How much clothes storage is normal.

[Everyoneesleistheproblem]

So I'm having a long overdue clothes clear out but no idea how much I should chuck out.

One of the issues is that I have an outdoor job ( mud, water, walking all year round - think forest school ) and a job that requires smart casual clothes to meet clients in professional settings. . So I need a more versatile wardrobe than when I just went into a normal office everyday. I would like to get rid of a chest if drawers but can't see how,

I have : a double fitted wardrobe with all my dresses, coats/ jackets, shirts and shoes/ boots in boxes at the bottom.

A 3 drawer chest of drawers with : swimwear/nightwear, trousers, jeans
A 3 drawer chest of drawers with : sleeveless tops, longer sleeved tops, skirts
A 5 drawer chest if drawers with - In the 2 small drawers - underwear (pants bras), socks/ walking socks/ thick tights, thin jumpers, thick jumpers.

So how does everyone organise stuff? What can I get rid off do you think?

That sounds like loads!
Can you approach it from the other direction.
If you needed a weeks worth of smart clothes, a weeks worth of warm clothes, a weeks worth of winter casual clothes, and a weeks worth of summer casual clothes. Plus a couple if extra outfits for special occasions (be that climbing a mountain or a wedding), how much extra do you have??

FWIW, my wardrobe has expanded dramatically since its minimium point of one suitcase and one ikea bag (the big woven ones like you get in store).
I have:
1 drawer of underwear
1 drawer of teeshirts
1 drawer of sports kit, shorts and PJs
2 hanging rails maybe 70cm long each. Trousers, skirts, jumpers, shirts all hung.
A couple of hangers in DHs wardrobe with dresses on (I own about 3).
My 2 coats (one winter, one summer) and half a dozen pairs of shoes live down stairs.

How do you only have two coats!
I have warm ones with hoods, thin summer ones with hoods, fancy ones for work and jackets for casual ( summer and warmer for winter).

I like the idea I'd " a week" rather every contingency though.

You must have a huuuge house or is no one else able to store clothes?

I have two shelves to fold clothes and a hanging rail that's the width of a door. I also have a storage box for underwear and the cupboard under the stairs for coats. It makes me hate my house. Very little inbuilt storage and the rooms are small and badly planned so I can't have a wardrobe or draws and my king size bed.

I feel like a pauper in comparison!

Its not a question of what you should have it’s a question of whether they are all worn and loved by you. Do they fit your current tastes and lifestyle? Why do you actually have to get rid of anything ? I have about 10 coats at least ( maybe more) - if I have room and I wear them do I need to get rid of them because someone else is happy with 2? I have the majority of my clothes recorded on Stylebook app and I try and ensure that I wear the majority of my wardrobe. I need to lose some because it’s too much for my storage but there’s no right number if you wear it. ( perhaps have a think about Marie Kondo …. Sparking joy etc)

I'm just wondering if you can store out of season stuff elsewhere? The vacuum bags from Lakeland are excellent in my experience. You might be able to get rid of one chest then?

For context, my house is a small cottage with sloping ceilings and small bedrooms which are a nightmare for clothes storage. We have a chest of drawers each in our room (no bedside tables, no room). We have drawers in the base of the bed plus a shallow old cupboard with shelving (not deep enough for hanging rail and would be across a doorway if it was any deeper, but can fit lots in there folded). Hanging stuff (absolute minimum) for both of us is in one of my daughters' bedrooms. She has a large wardrobe and uses just over half of it for hanging stuff. My dh doesn't have loads but I have a fair bit (incl lots of things that don't fit atm...) and store overspill in vacuum bags on top of the tall cupboard.

That does sound a lot of stuff.

I have my half of the large wardrobe of hanging space for my tops, dresses, etc with a drawer underneath for jeans, leggings, joggers, trousers.

Then three drawers in a 6-drawer chest of drawers for T shirts, underwear and nightclothes/swimsuits.

If you went through your stuff would you find a lot you rarely wear? Or many duplicates?

Like @DoublePeonies I only have two coats and a fleece.

I'm with you on the no storage space.... :(

I have a clothes rail half the size of a regular door width in a tiny shared cupboard. Used for dresses and skirts.

Then 3 shallow drawers in a shared chest of drawers for pretty much all of my other clothes.

I do have 2 small kallax cube sized baskets in a cupboard for out of season stuff - gloves / scarfs etc and also sports clothes

I own 3 coats which are in the downstairs bathroom (shock horror!) but it's the only place they fit and we always close the lid before flushing

I do manage and it's quite easy to maintain. I don't have a lot of outdoorsy clothes though....

That does sound like a lot! Depends how much if it you wear? I am pretty ruthless as I have to be...

Bedroom is all mine so there is room but having the amount of clothes means it's can look messy with clean laundry/ worn once/ ironing pile ( hence wanting a clean out).

An example of my problem is I don't wear skirts very much now but I have lots from previous jobs. If I go back to that work I'll need them then. Which means I also have lots of shirts and thin jumpers that go with them.

I used to be live in staff so very used to having much less stuff and until this house, only had rooms in shared houses and studio flats. So I can live minimally.

I still can't figure out how people only have 3 coats though!

I have half a wardrobe. A tall boy for undies / pjs and some random stuff. And a bag for winter / summer stuff that is put away depending on the season.

I have three coat pegs for me.

I one pair of jeans!

Every family member has one large wardrobe and one large chest of drawers.

And we have a communal rail of winter coats and random sports gear.

I think you need two rails if working outdoors every day.

Op can you do the hanger thing of turning them the other way to indicate clothes you have worn recently? And if you haven't worn anything in 12 months vacuum pack and put in roof or sell on Vinted?

You only need two sets of pyjamas I think. Wear one, wash one. Three absolute maximum.

I would get some of those big zippable clothes storage bags and put your out of season clothes and the stuff from your old job in there then store in the loft/garage. When you are rotating them at the change of season take the opportunity to chuck anything that you haven't worn that year before putting it in storage.

Sounds normal to me..
I have three wardrobes in my bedroom. One for tops and cardigans and little jackets. One for trousers/ jeans.. one for dresses..all full.
Spare wardrobe in another bedroom for coats ( 10).
3 sets of drawers.
One for Undies/ pj's.
One actually for shoes/ sandals/ trainers.
One for miscellaneous

I hardly ever wear a coat, I've got one all purpose winter coat which gets worn for every occasion if it gets cold enough.

You're keeping a lot of just in case clothes. If you did go back to skirt job, would you wear those skirts, shirts and jumpers? Or would you decide actually they are too old and tired and you would end up buying more?

You don't need separate clothes for every eventuality. I wear the same vest tops with a skirt for work and with jeans or shorts at the weekend. I don't need separate smart ones and leisure ones.

This strikes me as part of the problem.

I have a thick coat that didn't come out last winter, a raincoat and a smart Mac. Oh, and a smart jacket (biker style but neutral). But I don't call them "work" or "winter" etc.

It seems like you've got a bit of tunnel vision about what works when?

You can layer up under coats to make them more versatile.

I have lots and lots of coats. Thick puffer jacket. Smart wool coat for work. Smart wool coat non work. Fancy funky long wool coat for going out. Other wool coat for going out. Rain mac long but thin. Rain mac short but thin for going over other coats, packs away. Very short rain mac, not for going over other coats also packs away. 4 suede jackets (hence the need for rain macs over the top). I have another puffer and a denim jacket that need go to to charity.

Some of the water proof rain jackets are not breathable so cant be worn in certain circumstances as they get all sweaty on the inside.

OH has even more coats than this.

We do have a lot of things, luckily can each have a double wardrobe each but OH is now moaning he doesnt have enough room, he cant close the doors on the wardrobe.

Haha! Yes, those are the coats I have too.

I have very little latest" style stuff. I have never bought a cold shoulder top or a puff sleeve when they were all the rage and my jeans have been low rise flares even through the skinny years (although I do have a pair of skinny jeans for my long boots). So the stuff I have is my style.

I am going to throw out anything tatty and sell anything that doesn't fit. I am mid fifties so I think part of this is changing shape, having more bits that I don't want to show ie my knees look fat now so knee length skirts look rubbish.

Yes, get rid of the things you don't like, like the skirts, unfortunately as we age, things like knees get worse not better, mine have never been the best but definitely worse with age. I have loads of coats but I wear them a lot and like a variety, I couldn't manage with 2 or 3. The things you need to look at are the just in case work things.

One coat to keep me warm and dry. One coat to keep me dry. I can't see another combination I'd need. If I want extra warmth, I can put on more layers underneath. But that obviously doesn't work for you, so have more coats than that!

Starting with getting the tatty and non fitting stuff out of the house sounds like an excellent start. Then you can take it from there.

We have a double wardrobe each (built in), with a set of drawers in the lower half. I swap out clothes for seasons and have them in a box under the bed. It sounds like you have a lot! Surely maximum you need 2/3 smart outfits? Especially if that’s not what you wear every day. Could just have 1 pair trousers and a few tops

I've got loads, too much which is spread over 2 rooms.

3 wardrobes/rails with coats, dresses, tops, trousers.

One drawer unit shared with partner for underwear, socks and tights.

Another tall unit for jeans, tops, tees, exercise clothes, knitwear.
There's also storage for bags and shoes.

I switch out by season so there's always clothes packed in the loft too.

I need a clear out. 😄

I tend not to keep coats in the wardrobe as they can be quite bulky, I put some pegs up in the small boxroom we use for storage and hang them in there out of the way, some of these are different season walking coats, a couple of bulky winter Seasalt coats, a smart winter coat kept in a coat cover. I have a couple of summer macs on the pegs by the door as they are most likely to be warn at the moment, in the winter they will be swapped for the Seasalt coats

Even for people who don't follow fashion as such, work wear has changed massively in the past 5-10 years. Do you really think you would wear these skirts? If they are semi-formal, requiring a proper shoe then they are probably too dated for most workplaces now. I have a very limited work wardrobe and spend as little on it as I can, but I honestly can't imagine wearing the stuff I did before my eldest child, age 6, was born as it would look far too formal now.

I have expanded into DC old rooms now they are adults.
Three double wardrobes. Three chests of drawers and some under bed drawers.
.
One thing I do is keep out of season stuff such as coats in big storage bags in the loft.
All tops, skirts, trousers are hung up. Drawers only used for knitwear, nightwear and underwear.
DH has one single wardrobe and a chest.
My clothes were from the 1970s onwards as I am the same size. I've had a massive clear out this year and made lots of space. Only keep what I really like, the rest goes to charity shop.

I would start with getting rid of clothes if you can't remember the last time you wore something.
Chances are, if you haven't worn something for a year, you won't wear it again.
You do have an awful lot of clothes though. I have one wardrobe and one 4 drawer chest of drawers
DH has similar b