I edited my comment, Taylor. High fiving, you!

That's really not fair. How can I help what my specs cost? Even before the frames they were over $300. And a cell phone, I'm sorry, is not part of an outfit.

Also, in winter I'm bound to be more expensively clad than someone in Florida in June...

hehe Angie and Taylor you pair make me laugh!!

Its certainly interesting when you add in all of those extras... I always have my prescription sunnies and my specs on my person - so adding those 2 pairs, plus everything else, I'd probably go close too... But, I hardly see them as an option - without them I can't see and wouldn't get very far out side my house!

If we just talk clothes, underwear, shoes, accessories and handbag itself, no way - probably not even half... but as soon as you add bag contents and specs - totally different story.

Haaa, Angie
I don't get the phone being an accessory , part of an outfit..hu?

Mochaccino, thank you for the input I would be very curious to know the mode figure from the survey. I would also like to know how they identified 3000 'typical' women. what makes a woman typical?

This study really opened my eyes as to how the little additions to your outfit really add up.

(and as a side note speaking with my financial adviser cap on, those with expensive handbags/ accessories may want to check there buildings and contents insurance for personal possessions cover. This covers the items you wear outside of the home and usually does not add to your monthly premium (lecture over))

ok.. let's see..

dress massimo dutti 19.95€ sales
massimo dutti necklace 19€
leather shoes 70€ sales
leather bag 60€, last year sales
cell phone, 0€, offered by the company to my hubby and he gave it to me!

about 169€ ... yay!

Well, being in the throes of a summer heatwave, I'm dressed MUCH less expensively than in other seasons. Today: no jewellery, target dress: $24, chantelle bra: about $70, undies: $10, shoes: $60, purse: about $180, watch: $80, sunnies: $120. Too lazy to add it up exactly but a bit over $500. But in other seasons, I'd definitely be wearing a more expensive outfit.

Without my wedding and engagement rings today's outfit would be:

Watch - £5 (ASOS)
Top - free (gift from my mother, but given the label I would think it would be £80)
Trousers - £25 (Gap)
Shoes - £5 (from ebay)
Underwear - £20 from H&M
Necklace - £300 (but also a gift)
Bag - £5 (Ted Baker bought from ebay)

My mobile phone was free with contract and my wallet was a Christmas gift too.

and to reassure Julie, my engagement ring is separately listed on our insurance.

I also keep receipts for my clothes (scan them into computer) so that if I ever lose my luggage and have to file a travel insurance claim I can prove how much things costs.

Also, with items of value, there may be a clause that says you have to have them re-valued every so often (mine is every 3 years).

This has been a fascinating thread. My first thought was no way could most of us be wearing that much! but it so easily adds up x

ohh.. I forgot the engagement ring and undies.. but ladies .. I do wear undies!

Let's see.

I got my handbag for free, courtesy of Budget Babe (worth $70 I think)
jacket, $35 is what I paid but it's definitely worth more.
top, $12
skirt, don't remember...probably around $50
shoes, $57
phone, free courtesy of my brother. I dint remember the cost. $250?
bra, around $45
undies, $7
watch, only Angie knows since I got it from her

I'm not doing the contents of my bag because that is ridiculous.

Wow, it's scary how fast these things add up. I can't see adding a cell phone to the cost. Nor my engagement ring. I shudder to do the math on myself.

about the ylf running poll...this is a cross-sectional study of fashion savvy and websand web-savvy women who recognize a good value (not necessarily the cheapest). plus our aussie participants and seattle-ites not withstanding, the preponderance of women are currently experiencing high summer. i'd say there was extreme selection bias.

there's also a definition issue...do wedding/engagement rings constitute jewelry? do "non-fashion" or signature items (that you do not swap out regardless of the outfit constitute part of the outfit.

i can see excluding a cellphone and the contents of one's handbag. who hangs a cell phone on their person and calls it an accessory? but i think all jewelry should be included., even engagement rings. i'm curious why those of you who did, excluded engagement/wedding rings?

I think it makes sense to include rings and cell phones. The point isn't exactly "what's the cost of your outfit?" but "what's the cost of everything you are carrying?" It does add up. Cell phones and jewelry are expensive.

I have to come back to read the article but I read the comments.
Hmmm. I think I am well below and I don't know why. I guess I'm cheap!

Sunglasses $4 from Forever 21 (I buy a lot of inexpensive sunglasses to wear when I'm with my children b/c inevitably they fall down, get stepped on, grabbed, so on)
Purse $30 Nine West from TJ Maxx
Dress $18 from Target
Sandals $59 Clarks on sale
Cell phone $29 Target 'go phone'
Lingerie $15 total
Earrings $14 Banana Republic

Without my wedding ring that is about $172, which I think puts me way below average.

Even when I am wearing higher end brands BCBG or Banana Republic, it's usually been purchased on sale or clearance, so I wonder if I should count what *I* paid for something or what the original pricetag was?

okay, Medusa is right.. the study wasn't primarily a "fashion" study but a "what is a woman worth" study...
so yes, if someone wanted to kidnap me for all my possessions, my rings would actually be the most valuable things on my person....
not to mention the fact that just because we paid $150 for that pair of jean, doesn't mean they are still worth that much. And my underwear certainly doesn't have any monetary value after I've worn it.
so, it is fun to think through, but the study does have some flaws

I totally agree that the point of the exercise is about what you walk out with in it's entirety -so that includes EVERYTHING - specs, all jewelry, watch, bag, handbag contents - plus wardrobe items.

My watch, bag, ring, cell phone, pearl necklace and specs alone puts we well into the thousands already - sans the clothes and shoes. This was a thought provoking exercise, Julie. And feel free to lecture us at any time

If they count jewelry Im way over with my engagement/wedding ring set. If not, Im way under!

Interesting thread! Is it a bad thing that what we wear totals $$$? Maybe we just have really NICE things!

Today mine are:

Jeans 200
tank top 40
white shirt 60
sandals 50
ring 250
leather tote 125

Then there are all the things in the tote...another leather clutch...65 ish, iPhone and glasses...many hundred for both of those, I guess.

And then there is my wedding band too!

Are we counting nice underwear?

Every once in a while I've found myself thinking about how much my outfit costs as I'm walking down the street. But I hadn't been including accessories and even tech gadgets. I need those!

Including those too is making me appreciate what I have and what I have been able to afford. Not because it's expensive...some things aren't...but because the things are beautiful/or useful to me...and carefully chosen. And this sense of satisfaction can be helpful in a shopping ban time too!

Great...and timely!...exercise.

.

Other than glasses frames, I don't see the point in adding in the $$ for prescription lenses...are we being penalized for bad eyesight now? I actually did not spend a lot for my frames, but the lenses cost what they cost - not much I could do about that, aside from Lasik. Ditto the cost of my hearing aid (well over the "average outfit cost")...getting it in a spunky purple color didn't add to the cost, and spending less wouldn't have improved my hearing.

Out of curiousity, what is the point of the exercise, anyway? I didn't quite understand from the article...

Interesting point - I suppose if I include my wedding ring, my cellphone, and the cost of my glasses or contacts, it would be well over a thousand bucks. Clotheswise, though, it would be rare that I'm wearing more than $150 worth of stuff, and often a lot less. And of course, clothes generally speaking don't hold their value at all. They depreciate worse than anything once you wear them, even if they're designer.

I understand the 'what do you walk out of the house carrying' metaphor, but where does it stop? Do you count a portion of the cost of your makeup, as someone said? Parcel out percentages of the last manicure or eyebrow wax you had? What about the cash in your wallet, or the available limit on your credit cards?

This is intriguing.
Like Mac, my outfit today is scued by the very hot weather we're having, but here goes. Note that many of these prices are rough estimates now:
Bronze sandals: $50
White clams: $65
Print top: $75
Carolee gumball pearl strand: $80
Bra: $200 (I favour a pricey brand)
Undies: $15
Current handbag was a gift, but if I include the one I wore yesterday instead: $125
Cell phone: A few hundred, though I acquired it for $30

So yes, I think I make the $1,000 mark in the summer with relatively few garments on. If you get me into my jackets and coats, I'd get there easily.
The other day when I was dressing for the wedding, I hit $1,000 before donning my dress (bra, multi-strand pearls and diamond earrings were all it took).

And we're forgetting something in my case:
Reva: Priceless

Actually she's worth a bundle in monitary terms because of her pedigree and guide dog training, but it just seems wrong to talk about doggies like that!

Hmmm....let's see.

Today -
"dress" $20
clams $2.50 (Goodwill)
belt $.50 (garage sale)
bracelet $5
shoes $12
specs $45 ish (It was a two for $75 deal including the exam, but with about 15 added on for some exam add-on
purse free (made entirely from fabric stash scraps)
wallet maybe $5 (but it was so long ago)
cell $20 (with contract)
cell skin $9

That's $119.
If we're including all purse contents, that'd be another $200 for my iPod, $7 for the iPod case, $20 for my Merle Norman lipstick and probably about $300 for my keys (I know the key for my car costs about $150 to replace and I imagine the fob for DH's truck is close to that).

So what's that? $646. Well under the average (and probably close to normal for me. The purse contents definitely make up way more than half of my costs on a normal day.

However, I rarely wear my wedding/engagement ring anymore (it doesn't fit quite right and I keep procrastinating on getting it re-sized) but that alone would blow the average out of the water (heck, I think the center diamond alone would do it).

Oops, I forgot undies. I think my bra was about $12 and I don't remember how much my undies were but I just bought a pack of them yesterday on sale that ended up being about $.50 a piece.

Such a thought provoking exercise. I'm at home today, doing chores. I'm wearing:
Jcrew shorts $35
Target tank $10
Target flipflops $5
Shimera boyshorts $11
Wacoal bra $50
France Luxe barrette $10

Add everyday jewelry, though, and things change dramatically:
Seiko watch $300
Ralph Lauren hoops $35
Wedding/engagement rings $$$

But then add grooming and the numbers jump again:
Hair cut/color $120
Thermal straightening $500

So, for a day in which I haven't picked up my handbag and I'm looking like a farm hand, I'm still sporting an awful lot of money. Yikes.