How many clothes is too many? How many clothes is enough?

[Pangolin44]

I often find myself considering this question. I've got what I consider to be a 'fair amount' of clothes, I do love clothes, but I'm pretty disciplined about jettisoning things that don't really work for me, so there's a good bit of natural churn that goes on.

I actually feel quite stressed when I have too many clothes as I forget what I've got, and I do like to wear all my clothes, and then I'll read about capsule wardrobes and it all sounds very serene and organised, but then I'll think about the implications of that and I'd find it very limiting. I lull myself to sleep thinking about outfit combinations it's very soothing!

I don't think I ever wear the same outfit more than twice, each individual item yes, but in different ways.

There's no real point to this thread, I'm just interested to hear other people's approach to their wardrobe. I just fancy a bit of wardrobe chat!

I'm forever buying clothes but have nothing to wear. I never throw things away. I just put things away and take them out ages later. I wear the same outfit over and over. I love dresses because they are comfy but look put together. I have hardly any evening out clothes because I don't go out much. I always want / need more clothes. I'm not stylish.

That's interesting @ZenNudist, I hear that a lot when people have lots of clothes but nothing to wear. Why do think that is? Do you think it's because you've got too many clothes so it becomes overwhelming to think about or because you buy something you like the look of with no idea of how it will work with what you already have?

And why do you wear the same outfit over and over? That's not a pointed question BTW, I'm just really interested in the psychology of wardrobes!

My wardrobe goal is to get to a point where I never need to buy another thing. I have 30ish things per season which does mean wearing the same thing a lot, especially for work. I want to take all the decision making out of getting dressed which to me means having alot less. Not quite minimal but almost.

Do you really never repeat outfits? I love shopping and buy a fair amount of new clothes but I do repeat outfits regularly. I have one small wardrobe, one large chest of drawers and a zipped bag under the bed with eg bikinis/holiday dresses/super fancy wedding type wear/all my smartest work clothes in it.

I do think about outfits when I buy clothes, but I also make mistakes like buying things that are slightly too tight hoping to slim into them. You’d think I’d have worked that one out by now but no. I used to have more workwear than anything else because I spent 4 days a week in the office, but now that I haven’t bought any workwear in two years somehow all my older stuff looks a bit tatty and not right. I used to have one pair of jeans only at any given time, but now I have 4 pairs that fit and 3 pairs that are too small. I think 99% of my lockdown purchases have been knitwear, skirts, jeans and joggers. So I suddenly realised that an awful lot of my tops are looking very old and scruffy and I’ve got a bunch lined up waiting for payday.

I've recently been wearing two pairs of jeans, five long sleeved tops the same in different colours, three merino jumpers, and a hoodie on top at home if I'm cold. I sometimes pick the top that's next in the drawer, sometimes choose one, change jumper when I feel like it at weekends (stick to the one at work but I'm usually warm enough without). I have summer clothes too obviously.

want to have a good time with me sue?😉

I would also like to know how many clothes people have. You’d need categories, though. Mine are:

Workwear
Casual but nice eg go to pub
Scruffy casual/dog walking
Sportswear
Big woolly jumpers
Summer clothes eg shorts, vests, summer skirts
Holiday clothes - bikinis etc
Very very smart eg tailored shift dresses/suit jackets
Dresses for weddings
Going out out (very small category these days, sadly)

Same as pp, wardrobe full to the brim but always feel like I’ve got nothing to wear or end up wearing the same stuff all the time. I definitely have too many going out dresses. I think because I rarely get the chance to go out now that when I do it’s a big event and I want a new dress! But then I never end up wearing them again.
I wear the same half dozen work clothes over and over (but only do three days so it’s two weeks worth)
I have probably enough gym clothes for maybe 5 days at the gym but I never go that frequently before doing a clothes wash
Jeans I have a couple but literally wear the same ones. Half a dozen jumpers, probably same amount of t shirts and a few day time dresses. Then loads of jackets but they’re never quite right for the occasion
I really want to dump it all on my bedroom floor and properly sort my stuff out but it’s such a mammoth task.

I have one double wardrobe which stores coats and jackets. I rotate summer and winter clothes.

I place my clothes in order of top, trousers, skirts, dresses, jeans and then in colour order. I wear everything and when picking up an item I consciously think about what I can team it with at home to make a complete outfit.

I own only 4 pairs of jeans which are more than enough as I dress smartly for work 5 days a week.

I would struggle with several wardrobes of clothes and no order as to how I hang them. I once read a thread where a poster asked if she had too many clothes. I am sure she had three double wardrobes of clothes squashed in like sardines. Some posters insisted this was not a lot. I was flabbergasted!

I think the tendency is often to buy clothes for warmer weather or for dates/nights out. Cure stuff y'know. But that covers what, 20 days out of the year? So other 300+ we have sod all to wear xD

*cute stuff

No @TooExtraImmatureCheddar, I don't repeat outfits more than twice, if I find an outfit I love, I'll wear it again, but then another idea pops in my head, so I'll try that. I think I approach clothes from a 'looks based' perspective. Last week I nailed the 70s US West-coast investigate journalist look, I was very pleased with it! Today my theme was 80s avant-garde band manager.

It sounds very fancy dress or costume, but it's not, it's playing with the idea of image I guess. I've always done it. My mother sees it as some kind of character failing as she says 'you dress to look like different people all the time'.

Which is why I'm interested in other people's approach to their wardrobe.

Oooh, I love that approach, Pangolin! I do that sometimes but not every day. I have really missed putting together outfits - I used to enjoy getting dressed most days pre-Covid and actively sought the most interesting work-appropriate clothes. Now I’m trying to up the ante a little with casual clothes so I get the same buzz even if I’m just at home/doing the school run/walking the dog. I’d do better if I was one consistent weight, too. An embarrassing percentage of my wardrobe is currently unwearable.

Ahh. I never buy a new outfit for an event because I know I'll have something in my wardrobe.

Maybe that's the thing. I buy for an imagined future, so when it occurs I have 'just the thing', I've never bought an outfit specifically for an event. I want to know my wardrobe can work for me, whatever the question, it has an answer!

Having said that, the 'imagined future' I buy for, also has a utility now. I don't buy clothes I'm only going to wear once.

In terms of size, a large triple wardrobe for current and a double for things that go for a rest and may be reintroduced. Shoes? 50 pairs ish, maybe 30 on regular rotation and others that have an occasional place. Bags, 20-ish. Accessories, without number.

Jeans? 5.

It doesn't feel like too much because I regularly take the whole lot out and assess.

OP "Last week I nailed the 70s US West-coast investigate journalist look, I was very pleased with it!"

Curious to know what this is. Suit and trenchcoat?

I love this approach to building a wardrobe OP

Did any of you watch Dragons' Den tonight? There was an app developer on there and her app was for exactly the sort of thing!

@EmmaH2022 it was flared jeans, a Dodo Bar Or polo top, Chloe stack heel boots, a Loewe hammock bag, a Sezanne trench and a pair of Chloe octagon sunglasses. My hair was in a loose low bun.

Really @HollowTalk, what did it do?

Ooh, this thread is fascinating. I have probably far too many. Certainly I don't have enough storage space for what I do have. I hang onto things that I objectively love but rarely wear. This has got worse since I went from an office job in a creative industry where getting dressed really set the tone for my day and I enjoyed expressing my self through my clothes, to being a SAHM. My twins are now 3 and I probably wear maybe 10% of my wardrobe regularly because most of things I once wore frequently don't work for my lifestyle anymore. I've tried to adjust my buying to match my more casual lifestyle, but it is an effort as it doesn't really match my natural style and I still succumb to the lure of a beautiful printed midi dress/skirt occasionally. When I do have the occasion to dress up I'm then paralysed by the options. Meanwhile I wear the same leggings and oversized t-shirts jumpers day in day out without really enjoying it. In a way I regard clothes as a hobby and an investment. I hope one day my daughter will be able to raid and enjoy my vast collection, just as I always wish my mum had kept some of the amazing things I've seen in pictures of her from the late 70s and 80s! So I can't bring myself to get rid of things. I frequently regret some of my more ruthless culling from the past when I think of things I got rid of. But there may come a point when I can't actually house any more clothes so something will have to give... I appreciate I probably sound painfully shallow, but beautiful clothes are genuinely my passion, in the same way some people buy art or porcelain or whatever.

I think I probably have too many clothes but that means I am not constantly washing them. I also wear out my clothes quite a bit which think is a good sign but could just be I don’t move with the times.

Despite buying clothes often I never feel entirely satisfied. Sometimes on a good day I pull together a spot on outfit but often I feel like something is lacking, think that’s what keeps me perennially searching for the perfect addition. You wouldn’t know to look at me how much time I spend on dressing. Pretty sure some women find it effortless.

I’m a funny shape so like to wear a uniform of sorts. I wear this uniform every day, regardless of what I am doing, in various iterations but never wear the same iteration/outfit twice. Again always looking for something else!

I have all my clothes on Stylebook which can suggest new iterations. This currently shows 33 tops, 22 pairs of jeans and trousers and 28 cardigans. And still I look for more.

Part of my problem is buying duplicates, so say tops in different colours, so when I go off one, I go off them all.

I have got better about buying more hard working basics and I do buy things for my lifestyle. I do have a tendency to buy statement jackets and cardigans which are hard to wear, don’t go with things and which I get bored of quickly.

I am a total hoarder and keep things for years. I like that though. I dug out a top I hadn’t worn for 10 years the other day and found a new way to wear it. So glad I kept it.
My main problem at the moment is I have recently put on a stone and can’t seem to shift it. Currently can’t wear half of my wardrobe and it is getting me down. I don’t know how long to leave it before I give in and get rid of stuff. I can’t seem to find many clothes to replace the ones I’ve got these days though. I don’t suit the current fashions due to my apple/ mum tum shape.