Yay August!I like to check in on my closet every year around my birthday and the start of school in mid-August. Doing this a little early this year, because I'm about to split my wardrobe for the move. We have several weeks' transition time coming up, during which most of my clothes will be with the moving company, and I'll be living from a suitcase-sized capsule wardrobe.

Previous iterations of this post: 2018 here. 2017 here. 2016 here.

This time last year, I already knew about the upcoming move, so every purchase and retirement over the past 12 months has been made with that in mind. The winter LOWS in SoCal are, on average, roughly equivalent to the winter HIGHS in this part of Colorado, but Colorado has occasionally frigid temperatures that, of course, LA never sees. Summers are more or less equivalent in the two locations, with hot days and cool nights, but SoCal summers are extended by about a month on each end.

This is my entire wardrobe, except lingerie and sleepwear. If you don't like numbers or are bothered by posts about  wardrobe size, now's the time to look 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.

Here's the count:

Total Main Wardrobe: 95 items (111 with gear)
Last year: 97 (114 with gear)

Looking at wear levels:

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

More than 25 times: 56 (last year: 42 items)
5-24 times: 49 (last year: 62 items)
Less than 5 times: 6 items (last year: 10 items)

Here's the big takeaway:

For the first time, more of my clothes are in the 25+ category than not! In fact, 25 is the median number of wears for items currently in my closet. The average number of wears is 35, which points to a few major workhorses.  This makes me so happy! I'm not always batting home runs, but I'm doing better every year. My churn is getting lower, my clothes are getting worn more, and I'm still having fun and enjoying my wardrobe.

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Breaking that down by category:

Dresses: 11
--Last year: 7 Dresses became my summer uniform over the past year, and I wear one almost every day in the warm weather. I've added more in anticipation of a longer wearing season in my new climate. Wear count on my dresses ranges from 2 (a special occasion dress) to 41 (my favorite summer maxi).

Outerwear: 3
--Last year:  3  

No churn, no changes. Wear counts range from 33 to 178.

Jeans: 2

--Last year: 3  

I always have churn in this category, as I wear though my  jeans on a regular basis. Wear counts range from 19 to 53. 

Pants: 3
--Last year: 4  

Last year, I noted that my pants count was low, and this year it's...lower. Blame the dresses, I guess. Wear counts range from 21 to 38. 

Skirts: 6
--Last year: 7 

Last year, I said I suspected I'd added one too many skirts, and I was right. Wear counts range from 4 to 34.

Toppers: 12
--Last year: 14  I'm including any top layers that would be worn indoors in this category, everything from silk kimonos to blazers to cardigans. Wear counts range from 5 to 61.

Tops: 23
--Last year: 28 

I used to find shopping for tops to be quite simple, but since I stopped buying polyester, it's becoming both more difficult and more expensive. Wear counts range from 6 to 79.

Shoes: 14
--Last year: 12  

Last year, I wrote that I might need to add a few more summer shoes in anticipation of the move, while still keeping my winter boots in reserve. That's exactly what I did, and I might not be done yet. Wear counts range from 7 to 128.

Accessories: 15
--Last year:12 

This includes scarves, belts, and hats, but not jewelry, or winter gear like gloves and beanies (which are shared amongst the family). Bags are counted separately below. This is one of the hardest categories for me to rein in, and many of my accessories haven't been worn as much as I would like. Wear counts range from 1 to 53.

Handbags: 6
--Last year: 7

Not a lot to comment on. Wear counts range from 17 to 281. 

Gear: 16
--Last year: 17

I haven't cut back as much as I'd hoped here, but I've made some one-in, one-out updates.  Wear counts range from 8 to 113. 

THANK YOU, if you've managed to read this far. I know the numbers thing isn't for everyone, but it is useful to me, so I hope some of you will find it interesting. On to the closet photos! My items are gloriously spread out this year, as all of my husband's clothes are already in California.