how many dresses does one reasonably need??

[LetThemEatCake]

in my ever-valiant attempts to cull my extensive wardrobe, I've turned my steely stare to my big weakness - frocks. I have loads. I love them all but don't need them, surely.

About me:
I am a SAHM to 3 dcs, aged 3 and under
I work from home (freelance) but in a reasonably stylish occupation that requires me to look good when I meet with people
No more wedding invitations on the horizon for a while I think
Go out a fair bit usually ... not at the mo, as have new(ish) and bf baby but by summer will likely be child-free socialising 2-3 times a week

So how many dresses can I justify??

I am so the wrong person to answer this thread

Dresses are my weakness too .

If you wear them, I would say keep them.

Or.

If you don't totally want to get rid, choose say half a dozen which you will wear now and put others away. You can then use them on a rotation system and not get bored.

Not that I do that - other than packing away summer clothes/winter clothes as seasonally appropriate.

Keep a couple of corkers for snazzy do's, classics that you can keep getting out and not tire of.

Washable numbers for floor rolling activities with children

A Trendy one or two for nights out with gals.

dresses are also my weakness - so if you have any going on ebay give me the nod first won't you my dear

But in all honesty if they are fabulous and not super 'on trend' surely they will last till life is different and full of 'dress wearing occasions'. I can't bear to let any of mine go.

As another lover of dresses,I would say
two or three'timelesss classics'
three or even four evening
one 'funeral'
four winter day dresses
six summer day dresses
two beach type dresses.
O ris tha ttoo many??

no point in letting any of them go if you do honestly wear them, ( or would if you had a wedding etc) you will only replace them.

Keep them all (unless they are wrecked).

dresses, as in plural?

I have 3, including my wedding dress!

One more than you have at the moment!

I would keep all you like and fit into. No point ditching for no reason.

You need lots and lots........... only keep the ones that when you try them on you feel fab, chuck the rest and dont forget to replace them............ hmmm controversial!!!

As many as you can stuff into your wardrobes! I too am a dress addict. Dresses anonymous anyone?

Keep them all! You can never have enough dresses, they flatter everyone.

You can never have enough!

Dresses are my weakness too, they're so pretty

Keep them all, every single time I have parted with a dress I have regretted it a little(or lots) at some point later on, and can't believe I got rid of it.

What kind of dresses do you all have? I love dresses but own hardly any. Couple of wrap dresses (one in a very dated Boden print which I don't really like), a purple knitted dress, a LBD for black tie events and a couple of wedding style dresses but as a SAHM I would love to get more dresses. Got a great selection of shoes and boots that would cover every style of dress but always end up buying stuff to go with jeans which is rather dull.

Where do you get your dresses from and what styles are they? And any basics to go with them? (style of shoes or cardigans etc?)

How about keeping them all and pledging to not buy any more for a year or something? I agree with pp who said that if they are classics they'll last forever anyway so why get rid?

You probably don't 'need' more than 4/5 dresses. However....

I have a LOT more than 5 dresses! If you can afford them and will wear them, then why not? I give money to charity and overpay the mortgage every month/into an ISA/and a pension......if I then buy a dress as well then I think its ok!

HTH.

As a teenager, I rarely wore anything but jeans. I was quite chubby and mistakenly thought that dresses would make me look fat(ter).

I now rarely wear anything but dresses. At a guess, I'd say I have about 15, but I always feel like I could do with more.

Three basic classes:

Smart dresses for work
Casual dresses for daytime/weekend
Showy dresses for going out

Could probably do with developing a fourth category:

Wedding-y dresses

And possibly a fifth:

(elegant) Evening dresses

Slacksally loves dresses.

i LOVE dresses

always appropriate and make you feel nice and smartish. i have some. i would have more, but am ridiculously pearshaped with no tits whatsoever

I now feel fully justified in keeping ALL of my dresses.

Although I did give two away last night

But took delivery of one today ...

I am also a big, big fan of dresses. They are the most efficient form of clothing too as one piece replaces (at least) two separates

Therefore, your dresses are actually space-saving and you should try to cull tops and trousers/ skirts before you do dresses

In any case, I wouldn't start with an 'optimum number' but would think about whether each one still fits, doesn't look outdated/ is classic enough to be wearable in the future, etc. and just remove those (if any) that don't pass muster!