Just how many clothes do I really need?

[Zippedydodah]

I’m 71, retired, rarely go out anywhere posh, live rurally and spend my days walking the dogs, gardening, doing crafts and enjoying my life.
I’m 12.5st, 5’6”.
I also have far, far too many clothes, embarrassingly so! I have 4 double wardrobes full, plus at least 14 coats and jackets and I daren’t count how many tee shirts, shoes and boots.
Ideally I want to pare my hoard down drastically.
What do I really need?
All suggestions very welcome 🙏

I can assure you I would and do notice. I'd never say anything . You (general you) might not care but you are fooling yourselves that no one notices.

If it feels a bit daunting to tackle at once, perhaps start small e.g.

day one - underwear
day two - socks
day three - pyjamas

Are there any definite nos? Can these be donated, sold or thrown away?

If I loved an item, I'd be tempted to keep it e.g. could it be revived by altering, mending and/or new buttons?

I mean after the experiment I told close friends and colleagues and was met with genuine surprise and interest (some even did it after this).

I love clothes and have loads, but something I found useful (I can’t remember where I read it to credit) was to think of your life like a cake, and “slice” it how you spend your time. Then your wardrobe should match up with the slices. So eg if you spend 50% of your time in a corporate office, 20% on the sofa watching Netflix, and 30% in swanky cocktail bars, that’s how your wardrobe would be divided up. Essentially if you spend 95% of your time walking your dog in muddy woods, you don’t need 95% of your wardrobe to be ballgowns.

@Judystilldreamsofhorses I think that's brilliant

If everything fits comfortably in the wardrobes your fine. If it's squeezed in or bursting out then a cull is a good idea. Have you tried wearing everything you have? I started doing that and it was illuminating in itself. A few lovely items but they just don't suit me.

I didn’t make it up, I probably saw it on TikTok!

I also definitely didn’t make up the Pareto Principle (80% of business comes from 20% of customers) but when I teach it to students, to get them to remember it I tell them “you wear 20% of your wardrobe 80% of the time” and I think that is a very useful thing to remember. Make that 20% amazing, or wear the other 80%!

But real life isn't really as compartmentalised as that; especially now that far fewer people wear "corporate workwear"

And as for sitting on the sofa watching netflix, I'm wearing this Ganni dress, over a long sleeved thermal dress and a cardigan on top.
Ganni tartan dress.

I don't have a dog but if I did I'm sure sturdy waterproof boots and long waterproof could go on top of it. I could (although I don't) wear it to the office.

Okay, I wasn’t saying it was foolproof, and I used very extreme examples (I’m a lecturer!). But no point in having a wardrobe of clubbing clothes if you last went to a club pre-Covid, surely?

Thinking on it more @IHaveAlwaysLivedintheCastle it probably depends on how you dress “at home”. I’m wearing the t-shirt I had on during the day (also Ganni, a very cute cat one!) but the rest of my day clothes I changed out of after having a bath. Now I have Cos joggers, a big Arket sweatshirt over the tee, and Birkenstock clogs.

I always change into “comfies” but don’t want to be in total scruffy things, so I have a “slice” of my wardrobe which is decent loungewear. I don’t wear pyjamas so that’s not in my cake, but some people might watch Netflix or whatever in those. My partner wears office clothes (suit trousers, collared shirts) to work, then changes into jeans/hoody/jumper type stuff after work, so he skips this “slice” completely. I don’t have the office-wear “slice” really, as my work clothes tend to be smart-casual, but I don’t wear the things I wear to work for not-work so there is a division.

I wore a Samantha Sung shirt dress similar to this to work and changed into the Ganni dress.
Samantha Sung wool shirt dress.

I'd wear either of them at the weekend to go to lunch , or a museum, art gallery, general socialising and the Ganni dress just as a throw it on at the weekend dress even if I weren't going out (Actually maybe not the Samantha Sung dress just because it must be at least 10 years old and there's newer stuff) I haven't worn jeans in decades and have never owned loungewear.

Everyone's different but the "333" rules / only have what you need just looks so boring.

On a practical level I don't see what's wrong with having a selection, even a large selection, of coats, jackets and rainwear or knitwear That's an essential as far as I'm concerned- there's so many different scenarios- no one or 2 will cover all of them.

I know what you mean OP. I had clothes for work and clothes for non work, and as soon as I retired the work clothes went. Even now I still think I have too many clothes and keep culling. I've reached a stage - probably after having to single handedly clear out my parents homes in recent years - where I just hate having too much "stuff". I would rather have a small number of clothes which I love and wear than wardrobes full of things I might (and might not) wear some day.

I didn't read the OP as needing less exciting clothes but just fewer items. I may have read that wrong. My much smaller amount of clothes isn't a utilitarian collection of "dog walking" clothes (in quotes because of the below). It's a fabulous range of beautiful things, and I do lounge about and go to the shops and walk dogs in these wonderful things. Since the pandemic I am actually better dressed all the time because I had the time to think and organise my wardrobe accordingly. I no longer have seperate category of work clothes, my job is smart but in no way corporate. Getting dressed is a pleasure, but I'm sure it's so much easier by not having 4 wardrobes of options

Agree re boring 333

You sound very stylish and glam, and you clearly live a very different life to mine. I can’t ever imagine throwing on a Ganni dress to make dinner and watch telly, or not owning jeans! I guess that reiterates my point about the “slices” of your “cake/life” matching your wardrobe, whatever your lifestyle and style are?

I completely agree that the likes of project 333 and a “capsule wardrobe” are not personally appealing - but you’re absolutely right, everyone is different!

Not only boring, but I also don’t think at any price point many clothes are made with the quality to sustain that level of wear anymore. Even a higher quality jumper is going to wear badly if you need to wear it every other day for the entire of the cooler season!

Ooh can I come and help you declutter? it's my current retirement hobby.

What you need does depend on your lifestyle and your attitude to laundry.

I've found I really don't need many clothes at all, although I do have some that I am keeping just because of the memories. I have one wardrobe that's got a bit of space in it, and a chest of drawers.

Do the whole Marie Kondo/Sort Your Life Out thing. Empty a whole wardrobe into a heap. Go through the items one by one chucking out anything you don't really like, that doesn't fit, that's tatty and old, that you haven't worn for years and can't imagine ever wearing again.

Of the leftover heap, go back through and sort them into categories so you can see if you have a ridiculous amount of one thing (eg black trousers, jeans, shirts), pick out a sensible number of the ones you really love and would pay money to keep.

I now put clean clothes back into the lefthand side of my wardrobe; what doesnt get worn gradually moves to the right hand side. Every so often I look through the right hand side and find things I love and wear them, or find things that I realise I can now let go of.

Vinted can be a distraction - for a bulk cull it's easier to take them to a charity shop and be done.

Having lots of clothes is only a problem if you cannot afford them or their storage is making your life miserable.

I love a good declutter and sort out but where’s the fun in purposeful restricting how you enjoy clothes.

if you want to be more organised I’ve had a bit of fun with a wardrobe app which tracks what I wear and how often (including price per wear) which has helped me to think both more constructively and consciously about what I buy.

I'm 60, life has changed a lot over the last year or so and am currently having a big sort out.
I've started with if I haven't worn it for 6 months it can go.
The exception is a couple of velvet dresses and a pair of velvet trousers which will cover Christmas and any winter do's for the next decade or so.
I've thought about how I actually spend my days. I no longer work in an office, am a foster carer and my main interest is my allotment. I live in track pants. I've kept one smart pair of trousers ' just in case '.
I've kept my linen trousers which are my staples until it's too cold.

For tops I've got half a dozen or so shirts/blouses which I can dress up or down. Plus a couple of velvet shirts.
I need to address my cardi collection, I love a good cardigan!

So I'm trying to get to a 'capsule' type wardrobe. I know what colours suit me so stick to blues, with a bit of purple and black so I can mix and match.
I've given a lot of beautiful Monsoon items I've had for years to the charity shop, I was sad to see them go but my 'style' has changed a lot, and realistically I'll never wear them again so I'd rather someone else use them.

I go through all my clothes twice a year (when I get my winter things out and when I get my summer things out) and get rid of anything I don’t love - I’m brutal. Then I either sell on Vinted if it’s designer or take to charity shop if it’s high street.

there is some happy medium between 33 items and 4 wardrobes full

there are several good suggestions firstly getting rid of anything that doesn't fit or is itchy / clingy or dosn't hang right on you, or you simply don't like anymore, anything stained or awaiting repair that realistically is not going to happen.

look at the occasional wear items are you going to use them again if you last went skiing in 2023 you might however if you last went skiing in 2003 you probably won't

if you have several business suits you no longer have need for, set aside a dark funeral outfit and maybe could you wear a couple of the jackets in different combinations say to dress up jeabs or chinos for a dinner? or maybe donate to a charity that gives away business interview outfits

have one wardrobe for your everyday clothes one wardrobe for occassion wear and ne wardrobe for i am not sure stuff and put the things you ae pretty sure you no longer want in wardrobe 4 then start again at wardrobe 4 and decide want you want to keep then move onto wardrobe 3 by then you will have probably got it doewn to 3 wardrobes then maybe when you are ready you could get down to 2 wardrobes 1 current wardrobe 2 seasonal items swapped in and out of wardrobe 1 together with occasion wear

@Judystilldreamsofhorses
This percentage rule is something I saw in a book by Anuschka Rees, The Curated Closet. However, she might have read it somewhere, too....

@Zippedydodah

As long as you have suitable space for the clothes and they are not in danger of deteriorating, I wouldn't clear out everything. There were many good ideas mentioned on this thread, but if the clothes keep, those which are simply too numerous now could still be kept at the back and you could wear them in a couple of years when the current lot is worn out.
I would also consider that you will hopefully live very long but in retirement you have a fixed amount of income and not so many earning options anymore.

Looking at the news, the prices rollercoaster and the political situation, things could become much more expensive or hard to replace when resources are not as available anymore (remember the restrictions from Covid and the problems with production when supply chains are interrrupted).

I wouldn't rely on being able to always shop and replace stuff at a whim in years to come.
If you have the space and are not moving anytime soon, I would at least keep items which are nice but still too much in amount for a different year.

The selling sounds so easy, but numerous people have problems with buyers on Vinted or Ebay (or Facebook marketplace or whereever), or the companies do not release your money for some reason, there are scammers, too, it is time consuming to make sure one has good buyers. And the prices, unless you have collectibles, are never anywhere near to buy you a replacement.

That's why I would only discard items which are either worn down or where you are really sure you don't want them anymore, like specific work wear or suits etc. That can already free a lot of space. But I wouldn't get rid of anything just out of principle.

If you don't need the sales money and have suitable clothes for the recipients, perhaps a women's shelter would be another option, as often they have to leave their home with very few things.

by the way, I read that even Marie Kondo doesn't kondo like she used to do, now that she has children and a family life. Perhaps that's one small hint that her idea isn't universally suitable for everything and everyone.

ForestAtTheSea Agree with all of that. I have loads of clothes, some of which were very
expensive and some of which are very old. I won't be getting rid of them, except as you stuff which is really past it.

You read a lot on here about things looking dated. I'm not convinced actual clothes do date that quickly. Extremes of fast fashion do e.g that mad look of buying pre ripped jeans, but it's often the styling, make up, hair and accessories which make a piece of clothing look dated, not the actual item.

A recent example where I noticed this was, of all things, the documentary Becoming Led Zeppelin. There was footage of 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s. If you took away the make up etc, the 1950s women were wearing neat little Peter Pan blouses or cardigans and full skirts, the early to mid 1960s women were wearing A line shift dresses and the late 1960s and 1970s, more hippyish/ Laura Ashley. All of which to use an MN cliché, wouldn't make anyone bat an eye-lid if worn now.

Here's an extreme example 2 dresses not looking dated. One is Rixo's current season.

The black and white photograph is from the mid 1930s. It's one of Dorothea Lange's Depression Era photographs. I've posted that photo before. I'm ambivalent about it as it seems frivolous to consider it in the context of "Style and Beauty" but on the other hand the young woman is beautiful and elegant despite the circumstances.

@IHaveAlwaysLivedintheCastle

That's another good point; what now looks out of fashion could be back in a few years, and the cycle continues all the time. I know a few people who love the 70s look and could "shop" in their parents wardrobe or from what they kept in the loft. And you see it all the time, a while back everything from the 90s or 2000s returned.

I bet many designers also turn to old pattern books from their companies.

In one fashion book I read there was the argument: but oh, the new revival of the specific look will have tweaks and different fabrics and everyone will know your item is not new, but from older family members or a vintage shop (or even your own from 8 years prior). But outwith exceptional cases (people in the fashion industry and similar) in real life few will know.

What you mentioned as well, the styling and accessories can change a look quite a bit. I thought, too, that trends like cottage-core or dark academia or Bridgerton retro suddenly drag items back into the spotlight that a few years ago were only worn by a minority.
So you never know, a fabulous coat that looks different from current trends could be the height of fashion again in 2 years.

I actually wish I kept a few more things that I didn't like for a while but which were still in good shape; now I miss them; I won't make that mistake again.

Another aspect is that people paid for their things with time/labor/effort, to wear something only a few times means that you paid more than what you could use in return.