Do you still wear old clothes?

[WithCheesePlease]

And by that I don't mean "vintage" or "retro chic", I mean actually old 😂. This probably shouldn't be in the style section but I don't think there's an 'anti-style' section 😒

Often people will say to me "oh I love your top/jeans/jacket', and I'm like 'oh I've had this a while'. In reality I had my favorite pair of jeans for almost 20 years until the arse was literally hanging out of them, but torn arses came back into fashion so that was ok 😂

I have belts that I've worn for 15/20 years and can still see the worn notches of where they fit one time, back in the day 😮

I've lots of tops (just basic ones) that are at least 10 years old, and don't get me started on pyjamas!

Does anyone else hang onto clothes for a really long time (and of course add to your wardrobe with newer pieces as you go along)? Or would you never keep anything longer than say a year or two?

Yep only bin when they are worn out

Definitely!

My oldest garment is a Breton top bought 25 years ago, but I've got plenty of "every day" clothes that are 5+ years old (t shirts, jumpers etc), along with shoes and more expensive things like posh dresses that are a similar age.

I tend not to buy much high fashion stuff, or if I do I get it from somewhere like H&M or TopShop so it wears out at around the same time it is going out of fashion anyway

Gawd, yes, I wear clothes to death!

Mind, I detest shopping so if I hit on something I really like I will wear it forever and cry when it dies.

I still have the very posh jacket I graduated in 25 years ago - it is gorgeous and the minute I can wear shoulder pads again, it will be worn

I like clothes to last, I still have school shirts that must be 20 years old now.

I buy far more clothes than I should, but I also have things in my wardrobe that have been around for ages. One of my favourite dresses, which I wear about once a week in autumn/winter, is about 12 years old - I paid what I thought was a fortune for it then, but it has served me very well. Similarly, I have coats which are at least ten years old, and I tend not to buy many new things in summer when I'm not sure if I'll get to actually wear them much. I am pretty ruthless about culling and listing on eBay or taking things to the charity shop - while I'd love to put things in storage and hang on to them, we just don't have space.

I wear clothes until they are worn out or too shabby (and unsuitable for gardening). I usually need a bit of pushing to get rid of things - and I'm still looking for 'replacements' of items that wore out many years ago and I miss because they just suited me.

Of course! I have several items that are 15-20 years old. If they don't look tatty, why would I stop wearing them? My taste hasn't changed in a lot of ways.

I'm 35, my denim jacket is one I've had since I was 14

It's perfectly weathered and I bloody love it

Jeans don't last more than a couple of years but they get relegated to housework jeans when they get too worn

I have a clear out about twice a year of stuff I don't wear, but that's not on the basis of how long I've had it, but on whether it's actually knackered (in which case it goes to the textile recycling bin) or just doesn't fit / I don't wear it any more (in which case it goes to the charity shop or local women's refuge

Some of my favourite garments are ancient ones that have gone the distance!

I love my old clothes! I've recently dug my old Levi's jacket out again. I remember handing over a lot of money for it at the Levi's store in 1997. It was quite dark back then but is lovely and faded now.

I'm not into Kate Middleton's style particularly but I do like the way she wears the clothes she likes time and time again.

One of the reasons I've given up on fashion magasines and bloggers is I got tired of the endless articles about clearing out and getting rid of anything you don't love .... and then going out to buy yet more stuff. I admit I haven't read the book but I don't believe you have to love all your clothes - some are just there to do a job.

However I suspect there may be a bit of an age divide going on as any clothes bought in the last 10 years are less likely to go the distance and younger people with small children will probably have less spare space.

My oldest thing is a silk shirt I got when I was about 15 or 16. I am now 52. I've just recently had to finally dispose of my favourite linen cardigan - I bought it in about 1991 from Next To Nothing - the Next sale shop that was going for a few years. It was such a great wardrobe staple but the sleeve cuffs finally went...

I've got loads of old clothes that I still love and still wear, sometimes I style them differently to how I did when they were new/I was younger and thinner, but they're still good to wear.

Not sure nightwear counts but I have a hideous nightshirt that my mum bought me when I was in my teens that I still wear. I'm now 50, but it makes me feel close to her now that she's no longer with me.

Yep, and 20yo DD now borrows my clothes (some of which pre-date her) because 'all that vintage really old stuff is way cool'

Keeping old stuff makes not only financial sense but environmental sense too.

Maybe it's because I'm ancient and in my mid-40s but I don't buy into the fast fashion brands at all. I don't really care if a top is high fashion or this season or 10 seasons ago - if it fits and looks nice then I'm happy to wear it.

The oldest thing I have in my wardwobe is a black knee length skirt with a tiny beige polka dot on it, bought it in 1999 in Warehouse, wore it loads for work, I still wear it for smart work occasions or funerals.

quim yes, I've not chucked some items because dd might want them in a decade or so.

I keep things until they wear out but find it doesn’t take long. I have a small wardrobe (in both senses  ) and regularly wear nearly all my clothes. Tops and dresses don’t last that long if they are worn and washed weekly or fornightly. I replace things when they fade, sag, shrink or start to look shabby, at the rate of one or two items a month.

I don’t care that much if something is fashionable so long as I like it. I’ll buy what’s on-trend if it suits me, though, in the knowledge that it will probably be finished by the time the trend goes off. I don’t buy super-cheap clothes either (unless I get lucky in a sale) as I like nice cuts and fabrics so it’s not that I’m getting everything from Primark.

Clothes I don’t wear so much last longer – formal wear, holiday stuff, and clothes for very hot or very cold weather. My oldest thing is a semi-fitted denim jacket from 15 years ago – recently brought out of retirement after several years of looking wrong, which I kept because it was in too good condition to get rid. From about 10 years ago I have a grey leather jacket, a couple of formal silk dresses, and two smart wool jackets, all worn only occasionally.

Even when I first started buying my own things 12 years or so ago, I don’t remember tops, dresses, trousers and t-shirts lasting year after year, unless they were ‘kept for best’. I have a couple of items bought as “vintage” from the 60s-80s but they are sun dresses and formal dresses – things that have never had much wear. Although they are unarguably better quality than most of what’s currently in the shops they wouldn’t last long if I wore them every week.

For those who have old clothes they still wear – have you hit on really good quality things? Or are they clothes you wear less often?

In my case, it's a mixture. There's certainly some stuff that I'd 'saved for best' but I've also kept - and then revived - clothes I used to wear regularly but that dated or that I got bored with before they were worn out.

I do think most clothes from say 20 years ago - before manufacturing was moved overseas - were better quality but let's not forget they were also far more expensive, in real terms, than now.

I'm pretty frugal, I like to get use out of everything I own. I'm not bothered that I turn up to most fancy events wearing one of the 3 LBDs I own... which were hand me downs. They're still in good condition, I look good, so who cares?
My ex was more bothered about me "repeating outfits" than I ever was. They are just clothes! As long as you are respectable and clean, it shouldn't matter.

I've got some black opaque tights with my name tippexed in the back from when I lived at home and used to wear black tights for school. Needed naming as I have four sister and we used to nick each other's if not named. I'm 42! Admittedly they are gettinga bit bobbly!

I keep special stuff that won't date a long time, or stuff I don't wear often like summer dresses and going out dresses and tops, but everyday jumpers, skirts, tops and dresses etc I wear until they get a bit tatty then it's the bin or recycling.

I wouldn't wear something that's meant to look smart past the point of tatty. If it's a leather jacket, or leather boots, or denim then yes as often they get better with age but I wouldn't wear stuff that's obviously bobbled/holey or stretched out of shape etc. There's thrifty and then there's scruffy! If you can afford not to look scruffy then new clothes are fine but if you can't afford new clothes (I have often been in that point in the past) then obviously that's different.

Most of the stuff we get at the posh charity shop I volunteer in is between 2-5 years old, tho we get brand new stuff that didn't fit and designery stuff about 8 years old.

I don't wear stuff that's old but I do keep it - the 90s revival is looking good for my neices with lots of vintage (ow) bits I put away.

I have a designer leather belt that I bought over 20 years ago and have worn frequently ever since, it was a lot of money at the time but cost per wear is next to nothing and it still looks good as new. I also have a denim jacket that is even older than the belt and still gets worn, plus some jeans that are easily ten years old.

I've only ever had one lbd, I'd already had it a while when I wore it on millennium eve, it's great! I didn't realise people threw out clothes just because they are old. I get rid of stuff if it is tatty or I've gone off it.

I've got some favourites that are 25 years old. I actually have some bras which are 30 years old, I think I need a clear out. I tend to wear most clothes for about 5 years before I stop wearing them. I have too many clothes so for the last 2 years I haven't bought anything new.

My oldest item is a light corduroy jacket from 1994 ish. My mum bought it with "growing room" and it turned out that I had stopped growing! It's great for the 5 days a year when there's enough sun to need little warmth but enough breeze to need a layer, so it's never worn out and is a fairly classic style that doesn't date heavily.

Many of the clothes I think of as being "recent" are within the last 8 years. My clothes are betrayed by labels like Principles (before their take over) and Bay Trading. I seem to strike a death nell for companies when I get a season where I discover them

Some things aren't being pulled out as they don't currently fit my needs. Chasing after a 4 year old much of the time means I rarely pull out floaty dresses, but that may change. I don't currently need work clothes. This time last year, I was wearing very few casual clothes as I was working full time, now that's my main need. My social life is very quiet, so those clothes are on hold.

I buy what suits me and don't go heavily into fashion, so I don't tend to go massively out of fashion either. My proportions/ sizing have been very consistent over the last 20+ years.