I cannot tell you how much I love this question... I've bookmarked this thread, and I have never bookmarked a fashion thread before.

I don't even work outside the home right now and I feel as though I spend too much on clothes--I don't see anybody on a regular basis other than people at the grocery store, etc, but I guess I do derive a lot of pleasure from looking nicely put together, so I dress mainly for me. So why, because I do have some basic outfits that I love completely, don't I just repeat those same outfits over and over? Not a single soul would notice--not a one. I don't know why I do this. Maybe asking myself this question will make me change; I never really considered the possibility of having, say, just eight or ten outfits to wear and rewear per season.

I think a lot of it for me has to do with a Depression-era mentality of not wanting to wear out my mostest favoritest pieces because there might not be any more where those came from. (Dumb! There are always more awesome pieces where those came from.) Also, I do love sales, so I might buy stuff I don't need just because it's a good deal. And I also love the concept of being able to close my eyes and reach into my closet and pull out something that I would be perfectly happy to be wearing if I were to run into an old friend whom I haven't seen for years (which, given that I don't live near any of my old friends, is quantum-mechanics-level unlikely), so I keep buying with this eventuality in mind. What a dork I am.

My essential problem is that, because of my love of good deals (which doesn't equate to "awesome" or "chic"), I have a lot of stuff that I've never worn (which makes it hard to give away--wearing it just once or twice would help).

I think I'm addressing the question of "why so much STUFF" rather than "why so much variety," but since there isn't that much variety in my clothes (again with the duplicates in case they wear out, which they won't, but they might if the dryer exploded or the detergent secretly turned out to be bleach), it's more of a question of stupid quantity in my case.

OMG my last post was embarrassingly long! I guess I just did a lot of processing there...

Well variety variety and more variety. Only my closet called for it. Blame it on the media, the celebrities that make our mind to act like we are leading a imaginary life and that we can be like the celebrities too.
I am trying hard to go for SYC now since I feel enough is enough in regards for my clothes bags and shoes. I purchased a new wardrobe to accomodate them all. Can you believe it? I could have save all that money or even given to charity. At least I would have someone pray for me.
Media, advertisement, celebrities are utilising us female to expand this fashion business and we are going victim on them.
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I still want to go shopping now after all said and done!!!Darn me!!! SYC is really hard.

I am so very interested in the varied responses to this question!
I myself spent more time purging this week, but . . . almost bought a new dress yesterday at Ross for $8. And truth be told, I'm half tempted to go back today and see if it's still there! Yet I am putting a dress I've never worn that I bought for, yep, $8 off eBay 2 years back, in my purge pile. At least half my 19 dresses hanging right now have not been worn more than a few times. But I really, really want to buy this olive rayon cheapy that seriously the BF said looked like a paper bag LOL! What is wrong with me???

Mo , I think about this all.the.time. Especially because my father was dirt poor as a child. He only had two outfits growing up and no shoes. He is the other extreme. Part of his thinking is that you get what you "need" and not much more when it comes to clothing. It is practical for him ( keeps him warm, dry, etc ).

So I don't know the answer to your question. But I do know that so much of it is marketing and cheap stuff that really enable this.

It's interesting. I know a woman who grew up with plenty, yet hoards food like the supermarket's not going to be there next week. My parents went through the Great Depression, yet they shared what they had with others. My mom was well known for giving her things away to those less fortunate. Because of that, I learned not to be so obsessive about possessions. Even if I buy a lot of clothing, I do make sure my cast-offs go to people who need and/or can make good use of them. I think as long as I have that moral sense of responsibility, I'm okay. I'm not, however, comfortable with having variety just for the sake of variety. I want my wardrobe to really work for me and my lifestyle, and get a decent CPW out of the things I buy. I think this is good stewardship of my $.

In the days before I found YLF, I had a lot of clothes (150-200ish). Very few to them were great on me, and most were purchased either for a specific event or because they were on sale. I frequently accumulated more whenever I found a good deal that appealed to me. I sought variety because I was unhappy with my wardrobe and didn't understand my style.

In the first year an a half of finding YLF, I purged the majority of my wardrobe, and then replaced it. I made better choices that continued to improve over time while also making some mistakes that I learned from. I sought variety to try out new things, figure out what worked for me (and what didn't), and because there was a lot of advice floating around the web about which items to stock up on (like jewelry) to increase wardrobe remixing options.

In early winter 2010 I began to actually track my purchases, how much I spent on each item of clothing, and how often I wore everything. I was buying "investment" pieces, but I couldn't wear them often enough to make them worth the money. I was also buying items that I wasn't entirely sure about, and then not wearing them often, even if they weren't very expensive. I play favorites, but it wasn't until I recorded what I wore every day that this finally became clear to me. This tracking led to a new, more sustainable round of purging and gradually to more judicious consumption. But I still spent a lot of time craving variety and thinking about clothes, and a lot of time feeling guilty about how much money I had spent in the previous year and a half on items that I was now purging (like much of that jewelry).

In December 2011 I realized that I needed to start devoting more time to my academic work and non-internet social life, and less to YLF and fashion. I'm still tracking what I wear and weeding out the occasional closet orphan (I'm down to 66 items of clothing, 6 pairs of shoes, 10 accessories, and 26 items of jewelry, yet there's still some slack), but I haven't been around here much, and I have become excruciatingly picky with my purchases. Overall, clothes are taking up far less of my time (though still a bit more than they did pre-YLF) and remixing provides all the variety that I need.

My shift towards a more simpler, remixable wardrobe that I LOVE would have been impossible without YLF. It's still a journey, and I'm hoping that I'll be able to increase my YLF time this summer without backsliding into a place where I am unhappy with my closet and driven to consume more. I don't need more variety than I have and I know from experience that buying (or even pining after) a bunch of new items isn't going to make me happier with my wardrobe.

Kate, thanks so much for weighing in. I knew you would have a lot of wisdom to share here.
Today I purged quite a few things that never made it into past purges . . . and I feel really good about it.
I did a quick recount and I'm at 30 skirts/dresses, 23 pants/shorts, 19 coats/jackets, 15 sweaters, and 50 tops of every kind from camis to t-necks and button downs. 35 shoes, 6 purses and about a dozen belts. This may still be a lot, but it's much better than where I was before.
I also historically bought what was on sale, or for an event. I'm trying to be pickier, and the few 'big' purchases I made this last year are definite faves. I agree with the idea that expanding my viewpoint in life in general will help quell the desire to acquire (hee). I have been off work for all of my YLF time, and I'm due to start my job on Sunday. I think that alone will take some of the focus away from perfecting the wardrobe (which we all know is like life, a journey but not a destination).
I don't have the patience for a spreadsheet, but I know most of my things get worn not even a dozen times a year, except for jeans/pants. That's not nearly enough!!
I'm hoping this is a turning point for me. I've gotten more focused on my personal style, instead of grabbing randomly from all that I see that appeals to me. I have narrowed a color palette. I am also thinking in terms of use and occasion. It's a process but I hope I'm over the hurdle.

This was a very good read! Seems to me there are a few factors that influence this, depending on the person. For myself, I am not one of those who wants a small but functional wardrobe, I'm happy with my medium-to-large but functional wardrobe goal With three rather disparate styles to mesh together, I try to have items in all three styles across wardrobe categories. This alone increases the number of items in my closet. When I was working on discovering what "my" style is, I purchased quantity-over-quality which also increased the number of items in my closet. Now that I have a good handle on what my style is, I am slowly replacing several lower quality not-quite-right items with fewer higher quality, good fit items as I find them and can afford them. And as I do like to follow trends, there will likely always be a portion of my wardrobe that gets turned over more quickly as trends change.

It's such an interesting question. I sometimes think all humans have a hole that they try to fill somehow. We used to fill it through hunting or gathering and now we fill it in other ways.

I find that I have a small wardrobe but I still crave variety. So I find ways to remix a lot. But what's strange is that even if I put together a great outfit, I can't remember it later. It'd be so much easier to come up with 10 or 12 go-to outfits, but my brain doesn't seem to work that way. I still stand there some days not knowing what to wear.