Anne, I have different needs in my life, but they're not as disparate as yours. You just need to do the calculation twice--once for work wear and once for casual and the numbers/expectations might be different for each segment.
I'm sure I could make my simple formula more complex, as well, if I took weather and differing needs into account. My wardrobe certainly doesn't wear evenly--individual dressy items are worn less, as are statements--but the abstraction works out to be close enough.
Staysfit - That was the takeaway for me too, that 20-30% should be plenty of variety, without going overboard.
Lesley, I have been able to increase my budget a bit recently, but instead of purchasing more items, I've been spending more per piece. I'm hoping the result will be more wears before something starts looking tatty, but the jury is still out on that. What I'm hoping is that some of those simple, but well-made pieces I've added recently end up living well beyond the 30-wear threshold.
La Pedestrienne - I don't have a lot of woven tops in my wardrobe, but I agree that the few I do have last longer. My Duluth flannel has 60+ wears and isn't going anywhere.
torontogirl - For sure, that "10x per year" number is both somewhat random and specific to what I want out of my wardrobe. I could see it being different for others (and, in fact, I would have different thresholds for bottoms and shoes.)
jussie - I will do the same with silk layering pieces and many of them have lasted well beyond the 30 wears. It's just a rule of thumb, and I try not to feel guilty about passing something on when I've worn it 30 times already and am just ready for something else, but I also don't pass something on just because it hit an arbitrary number of wears.
