smittie--Oh yes! I have been trying on field jacket type things and just haven't found the right one, yet. I'm still on the fence about a Chanel-type tweed jacket, but I do love tweed and corduroy. Good suggestions!

I've woken up and back to your post. I love those shoes of yours. Yes, very pretty and it is sad to not be wearing. I sprained my knee 2.5 weeks ago and am having physio, wearing all flat boots or sneakers while it is sore and feeling even further away from wearing my lovely higher boots I am on a roll with tracking and that alone seems to be stopping me buying more. No way would I get to cull 25 things a year though, I guess with a bigger wardrobe each individual item is worn less.

Yikes--mine gets worse! I just reviewed my orders from favorite shops online. I think I've added nearly 60 things over the last year. In the year before that, I probably added 30-40 My usual average is much lower, with binges of 4-8 items every year or two (or longer). But culling? What's that?

Fashiontern, haven't you been rebuilding your wardrobe after weight loss? That's a whole 'nother thing!

JenniNZ, for sure. Wearing through things faster is a disadvantage with a smaller wardrobe!

Fashiontern - I think change brings upon a need for increased shopping. Change of body, job, location - it is impossible to avoid.

Jenn and Sal, thanks for the support!

Jenn, how did you get that "collection" pic? Is it a screenshot from an app?

fashiontern -- it's a couple screenshots I cobbled together, because those items were in different categories. App actually looks like this. Very similar.

Thanks.

Jenn, sorry about your mum. Fashion definitely takes a back seat at times like that.

I'm following you with interest now as you're a step ahead of me. I haven't quite got as far as a replacement rate yet but I'll get there! I'd recommend tracking wears to anyone. It's helped me see what doesn't get worn and isn't likely to and made me realise i have jacket/coat gaps and that i should replace plain long sleeve tops with blouses and more interesting tops. It's a fascinating exercise (If you like that sort of thing!!!).

I'm approaching winter this year with a plan. I like your idea of conscious consumerism. I've kind of found my way to it through reading about organising, tidying, kon mari and minimalism. When I'm not here I'm hanging out on the internet looking at pictures of perfectly organised spaces!

You have inspired me to do an analysis of my own. I already track number of wears and cost cost per wear. I am interested in analyzing what has been donated versus purchases made in 2017. I will have to tease this info out of my spreadsheets, but it can be done. I think the result will shock me. That is exactly why I avoided this exercise in the past. Thank you for the inspiration.

Looking forward to reading that too Sterling.

Laura1975, did you notice my drawer full of tidily kon-mari'd tees? I am not above folding my socks into neat little packets, either.

Sterling, my app does cost per wear, but I've found myself paying less attention to it recently. I had to kind of extrapolate my replacement-rate info too. I still feel like I'm purchasing too much.

Well now you've done it. I read your post first thing this morning and was so inspired I trotted right over to ClosetSpace, where I've been entering my garments ever since. It's a slow process, and the user interface could be better, but I have about 40 items in their database so far.

This seems like an excellent way to answer questions like, how many garments do I actually own? How many dresses, how many pants, and what did I pay for them and when? Since almost all my wardrobe is new (I was living in pajamas and rags until recently), I'm in a position to get accurate cost per wear numbers.

And I haven't even tried the outfit-making feature yet.

Thanks so much, Jenn! I'm looking forward to posting my own numbers-heavy report.

I hope you enjoy it, Laura G! That first step of adding items is definitely a slog (FWIW, I find it easier on the phone app than through the web interface), but I think it's worth it once you're finallly set up.

How much more work is using the app than taking pictures and posting them here or to Pinterest?

I never would have thought I'd take pictures of everything in my closet, and if you would've told me I'd do it and post those pix in the internet, I would've laughed at you. But there I was yesterday, slogging through my dress shirts. The plan is to work through all my clothes to try to discern a recognizable style, and then make decisions about specific items based on that style. Based on feedback, I want to find a different way to do this. YLF has other strengths (Angie & the forum community) but it is difficult to flip back & forth between a couple of items on here, especially if they aren't posted sequentially (even if they are, you have to hit zoom each time you load a new one), and there's no way to get an overview of everything at once. Seeing as that's the point right now, I need a different tool. I want to use it for the next step, clicking through bajillions of images and voting up or down on each one, as well.

I don't think I'm interested in the economic/wear-tracking/ppw aspect (but you never know). What I need is something that lets you crop pictures in app, post in batches, and move between overviews of many pictures and individual images. I'm leaning towards Pinterest, because I'd really like the help of you super-visual people who can scan over dozens or hundred of images at once, make sense of them, and come up with themes.

How well does the app you use do this?

If you want me to move that comment to my own post, I will. Didn't mean to hijack yours here!

Fashiontern, I'm not sure ClosetSpace would work for your purposes. You might try using the Finds feature here, grouping custom Finds of your wardrobe items into collections.

@fashiontern, YLF has more functionality than you're using, in Finds. Finds aren't just for gathering items from other websites. You can also upload the pictures of your wardrobe items as custom finds (viewable only to you, unless you add them to a post). You can create collections of your finds, add notes to them, and use them to catalog your wardrobe. Look at Angie's finds and wardrobe collections as an example, and read up about custom finds (search her blog -- I'm sure there was a blog post when that feature was added). Now, back to Jenn's thread!

Ah! I did not know custom finds weren't viewable to others. Thanks for explaining it, Jenn and Liz. And yes, now back to the numbers.

Jenn, I'm just catching up on the Forum and have just read your post. Very interesting! I think my aesthetic is similar to yours, and I live in CO, too! So I completely get the no shorts thing. I don't own a pair and haven't for years. I don't see a lot of shorts here---I see mostly crops and gear. I suspect that's due to the variability in temp over the course of the day. Plus, if you're headed up into the mountains, you're going to need layers, even in the summer.....

Also, the size of my wardrobe is similar to yours. I wonder if that has to do with the fact that I wear a number of my clothing items all year long, adding and subtracting layers as needed. I have a few pieces for the month or so of hot, hot weather, and some for the month or so of really cold temperatures. That allows for a more limited wardrobe.

Thanks for sharing your numbers. That's an intriguing approach and one I'd like to consider!

Thank you for sharing your analysis with us! You and Sterling inspired me to haul my laptop over to my closets to do some inventorying. I'm also impressed by your very trim wardrobe... mine is quite a bit larger, but now that I followed your lead and broke things out by category, I have a better idea of where there's some bloat to work on.

Paula, I love hearing confirmation of my instincts from someone else living here in Colorado. We always tell visitors to dress in layers, but don't always think about the practical implications that has for wardrobe building. I firmly believe that the variation in temps in any given day here is why I have so many toppers. There are very few days in the year when I don't need one. I also think you might be onto something when you say that adding and subtracting layers year-round can, counterintuitively, mean a smaller wardrobe...fewer temperature-specific garments and more multifunctional pieces.

Srah, don't forget that different people have very different wardrobe needs! You may have bloat... or you may have a variety of needs better served by a larger selection. Either way, I'd love to see your results, if you find yourself willing to share.

I also track wears and make stats in August
What I find most useful is average wear per category.

I live in a 3 season climate - winter, transitional season, summer - the 3 wardrobes don't overlap.

Turnover this year was high : 1/3 of my wardrobe, because I went a size up and had to replace nearly all bottoms.

Average wears for jackets&coats, for transitional and winter bottoms, for wool pullovers, for transitional and winter shoes, are good : more than 20 wears/year.
For these categories, size of my wardrobe is good, and I roughly apply a one-in-one-out rule.

Average wear for tops is bad : 6 wears/year.
I started the year with 52 tops : too many. Now I have 36 : better sized.
My instinct when a new season starts is to "refresh" my tops, I have this feeling I've worn all my tops a plenty and I'm tired of them. In fact, they're barely worn!
I understand I need variety in my tops and will allow for that, but I don't need so much "refreshing" done I'll try to buy less tops in the future.

Average wear for summer clothes and shoes is low : less than 10 wears/ year. Summer is short, and I have 2 wardrobes for this short season : one for cold summer, one for warm summer. I really need both, so I'm not sizing down, but the numbers are a good reminder not to overbuy for this season.

Heavy shoes, shoes I instinctively reach for in foul weather, see more wear than refined shoes. Again a useful number to keep in mind when I shop, because I'm more attracted to refined shoes.

That's a really interesting metric, skylurker. I'm sure that my average wears for tops is comparatively low, as well, but probably lower for things like winter pullovers than summer tanks, as I layer with the latter, year-round.

Thanks for this post, Jenn--I love this kind of analysis! The proportions of items in my closet are fairly similar to yours.

I am still rebuilding, with 74 pieces in my main wardrobe the last time I counted. I imagine I might end up with a wardrobe of about 100 items feeling "right."

rachelthrives, thanks for reading! I think I'd feel better about my ~100 items if I could make that include accessories and outerwear. I don't know that I'd ever include gear, as I have several hobbies that require specialized apparel or jewelry, as I have inherited items, but I think I could do things like scarves and hats and winter coats. Maybe next year.

I have so many questions about this! I've read your two previous posts and I already know that I'm not covered for anything short of an apocalypse that results in staying indoors and laying on the couch (it could happen!). I'm really trying to build a wardrobe that doesn't result in me melting down in my closet every time I need to go somewhere, including work. I need items for dinners out with friends & husband, day to day business casual job, weekend errands, sporting event attire and husbands work event attire. Would you recommend my waiting until I've acquired basics to do this exercise or do you suggest jumping right in with my numbers now and building from there?

Boy oh boy, I have been there, Faith. Your needs are very similar to mine (I even have a little sporting event capsule with team items) except that my job is 95% casual work-at-home. That just means your balance will be slightly different.

One thing doing the numbers does for me is I can say, "Okay, I have 6 pairs of non-jean pants and 29 better-than-tee tops, so why can't I pull together an outfit for a business meeting (or gallery opening or night at the symphony)?" It helped me see what was missing. That might work for you, or you might do better to just put together some outfits and start from there.

I made a TON of mistakes building my wardrobe. Still make some, but fewer now, I think. It might just be inevitable.

Such a GREAT, GREAT post, Jenn. Thank you so much for writing it. I can't tell you how much I enjoy reading these types of posts. They inspire me. Best Wishes.