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Original poster

How many clothes do you own?

169 replies

Pigtailsandall · 21/02/2021 10:36

I understand that this is potentially a flammable topic and I wouldn't expect everyone to feel comfortable answering. But I'm genuinely interested (nosy) what people's wardrobes look like, and what kind of a budget do you allow yourself? I'm enjoying a lot of the "what are you wearing today" threads but I don't have much to contribute as I wear quite a small rotation of clothes really...

Personally, I have 7 shelves in a small walk-in wardrobe and their total height is about 9 feet - this includes about 6 pairs of jeans, 6 pairs of joggers/casual trousers, 10 jumpers, 7 dresses, 3 skirts and a too-large a number of t-shirts, tops and sweatshirts, plus sportswear, PJs and some scarves. I also have a hanging rack which is about 4 feet long and that's rammed full. Underwear is in a small dresser by my bed. Coats and jackets are downstairs (I have 8) as are shoes apart from non-seasonal and occasion shoes which are in the loft. I have about 20 pairs of shoes. The loft also houses a 35-litre box of non-seasonal clothes.
I feel like I have a lot but I have friends who have much, much more. I used to but 2-3 items a month maybe but I'm trying to bring that down to 1 max a month as I don't need that much but I do like shopping. I used to spend £100-200 a month but I'm also trying to being that down. It's a one in, one out -policy from now on though. I donate stuff I no longer want.

S&B is a terrible influence though!

OP posts:
grassisjeweled · 21/02/2021 18:47

Well, this is embarrassing. I have at least 20 coats

PerfidiousAlbion · 21/02/2021 19:15

I own a shocking amount - four double wardrobes plus three sets of drawers.

In my defence, this has been built up over decades and includes:

Normal clothes
About twenty coats
Walking/hiking clothes
Snow/ski/mountaineering clothes
Summer specific (holiday) clothes
clothes that no longer fit or suit me - the wishful thinking cupboard as i call it

I can never find things i love so i make do.

Must have a spring clear out

AndreaMartelsCoat · 21/02/2021 19:18

@grassisjeweled

Well, this is embarrassing. I have at least 20 coats
In my world that's not embarrassing, that's normal Grin
Original poster
Pigtailsandall · 21/02/2021 19:22

I'm finding this all really interesting, especially the broad variety of what people think is enough/good amount!

I worry about moths - we have some pesky ones despite cleaning often - and about the dust caused by clothes which don't get worn often. One of the reasons I'm trying to reduce stuff is so that it's easier to clean. Those with lots of shoes, how do you store them?

@DDIJ isn't it a hassle to handwashing every night? I'd find that a pain. And with just t-shirts, how do you keep warm when the weather plummets to minus degrees, like last week?

OP posts:
ultrababy · 21/02/2021 19:25

@OublietteBravo

Too many Blush. I love clothes (and I earn enough to be able to buy pretty much anything I want). Plus I’ve been more or less the same size for the past 30 years and I’m useless at getting rid of things. We’re about to have serious building work done, so I really need to tackle my wardrobes and reach a more manageable level. Oh, and stop buying yet more clothes.
That’s exactly like me. I have jeans I wear that are 30 years old. I counted fifty white T-shirt’s alone. Ranging from £5-£75. Still hunting for the perfect one.
UncleBrynsMySpaceFriend · 21/02/2021 19:30

@DDIJ

Yes I wash my clothes every day. Before I moved out of my house I was doing 6-7 loads of laundry every day, but hardly any of that was my own clothing. Now I don't have a washing machine and I just hand wash my clothes every night. It is a lot easier and I don't lose my own clothes in the piles of washing.
I find your posts inexplicably worrying. Are you ok? Do you have a roof over your head? I’m sorry, I’m being nosy but I do hope you are ok.
FindingMeno · 21/02/2021 19:32

I have too many still but about a third of what I used to have.
I'm aiming to cut down again by a half.
My clothes would fill a standard single wardrobe, a four drawer chest of drawers, and a bedside table.
I have a bag problem, but have already tackled my boot and scarf problem.
I have gradually been becoming more streamlined for a few years and paying attention to what I actually wear.
My clothes budget is very small. Mainly just replacing things I do wear like for like, and underwear.

Janegrey333 · 21/02/2021 19:34

@Pigtailsandall

I understand that this is potentially a flammable topic and I wouldn't expect everyone to feel comfortable answering. But I'm genuinely interested (nosy) what people's wardrobes look like, and what kind of a budget do you allow yourself? I'm enjoying a lot of the "what are you wearing today" threads but I don't have much to contribute as I wear quite a small rotation of clothes really...

Personally, I have 7 shelves in a small walk-in wardrobe and their total height is about 9 feet - this includes about 6 pairs of jeans, 6 pairs of joggers/casual trousers, 10 jumpers, 7 dresses, 3 skirts and a too-large a number of t-shirts, tops and sweatshirts, plus sportswear, PJs and some scarves. I also have a hanging rack which is about 4 feet long and that's rammed full. Underwear is in a small dresser by my bed. Coats and jackets are downstairs (I have 8) as are shoes apart from non-seasonal and occasion shoes which are in the loft. I have about 20 pairs of shoes. The loft also houses a 35-litre box of non-seasonal clothes.
I feel like I have a lot but I have friends who have much, much more. I used to but 2-3 items a month maybe but I'm trying to bring that down to 1 max a month as I don't need that much but I do like shopping. I used to spend £100-200 a month but I'm also trying to being that down. It's a one in, one out -policy from now on though. I donate stuff I no longer want.

S&B is a terrible influence though!

I’m presuming you mean items of clothing? I really have no idea and I find it bizarre that anyone would count. I do know that I value quality over quantity.
Fileexplorerrrr · 21/02/2021 19:36

Wayyyyy too many!!!!

I have a double wardrobe full to the brim that when I open the door, I have to hold my arm out to catch any falling objects 🤣 Plus a 6 dresser drawer unit and 2 smaller drawers.

I also have a wardrobe in my dressing room which is just for work clothes (which haven’t been worn for a year) which holds 28 skirts and 32 tops 😳

It’s ridiculous!

That’s not including the 12 coats dotted around the house in various cupboards and 40 pairs of shoes 😳

The worst thing of all though, because of lockdown and covid, I spend most of my time in the same couple of outfits 🤦🏻‍♀️

We had a massive clear out in the summer and I got rid of two black bags full of stuff so it could be worse.

Janegrey333 · 21/02/2021 19:38

It sounds as if some people are hoarding.

Denny53 · 21/02/2021 19:39

Wardrobes full! For a start I’ve got 76 bikinis !! 100s of dresses. Probably 49 pairs of jeans 109s of blouses.
I think I have a problem!

JackieWeaverFever · 21/02/2021 19:39

I have approximately

  • 1x standard wardrobe of coats
  • 2x standard wardrobes of dresses
  • 2x chest of drawers gym kit, swim stuff , socks and underwear, PJs and silks and cashmeres.
  • 1x standard wardrobe of tops and jumpers
-8 drawers of shoes approx 50 -80 ish pairs

I accuse my husband of hoarding 😳

Having recently organised it all I am now on a buying ban.

Twigletgirl27 · 21/02/2021 19:39

Slightly off topic but does anyone else watch house hunting programmes and wonder where on earth people are expected to put their clothes? So many bedrooms don't seem to even have space for a wardrobe!

JackieWeaverFever · 21/02/2021 19:41

Oh and i have a (small) handbag and accessory room.

I need to reread affluenza

didireallysaythat · 21/02/2021 19:45

How many rooms do your houses have?!!
I don't earn enough to buy a house that would allow me to have a dressing room - that's £1M+ surely? But I don't have more than two swimsuits/bikinis which suggests I probably don't go on the right holidays!

CoffeeCheeseandCupcakes · 21/02/2021 19:53

@didireallysaythat When we were house hunting for a 4 bed, probably 50% had converted the smallest box room into a walk-in wardrobe/dressing room. Definitely don't need a mansion (though appreciate still means having "surplus" room)

User7538943 · 21/02/2021 19:55

I'm glad I'm not the only one who has loads of clothes, when DS moved out I took over his bedroom of 2 double wardrobes and cupboard as well as the double wardrobe and 2 chest of drawers in our bedroom. Also the storage under the single bed is full of my out of season clothes, there's probably 50 pairs of shoes and boots and 20 coats dotted around the house.

Lockdown has been good for me clothes wise as I haven't added too much and there will be quite a lot to go out at the end of winter. I have also worn lots of unloved clothes and sales mistakes as no one has seen me in the house so some of those can go out now.

didireallysaythat · 21/02/2021 19:59

@CoffeeCheeseandCupcakes that's a really good point! For some reason I assumed everyone lives like me, 4 bedrooms, 2 kids and one of us in each room on a computer, so the smallest room has a desk and the spare bed mattress is upended against one wall.

During the first lockdown I used every trip out to drop off clothes I don't like at the recycling bins. Now I need to eBay the half of my wardrobe that I don't wear anymore.

User7538943 · 21/02/2021 20:00

@didireallysaythat

How many rooms do your houses have?!! I don't earn enough to buy a house that would allow me to have a dressing room - that's £1M+ surely? But I don't have more than two swimsuits/bikinis which suggests I probably don't go on the right holidays!
Ours is an average 2 double bedroom, 1 box room house but only 2 of us and I wouldn't want DS's old room to go to waste Grin or worse, DH store a load of hobby crap in there.
OublietteBravo · 21/02/2021 20:03

@didireallysaythat - I have 17 rooms at the moment (although this is about to change once the buildings work gets underway) as we accidentally bought a huge house several years ago. It didn’t cost anything close to £1million (it was around 1/3 of that - mostly because it’s a bit of a project).

TuckMyWin · 21/02/2021 20:12

This thread is unexpectedly fascinating. From owning only two sets of underwear and almost no socks and shoes, to accidentally buying a house with 17 rooms! 😆

PegasusReturns · 21/02/2021 20:28

I have much less today than I had a year ago, when I undertook a pretty impressive cull which saw me donating over 40 bin bags to charity.

There was a lot of stuff I was holding on to for the sake and my storage was under pressure. I haven’t missed a single thing.

I still have a lot, you could give me any scenario and I’d be ready to go: glamorous cocktails/tennis on the lawn/summer wedding/music gig/formal interview/afternoon shooting, but I have pared back.

I haven’t bought much this year: a couple of jumpers i think. I don’t budget as such although I have an idea of budget thresholds for various items. Mostly though I but what I like.

wendywoopywoo222 · 21/02/2021 20:35

I currently
Live with
14 knickers
14 pairs of socks
2 bras
1 coat
2 pairs of boots
1 pair of trainers
1 pair of slippers
2 pyjamas
Jogging Bottoms
2 pairs of jeans
3 fleeces
5 long sleeve tops
5 vest tops.

I moved into my boyfriends at lockdown and have a bedroom full of clothes at my house but havent been back there. I'm finding it very liberating owning so little.

Original poster
Pigtailsandall · 21/02/2021 20:39

@OublietteBravo Do you live in the Kentish coast? I'm in London and dreaming of moving to the seaside. I looked at a house for sale (600k) in Margate and it took me a while to realise it was actually 8 flats. What happened to you? We need to know Grin

OP posts:
Original poster
Pigtailsandall · 21/02/2021 20:41

@PegasusReturns I'm ready for every occasion too... the living room, the bedroom, the kitchen and oh, the park. The bloody park.
I hope you get to wear all your occasion wear soon!

OP posts: