Shelf life of your clothes

[WineThirty]

On average, how regularly do you "replace" or add to your wardrobe? I mean here clothes you wear fairly regularly and not things you might still have in your wardrobe but never actually wear.
I have lost a bit of weight recently and it feels like i need to buy quite a lot of stuff at once (having eked out my old clothes as long as possible) whereas my previous clothes in my old size were bought over a period of years.
I think i may be worried that if i buy everything pretty much at once, i might not have an excuse to buy anything else new for years and i will be stuck in 2025 season clothes for years!
I appreciate this is partly dictated by budgetary constraints.

I agree, if you’re not someone who throws things away for no reason you definitely don’t want your entire wardrobe to be Spring 2025.

My wardrobe falls roughly into two unequal halves: Good Things - that I’m likely to wear until they’re worn out, and cheap stuff (say Zara) - bought to lend a bit of nowness to the better pieces. From the first group I’m regularly wearing things bought up to eight or nine years ago. From the second … it depends how long a garment still looks current and / or in good repair. Might be months, might be a year. Generally those things become home clothes pretty fast.

Good question for the time of year!

Thanks Blossom, this is a good way to approach it - spend less on very current stuff (eg the butter yellow top i have in mind) which get replaced more frequently, and more on classics.

Oh, not all the longer term residents in my wardrobe are ‘classics’. Some are simply outstanding things - a fabulous colour or a unique knit - that uplift any outfit. But yes - it is really satisfying to come upon a relatively cheap skirt, say, and realise it’s exactly what a particular jumper bought five years ago has been waiting for. Or for an outrageously expensive shirt, originally worn for the most important meetings, to gradually work its way down to everyday wear over a decade - and then be surprised when people exclaim at its loveliness because by then it’s almost a part of me. (Sorry if that sounds wanky - don’t know how else to describe it.)

(Truthfully, I get most satisfaction from things that really were a stretch of sense and wallet - but years later I still have them. I like a bargain as much as anyone - but …)

How do you keep track of your clothes? I saw an app mentioned on another thread (Whering) which i am pondering using as I build my new wardrobe. Not sure I am organised enough though!
I am actually surprised at how few items in my "old" wardrobe i feel i will miss. Maybe i was not so excited by clothes buying when i was larger.

I just keep my wardrobe to a manageable level. 😂

Seriously - there was a point as an undergraduate where I was reduced to about seven items of clothes in total (half from charity shops) and I was meticulously well dressed. So I may make extravagant purchases but shop rarely and try not to have more than I can make sense of. (Always completely gobsmacked by posters revealing 40 of this, 70 of that … I’d have to run away from home if I had so many clothes to attend to.)

I used to buy quite plain classic clothes and then keep them for years. When I lost weight four years ago I couldn’t accept I wasn’t the same size anymore and I didn’t want to get rid of my clothes, partly because I had spent years building up my wardrobe and partly because I thought I might put the weight back on.

I still tend to buy plain pieces but with a few cheap fashion items too. I would say it took two or maybe nearer three years really before I was happy I had everything I needed and it cost a bloody fortune.

I use the Stylebook app and love it, yes it took ages cataloguing everything at first, I had to do it in stages. Now I’ve got absolutely everything listed on there and it was really satisfying knowing I’d photographed the last piece. I’m very careful to make sure if I do buy anything new I list it as soon as I’ve bought it so the app is always up to date.

yes my current plan is to keep my wardrobe relatively small, but need to rein myself in as i am very much enjoying buying clothes now compared to the past. I do need smart work clothes, casual clothes for the days I don't work (dog walking etc) and some going out clothes for a range of occasions. i can keep the casual clothes to a minimum and rewear fairly often but in my industry people still dress smartly and although i am only in the office a couple of days a week, i dont think i would be happy with just 2 or 3 work outfits (say) as i would feel like i was wearing the same thing every time i am in. Also dont like rewearing going out clothes too often when i am with the same people. Not that they would remember what i wore last time, but i would feel like they did!

I get rid of something if it is beyond repair of if I totally go off it or never liked it in the first place. I've been roughly the same size since my mid teens so some of my stuff is 30 years old. I probably buy 4-6 items per year but often don't get rid of that many so slowly my wardrobe accumulates. It's probably too big but I enjoy having variety.