pairs in them. Then there are usually some in the wash, and a few "dress" pairs like coated denim, my R13 Crossover pants (technically denim too), 2 colored pairs and one printed paisley pair (these last 4 are hanging). I easily have 20 pairs, it could even be 25. I do not think I have too many. I wear denim every day. For leisure, for smart casual dress occasions, and for work. I need a completely clean outfit every day (including bra) for restaurant work. So my jeans get a lot of wash and wear. And they all get worn. If they do not get worn, I get rid of them and if they are premium denim I can sell them on eBay for $20-60.

I have both premium and cheap denim. I have started to wear more cheap denim at work (I've tried a pair from each Old Navy, Target and Kohl's).* They fade/stretch more quickly than the premium denim. My True Religion jeans are by far the most rugged ones and they still look brand new.But I am more hesitant to wear these at work now because customers know me as the server who wears Trues... What's too bad is that these really are the most durable for my line of work. But I fear customers will view me as vain or self-indulgent rather than if I wear a jean with no logo or recognizable pockets (gotta love Current/Elliot or J Brand for that reason).

I also have a half size plastic tote with summer denim -- shorts and one pair of cropped boyfriend jeans. So my 20-25 pair estimate doesn't even include off season denim.

*(Unscientific cheap jeans review: So far Target wins for best design but Kohl's pair are more comfortable -- I've yet to wear the Old Navy pair, as I just acquired them.)

Greyscale

Veteran

I wear jeans most days. I have 9 pairs, not counting things already in the donate pile. But two of those have serious fit problems and will join the donate pile I swear, and two others are really not great, leaving five... And right now I mostly wear just two of them (my AG boyfriend jeans and my R13 slouch jeans, both thrifted). No wonder I feel like I need new jeans. Though, getting a few others hemmed will probably push them into the daily wear category.

froggiebecky

Veteran

I tend to live in jeans as well. I have 2 pair (yes, you read that right). I need more.

That being said, I tend to fall into a jeans rut. So I'm trying to buy "things that are not jeans".

(Yes, I do a lot of laundry)

Anonymous

I have six pair:

One black straight (a little tight and I don't feel fabulous in them; I think it is their "faded" look that turns me off)
One grey straight (fit great and I do feel fabulous in them)
One medium blue BF (only worn when I am running errands and don't care how I look)
One Michael Kors red (love, love, love, love)
Two white jeans (in storage for the winter)

I wanted to add that I agree with Refugee and Unfrumped. I think the number is more dependent on your needs. Life style, weather, etc. These factors could require a greater number of jeans than other items in your wardrobe.

jen

I wear denim jeans everyday. I have

1 grey skinnies
1 mid blue skinnies
1 ink jeggings
that is it!

Grey Rainbow

I have
2 pairs Paige HH bootcut, same dark wash, in 2 sizes, full length (for 3" heels)
2 pairs Paige HH bootcut, same dark wash, in 2 sizes (hemmed for 2" heels)
2 pairs Paige montecito (lower rise, wider flare), in 2 sizes, full length
2 pairs Paige HH bootcut, in 2 different faded washes, for more casual look
1 pair COH wide leg trouser jeans
3 pairs Vince wide leg trouser jeans, in 3 different sizes. One hemmed for low heels. The largest size needs to be culled (hooray!).
2 pairs Eileen Fisher lightweight organic denim straight ankle jeans for summer. I should let these go; I never reached for them this summer.
A plastic storage tote filled with old cords and denim that are waiting to be culled (Gap, Jag mostly, things that bag and sag so much I dislike wearing them).
Work dress code excludes denim. The wide leg trouser jeans escape this ban, and I wear a pair every week in Winter. As for the rest... I don't wear jeans every weekend. I think I have too many pairs, and haven't shopped for denim for 2 years. These have been amassed over time and all bought on deep discount.
ETA that's 9 pairs that I'm wearing with any regularity, and 14 total (excluding the bin). Trouser jeans hang in my tiny closet with dress pants, the rest are folded in on jeans drawer. Which has no space for more.

Diana

Veteran

I have a pretty big jeans collection, but they are a big part of my style and I wear them probably at least 4 times a week.

boot/flare:

-dark blue Joe's bootcuts, hemmed for heels

-2 pairs medium blue Lucky Sweet n Low bootcuts -NOTE: these are actually identical. My old 5+ year old pair is dying, so I snapped up the identical make and model when they appeared as deadstock on bay. At some point in the near future (sniff) the old pair is going to fall apart so the number will drop by one.

BF:

-medium/dark blue GAP SBF jeans - worn rolled only as too short for full length

-faded blue distressed long 100% cotton GAP SBFs - ankle or full length

-light blue distressed current/elliott BF crops

straight:

-inky black Red Engine straight legs

-medium blue holey 100% cotton MEK straight legs

slim/skinny:

-dark blue KUT slim straights

-faded black KUT slim straights

-teal pattern Liberty x Paige skinnies

-medium/light blue Vince skinnies

-(not sure if keeping yet) medium/dark blue Vince welt pocket skinnies

-Anthro mustard crops (a little big and tends to bag out)

-dark blue Radcliffe crops

jeggings:

-grey COH jeggings

(NOT technically jeans as not made of denim, but they are cut like jeans and I wear them like jeans):

-dark blue Wit and Wisdom brocade skinnies

-black watch plaid flannel Joe's skinnies

So, 16 true jeans (if you count the duplicate and the one I'm not sure I'm keeping, 18 if you count the ones that are not technically denim. You'll note that I have no white denim, no bright colored denim, and no trouser jeans. I'm not planning on adding any of those categories as they all don't appeal to me in one way or another. I prefer my jeans to be blue or black, although I like a good patterned pair too. NONE of these are orphans, although of course there are some warmer weather only pairs, and I haven't yet worn the new Vince ones that I'm debating about.

I should also add that I have 2 more pairs (same style in different sizes) on their way, but those would be a direct replacement for the lighter Vince skinnies, which are my favorites but are starting to disintegrate.

Anonymous

6 pair- all new these past few months. My old jeans are gone (too baggy or too short).
I have:
2 pair Talbots straight
2 pair Loft skinny dark wash
2 pair Loft skinny inky wash
(I double up on ones I like)
I wear jeans every day so these are in heavy rotation. I have had a very hard time with waist fit, length, etc so am thrilled that these 6 finally worked out!

I have yet to ever buy or even try on premium denim. I'm kind of short and hate altering 6 inches off the bottom and sometimes the fade patterns etc then are "off" (though my Loft jeans are regular not petite!)

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