What is your ratio of tops to bottoms? - YouLookFab Forum

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What is your ratio of tops to bottoms?

Liz A.

Veteran

Shannon recently had a post about having too many pants and not enough tops, and I'm starting to think I'm in that boat myself. A large percentage of what I've bought since joining YLF has been bottoms (and shoes). As you can see from my estimates below, my ratio of tops to bottoms is almost 1:1 ... and some of those tops are on their way out. The bottoms are in relatively good shape. Do I have too many bottoms, or too few tops? This doesn't included workout, lounge, or layering items.

jeans - 10
work pants - 7
casual pants - 4
shorts - 5
work skirts - 3

work tops - 11
short sleeve - 6
tanks - 5
long sleeve - 4
sweaters - 8

22 replies

Latest reply was from texstyle

lyn*

(website)

Veteran

Do you wear jeans in your life a lot? It seems that there's a ton of jeans

Glory

Veteran

I will count later (maybe) but my ratio would be 10 tops to 1 bottom. I never have bottoms - I guess those are the toughest for me to buy.

Liz A.

Veteran

No, lyn*, I totally don't although I wish I did! I used to be able to wear them on Fridays, but not anymore. I think the problem is I wasn't that into my existing jeans, so I bought new ones, but I haven't brought myself to get rid of the old ones, since they do still fit and all...

lyn*

(website)

Veteran

I'd try all your jeans on and see if your old ones are up to snuff, if you know what I mean

ClaraT

Veteran

I'm not sure about my exact ratio, but I have about 10 pairs of pants (total) and more tops, so certainly the ratio is not 1:1.

I don't think there is a magic number/ratio. I think the better question (really, the only question) is: Do you wear everything? If yes, you don't have too many tops or bottoms.

(I'm not trying to be flip, I just think this is so personal. I have 3 purses--totally enough for me. My sister has 25, and she switches them out all the time; thus, I don't think that I have too few or that she has too many.)

Liz A.

Veteran

I think you might be onto something ClaraT. Part of the difference is that some of the pants are seasonal, and some are styles I just choose to wear once in a blue moon, whereas the tops are more seasonless, except the sweaters. Whoa run-on sentence! I do think I might need more tops though, because they wear out quickly from frequent rotation I suppose.

Sona

Veteran

wow. I am the opposite of the majority........way too many tops..about a 100 or so and maybe 30 bottoms.

rachylou

Veteran

I have maybe a 3 to 1 ratio, and I don't count sweaters. Sooo... I think you could use relatively more tops. But maybe you use bottoms more often as your focal point? Do you have patterned pants?

Liz A.

Veteran

Nope, no patterned pants, although I did just get red and white, is new for me. I mean aside from some small patterns that I would consider neutrals.

Oh, and also up until joining YLF, I thought it was totally cool to wear what I now consider layering T's and tanks for regular shirts.... sooooo that's part of it.

fern

Veteran

My ratio is 37 tops, including shirts, blazers, tees & sweaters to 20 pants, shorts & skirts, but I notice the ratio doesn't allow for dresses.
37: 20: +9 dresses. I wear my dresses with the sweaters & blazers too. Hmmm....

Aziraphale

Veteran

I have more tops than bottoms, but way more variety in my bottoms. It's always the bottoms that have personality, whereas my tops tend to be simple and unfussy, and fit into only a few categories. I have many duplicates/triplicates of my tops.

Lyn D.

Veteran

Around 3 times more tops than bottoms, excluding jackets.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

I don't count layering pieces. I have about 32 shirts and 15 sweaters. 15 pants (jeans, trousers, all inclusive) 11 skirts, and 6 shorts.
But, as I mentioned in a recent thread, I wear a much smaller variety of tops than I think I do. I actually have worn more pairs of shoes than tops in the calendar year so far.
I wear a uniform, so my numbers may be skewed from the office dwelling crowd, I don't know.

Molly L-R

I read somewhere that the ratio of bottoms to tops/toppers should be 1:4. That's something I'm working towards but definitely don't have in place at the moment. I have:

- 20 work tops (half autumn/winter, half summer)
- 6 weekend tops
- 2 jumpers
- 3 cardigans
- 5 trousers
- 8 skirts
- 7 dresses

I definitely feel like I don't have enough tops for autumn/winter as I start wearing my autumn/winter wardrobe when the temperatures drop in September. Here we are, nearly in June, and I'm still cycling round the same 10 tops (actually, I've just replaced 7 of them as they weren't standing up to the heavy wear).

krishnidoux

Veteran

1:4... nope, that's not me (yet). But I have managed to get to a 1 to 3 and that is an accomplishment for me!

The real question for me is what is my ratio of wearable tops with each bottom. 1:3 sounds good, but for each bottom, I don't always have 3 options. Sometimes I do, but then they don't all work with the toppers.

Liz A.

Veteran

Thanks for the responses, ladies. I'm starting to feel a bit better about having so many pants. I didn't include toppers in my count, which I have been purchasing as well. I do still need to step up my top game though. I guess tops seem easy, so I didn't think about them until now.

Thistle

Veteran

4-5 tops for every bottom. I am getting better now that I have found a few brands that make bottoms that fit me.

Raisin

Veteran

I'm thinking I have about 2.5 to 3 tops per bottom. But I don't have a ton of either item. I'm guessing off the top of my head, but probably 10 pants, 4 shorts and 35 tops.

Joy

Veteran

I wear bottoms several times before washing or cleaning but tops get washed more often. I also look for sleeveless and long sleeved tops for most bottoms. All this mean at least 3 tops per bottom, more in hot weather.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

No counts here, but I estimate that I have at least three tops for every bottom. Bottoms are just so much harder to fit on me, while tops are so much easier. For years I only wore black or dark denim on my bottom half, so at least I have branched out a bit. For me, shopping for tops is so much more fun and satisfying -- I can almost always find a top I like (and especially jackets!) but I may have to shop for two days to find a single pair of pants that works. On days like that I envy you ladies who have straighter figures!

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I probably have as many bottoms to tops. Or maybe 1.2 more tops than bottoms. I always seem to be short on tops! I find bottoms much easier to buy, and am always less thrilled with tops - which is why I stick to variations of three styles.

If you don't wear jeans to work Liz, you might need more work bottoms. And having a ratio of 3 tops to every bottom is not a bad thing

texstyle

(website)

Veteran

I used to have way more tops than bottoms but it's starting to even out a little as I learn what really works for me. I probably still have about twice as many tops to bottoms right now but some need to be culled.