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!

Ooh, what an interesting thread! I love the idea of having different clothing personalities! I have a lot of clothes (much of it via eBay and charity shops) and I love composing an interesting outfit from various bits and bobs, and I also don’t often repeat outfits (though wear individual items a lot). My ‘characters’ are witchy/hippy and one I’m not too sure about - veers from vintage to a bit of ‘cottagecore’ and dark academia. Today I went for vintagey denim skirt, 70s shirt over long sleeved tee, glittery tights and Converse one star in leopard print.

This thread is so interesting. Those of you who channel different clothing personalities, would you say that your body is easy to dress? I love this idea but I'm a 4ft 10 busty hourglass and I find it so hard to find clothes that fit and look good. I love a "gamine" look but really struggle to achieve it and not look ridiculous with a large bust and hips.

I’m short (5’3”) and a size 8-10, not tiny framed but my waist is quite neat.

Posted too soon! I have to take care that things don’t swamp me - easy to look as if I’ve joined the Amish in a big dress, for instance. I stopped wearing heels decades ago and I think the shoes I wear dictate my style quite a bit.

Lovinglife "EmmaH
You can organise garments in categories and within those categories organise by colour. My tops, trousers, dresses and skirts are hung from light to dark. It makes choosing outfits so much easier."

Thank you, i might try that tomorrow.

My friend was very taken with my jacket, I knew he would be!

I made a point of noticing what people were wearing today. It is quite hard to wear something that stands out, I'm guessing?

I have bought a couple of things that I will probably only wear at home because I'd feel a bit "look at me" in them. Ironically today's lunch place was smarter than I thought so I could have worn the other pieces there.

Do you feel different when you wear your four different looks soulinablackberrypie?

I don't feel like a whole different person but they each feel more right for different situations. Outdoorsy Hiker is a necessity, not really a style choice. I feel less like "me" in that look, but I'd feel equally silly wearing a floaty dress or something to wander about in the hills. The others, I try to match to the occasion, and if there's no occasion, just go with what I most feel like wearing that day. I'm not the sort of person who literally can't go out if they don't like what they're wearing, but it can low-level affect my enjoyment of a day if I feel very out of place in my clothes or they just don't match my mood.

Those of you who channel different clothing personalities, would you say that your body is easy to dress?

Ish. I'm medium height and usually size 16 with a rather straight-up-and-down body shape. Retro Librarian creates the illusion of a waist, French Art Expert (mostly black cocoon dresses) doesn't require one. Arty Hippie is more about the accessories anyway and Outdoorsy Hiker is more about being comfortable.

For me personally - too many clothes is when you can’t remember what you have, you have lots of similar items that you keep buying or/and you feel overwhelmed choosing an outfit because you have too much choice.

I used to have a ridiculous amount of clothes but over the last few years, I’ve slowly weaned myself of excess. My wardrobe is much more manageable now (I have too many coats though, still working on that!) The good thing about having less is I can clearly see everything hung & folded up in one place. It feels accessible.

I guess it is similar to a capsule wardrobe, in the sense that I have key pieces that make up lots of outfit combinations and I don’t have to waste time trying things on or overthinking my outfits.

Just catching up with this thread, lots of interesting comments, we had friends staying for the weekend so today I'm channeling 'hungover beatnik' (oversized black cashmere polo-neck, cropped black leather trousers, double espresso and a cigarette).

I see I'm not the only one who likes embracing a look, both of my sisters do it too, I'm not sure why, I love meeting them to see what they're wearing. Our brothers look fairly dapper but don't seem to have adopted our approach, one to ponder on.

I terms of an 'easy to dress body', I guess so, I'm just over 5'8", size 10, small boobs!

@soulinablackberrypie funny you should mention French are expert, I met one of my sisters for lunch recently and was channeling French art teacher, and she guessed right! We had a long chat about clothing personalities over a bottle of wine. I'm seeing her next Friday and am already mentally running through outfits.

Age-wise I'm 49 in April, but it’s not a consideration when it comes to choosing clothes. It drives me mad on here when an 'Am I too old to wear (insert perfectly regular item of clothing)?' thread pops up. Also the word 'appropriate' when combined with age. I've always been bold with my fashion choices, I've no desire to start blending into the background lest I offend someone with my advancing years!

That’s a wonderful attitude OP

I love the sound of your approach to clothes, I don't think I've got the brain space at the mo to do that.

I tried a capsule wardrobe a few years back when our office went to smart casual but I found that I was just wearing my home clothes at the office and then everything got scruffy all at once. I think I probably need at least twice my current number of clothes to stop that happening again but it feels like an uphill slog.

I feel like I have too many clothes, but not as many of the items listed as @VerityPJohnson 😮 Aside from a couple of things, I only have items I love though, so I’m wear all of them (there aren’t enough days to do that though 😳 ). I now have a new problem - inspired by The Great British Sewing Bee, I bought a lovely sewing machine in January and surprisingly, I’m not bad at dress making! I enjoy it, find it mindful and relaxing. That’s great, but I’ve made two skirts and I don’t need more skirts. I have several dress patterns and lovely fabric and, having lots of on tend lovely dresses, I don’t need more dresses! You get the picture. At least now when looking at the website of one of my favourite brands in response to a ‘sale’ email, I think, I don’t need to pay £70 (sale price) for that. I can make it for £25 with a nicer fabric!

Annie that's brilliant! A skill I'd like to learn in theory....in practice, I'd be terrible!

Since building a wardrobe I like, and I guess to some extent, not caring what others think, it's now a hazard that I see things I like everywhere!! I am scrolling through scarves...I could buy so many!!

@EmmaH2022 you might surprise yourself. I am not a practical person at all. I have a cerebral career and enjoy reading and getting out and about. Also, although I have lots of patience with people and animals, I usually have very little with anything else not going smoothly. I feared I would only ever make straightforward bags and cushions due to the straight shapes, but amazingly it turns out that I am patient with dressmaking and I can do it (I have a lot to learn of course). The moral of this story is, if you fancy it, give it a go! 🙂

I love my capsule wardrobe because I’m always put together. I get very easily overwhelmed and have days each month where my choices are disastrous so that’s taken all that away.

But I came to it slowly - part of it was getting on top of laundry and realising that when everything is clean there are certain things I wear over and over, and things I never touch.

I was shopping emotionally rather than logically. Now I don’t buy anything unless I can put it into an outfit - sometimes that means switching to a different colour, sometimes it means buying a few more items (and maybe deciding if that’s worth it). This has dramatically reduced the feeling of too many/overwhelm. Before I had a lot of gorgeous items that I couldn’t actually wear because I needed a certain height heel/a skinnier leg/ a slightly different shade….

By picking my favourites and then ensuring that I actually had all the supporting parts to wear them, I ended up with a much more functional wardrobe.

I still keep things I seldom wear because I need them occasionally and the odd beautiful thing that I’ll never wear but love to look at because it sparks joy.

Over loaded with clothes but can't find it in me to get rid. If it doesn't fit or is just chain store stuff I can part but if it's a good make I hang on to them. Unfortunately because of covid I've not been going out so my evening clothes are packed away

Ive got…

Jeans 2
Skirts 4
Long sleeved stripy tops 2
Long sleeve d plain tops 2
Thin jumpers 2
Thick jumpers 2
Vests 4
Hoody 1
Day dresses 3
Other dresses 2
Cardigans 2
Pjs 2
Coats/jackets 3
Swimming cossie, running gear etc in a small drawer
Think that’s roughly it.
I wouldn’t call it a capsule wardrobe but more if an ‘I hate shopping and look shot in everything anyway’ wardrobe.
🥴

I work in vintage/used textile industry and get free clothes from work- I have an absolute tonne of them, mix of vintage, designer and high steer. I do buy some new but not much- I try hard not too because I see the sheer extent of textile waste and it is an insane, terrible, mind boggling amount of wastage. I take some solace that in my job I refilling vintage clothing shops around the world so technically helping to recycle all those lovely garments!

To manage the clothes I do have, i rotate them very regularly. I don’t think I’ve worn the same outfit twice unless you count j’y ‘cleaning/DIY’ old stuff that I wear for messy stuff at home. I have bags in the loft, organised by season/category which I rummage through and bring down when needed. xo