Wardrobe Usage - YouLookFab Forum

I'd often heard the statistic that

"*most* women wear 20% of their wardrobe 80% of the time"...

I'd never really thought much of it until I sorted my wardrobe the other day - I shifted everything from being in their "categories" to those things that I wear, and those that I don't.

Well, I was shocked. Yes I knew I had a lot of rarely worn stuff, but I had no idea just how big the gap was between "wear" and "don't wear".

Just cos I'm having fun playing with photobuckets collages, here's the proof.

http://i294.photobucket.com/al.....0006-1.jpg

Admittedly, a fair chunk of the "don't wear" is winter clothing that may be used soon (I'm thinking if it doesn't make it back to the other side of the wardrobe this winter then it probably doesn't need to be there). We have a good 9 months of Summer-ish weather (maybe 3 of those are cooler in the evening/morning), so with such a short winter, there really is no need for there to be so many winter things in my wardrobe to start with though!

But, I still think it highlights how disproportionate my wardrobe is...

So, tell me, are your wardrobes all similar, or did they start that way pre-YLF, or are you all much more organised and proportional?

15 years ago

RoseandJoan

Veteran

This is something I have become much better at, my everyday capsules (casual, smart casual and business casual are well rotated but I do only have a small wardrobe.

Evening wear, beach wear, formal wear gets very little use but that is to be expected from my life style.

Of course there are also the items which are simply out of season.

I guess you need to determine why you are not wearing an item to assess if you should keep it.

Dawn

(website)

Active Member

I wear a great deal of my wardrobe. There are a couple of items which I rarely wear that often as they are much too specific for wearing everyday such as cocktail dresses, interview suits and evening clothes, or are way too casual. As I work part-time as a receptionist in student accommodation, I have to dress in a manner everyday which I could potentially wear into work if I am called to cover a couple of hours without much notice. Therefore I have had to stop wearing much more casual outfits to university everyday and smarten up my daily look.

As we have fairly temperate weather here in Ireland, I only have to retire the lightest summer dresses and heavy winter knits and coats each season. I find this really helps me to wear all my clothes as I don't end up having to switch everything around.

Then again, I do have clothes which I do put away for a month because I'm either sick of them or have been relying on them too often. After the month, I'm really happy to add those clothes back to my wardrobe.

Kristen

I think my perception is probably skewed. I *think* I wear clothes all the time, but when I look back through my Flickr sets to link to previous photos of an outfit, I am constantly surprised at how few times I really did wear it. Daily photos are awfully good at pointing out all kinds of denial areas!

marianna

I have the same problem as you Theresa. I have a huge chunk of my closet that I don't wear... I should probably toss that stuff!

chewyspaghetti

I do wear most of my closet. I'm actually waiting for the weather to really turn warm so that I can let go of a couple winter items that have gotten too big. But because of my weight loss and having to replace everything I am really careful with what I buy, and it keeps my wardrobe very small. I do need to go through and clean it out right now, though- it's gotten pretty messy.

Louise

Like Julie I have evening wear which doesn't get used often but the 3 dresses I have which fall into this category always get used for relevant events.
I'm in the same part of the world as Dawn, most of my clothes are suitable for multi seasons it's just the layering pieces and coats I change for the seasons. During the easter holidays last year I turned all my coat hangers the wrong way round then when I wore an item I turned it back the right way. I reviewed it during the next school holidays at the end of May and was pleased to say in the intervening 6 weeks I had worn everything at least once. *note to self I must do this again soon* x

Kate

I've been doing a couple things to try to balance out my wardrobe usage:

- Rather than sorting my clothes by color in my drawers, the most recently worn and washed items go to the back of the drawer, and the clothes worn longest ago get pushed up to the front. So, I don't always take the shirt that's in the front, but I try to go for shirts closer to the front, and if a shirt is in the front and I never want to wear it, I know it's time to pass it on.

- In my closet, I turned around the hanger on every piece of clothing so that they are all backwards. After I wear an item, I return it to the closet and put the hanger back in the normal way. By doing this I can keep track of which clothes I haven't worn and make a point of trying to wear them. If there is anything I haven't worn at the end of the year (other than a couple of special occasion items), it's going to be sold or donated.

- I also make a point of really thinking about why I don't wear certain items of clothing (and why I bought it in the first place) so that I can do my best to no repeat my mistake and buy more things that will go mostly unworn.

Theresa

SO happy not to be the only one with this dilemma Marianna!

Its definitely been an eye opener and my shopping is going to be much more streamlined now. I realised how much of my previous clothes shopping has been emotional and completely without thought!

I'm actually very keen to see what's moved to the other side at the end of our Winter!

Dawn & Louise you make a good point about most things being usable for most of the year - that's definitely an approach I need to take - my light summer dresses will certainly be warm enough for our mild winters if I'm layering them over pants/long sleeves and have a cardi/jacket, with only a few heavier ones for those colder days.

Thanks Again YLF for saving me from more wasted time and money shopping for things I wont wear LOL

taylor

Pre YLF I had alot of orphans and things that I *LOVED* but just didn't fit right, so I held on. Now almost a yr, and half later I have gotten rid of just about everything that just takes up space...If I don't wear it ...goodbye.

It is a very liberating feeling knowing that I wear everything now...perhaps not often, but I wear it. I am also so much more discerning about what I buy...Have learned TONS here:)

Taylor that sounds exactly like my current wardrobe.

I'm feeling quite liberated just having made the decision that if they aren't worn through this winter then the are going!

Its more stressful having them there because I feel obliged to wear them (even if I really can't), and the wasted $$ are staring me in the face every single day.

I can't wait to look at my wardrobe and smile, knowing that everything there is meant to be there and is worn and completely worth it.

It's really freeing to get rid of those clothes you never wear because you instantly stop thinking about how much you spent on them. Donate it and you'll quickly forget it and move on. Out of sight, out of mind!

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