It's August again, which is when I like to look at my whoooole wardrobe and see how it's evolved over the course of a year, before making plans for how I want it to look in the months ahead. You might want a cup of coffee for this one because it's definitely not short.

Previous iterations of this post: 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016.

If you don't like numbers or are bothered by posts about wardrobe size, now's the time to click away or skip ahead to the photos. I track purchases, retirements, and wears religiously, because I'm interested in learning more about the durability and longevity of my garments and gaining insight into my own consumer habits. It's never a judgement on anyone else's choices. Ready?

Here's the current count:

Total Main Wardrobe: 84 items (97 with gear)

This is my entire wardrobe, except lingerie and sleepwear. The count includes shoes, bags, and scarves, but not jewelry or strictly functional cold weather accessories like gloves and beanies. I also have a small holding zone that currently has eight items in it.

Last year's total: 85 (97 with gear)

Wear levels (not including gear):

(For clarity, these numbers are over the life of the garment, not just over the past year)

More than 30 times: 52% of wardrobe, 44 items (last year: 44 items)

10-29 times: 32%, 27 items (last year: 28 items)

Less than 10 times: 16%, 13 items (last year: 13 items)

Takeaways:

This seems remarkably consistent to me, especially given the amount of churn in my wardrobe over the course of the year. Since last August, I added 16 items, so I’m replacing about 20% of my wardrobe per year. Put another way, that would mean I expect my items to last, on average, 5 years (in my closet, statements last longer, while essentials have shorter lifespans.)

Both my mean and median wear numbers are up, for the second year in a row. The median number of wears is 32 for items currently in my closet. It was 31 last year. The mean number of wears is 45. That was 40 last year. The mean was brought up by well-loved bags and a few stalwart essentials, but the median tells me that, in general, my wardrobe is now lasting well past the 30-wears mark. In fact, it turns out that 45 is also the mean wears for items I retired this year, as well! The median for those was 34.

Some thoughts on Cost Per Wear and Budget:

Skip to the next section if you’re triggered by financial details.

The average CPW of the pieces I retired over the past year was $2.28. Actual CPW ranged from $0.16 (a $12 tee worn 73 times) to $4.87 (a $185 sweater worn 38 times). Stick with me here, because I’m going to make some big assumptions and do a lot of math.

Assuming that...

a) this CPW is representative of where my clothing falls at the end of its life cycle, and

b) I wear 3.5 items a day on average (I wear a lot of dresses and my dominant season is summer),

that puts my cost to get dressed at $243/month ($2.28*3.5 items*365 days a year/12 months).

That number is somewhat higher than my actual clothing budget, which I think is due to a couple of factors. First, a lot of my lowest CPW items are workhorses that are still in my wardrobe (average CPW of items in my working wardrobe is currently $1.99). And second, this year’s retirees included a couple of high-CPW knitwear items that were retired for relocation/climate reasons rather than wear. I still think it’s a worthwhile exercise, because if I find myself constantly retiring mistakes at a high CPW, that has a long-term impact on my budget.

The Nitty Gritty (breakdowns by Category):

Dresses: 8 (last year: 6)

I count my jumpsuit in this category, as well, since it’s a one-and-done outfit. Like I said, I wear a lot of dresses.

Wear count on my dresses ranges from 2 to 97 (previously 4 - 70).

Outerwear: 4 (last year: 4)

The wear numbers here make me laugh. I really only wore coats/jackets about a dozen times in the past year. Thank SoCal and lockdown for that.

Wear counts range from 35 to 212 (previously 35 - 201).

Jeans: 3 (last year: 1)

I always have churn in this category, as I wear though my jeans on a regular basis. I actually had one pair of jeans go through its entire lifecycle, retiring with 100 wears, between last year’s report and this year’s. Right now, I have one pair of skinnies, one pair of wide legs, and some cutoff jean shorts I mostly wear at home.

Wear counts range from 21 to 60 (previously 47 - 47)

Pants: 2 (last year: 2)

Pretty sure this is the same two pairs.

Wear counts range from 65 to 99 (previously 35 - 79)

Skirts: 5 (last year: 7)

Last year, I said I expected my number of skirts to go down, and it did.

Wear counts range from 4 to 54 (previously 3 - 48)

Toppers: 7 (last year: 9)

I'm including any top layers that would be worn indoors in this category. I really struggle with this category, because they’re my favorite things to own but, honestly, not super practical here. I’m also a bit confused about my statistics, to be honest, because my least-worn topper (an oversized blazer) was definitely in my wardrobe last year. I think I just counted wrong.

Wear counts range from 7 to 52 (previously 10 - 84)

Tops: 23 (last year: 24)

I’ve been really careful about buying tops over the past year, less than one-in, one-out, but some are looking a bit worn, so it’s probably time to restock.

Wear counts range from 3 to 98 (previously 1 - 91)

Footwear: 11 (last year: 11)

A bit of one-in, one-out churn here, but honestly, I have space in my closet for another pair or two. A lot of my outfits are so simple that great footwear makes a huge difference in how pulled-together I feel.

Wear counts range from 7 to 157 (previously 7 - 104)

Accessories: 14 (last year: 15)

As I said above, this category includes scarves, belts, and hats, but not jewelry, I also don't count winter gear, like gloves and beanies, or masks, all of which are shared amongst the family. Bags are counted separately below.

Wear counts range from 3 to 54 (previously 3 - 54)

Handbags: 7 (last year: 6)

Last year I said “I expect some additions here to create a more functional capsule for city life” and I did add a mini backpack, which is already a workhorse. Once I can work in cafés again (they’re open, but I don’t feel comfortable indoors and unmasked yet), I might add a laptop-sized backpack as well.

Wear counts range from 24 to 455 (previously 24 - 397)

Gear: 13 (last year: 12)

Gear includes swimwear and clothing I only wear for exercise. Numbers haven’t changed much, but a bit of churn here.

Wear counts range from 8 to 86 (previously 12 - 78)

And that's all, folks! Congratulations and thank you, if you've managed to read this far. Your reward is a peek in the closet.

Photos:

#1 is all of my side of the closet. My out-of-season items are in the fabric zip-bags on the top right and hanging on the rack on the bottom left. I also use one of my shelves for extra sheets and blankets.

#2 Close up of tops, dresses, skirts

#3 Drawers with underwear, sleepwear, gear, and scarves

#4 Shoes