How many pieces of clothing do you own?
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A friend recently mentioned that her roommate owned 60 pairs of jeans. 60! Apparently, they started counting while packing the apartment in preparation for a big move. I was stunned. Is it possible to own 60 pairs of jeans?!
But before I judge my friend’s roommate (it may be too late) I decided to count everything in my own closet. Here is my inventory of my entire wardrobe, including summer, winter, sporty, and any maternity clothes I have not gotten rid of.
How many pairs of jeans do you own?
Bottoms
Jeans – 3 7 (I found 4 pairs hiding under my bed)
Cords – 2
Slacks – 3
Capris – 2
Shorts – 4
Skirts – 9
Jumper – 1
Tops
T-shirts (including tank tops, long sleeve, and short sleeve) – 47
Fancy tops – 13
Dresses – 18 (including my junior prom dress)
Warm Stuff
Sweaters (including cardigans, zip ups, vests and one faux leopard print shoulder wrap) – 20
Jackets – 14
Coats – 4
Scarves – 5
Shoes
Shoes – 6
Cleats and sport shoes – 3
Boots – 5
Sandals and Heels – 14
Sport clothes (biking, swimming, yoga, volleyball, hiking, running)
Shorts – 8
Tops – 14
Long sleeve tops – 2
Wind breaker – 1
Bottoms – 7
Swimsuits – 2.5 (not sure where those bikini bottoms went!)
Sport bras – 4
Skort – 1
Misc.
Socks – 16
Underwear – 13
Bras – 9
Pajamas – 15
Camisole – 1
Robes – 3
Tights – 4
A breakdown of the categories above, as a percentage of my closet.
Tops are 29%.
Misc. items are 23%.
Sporty clothes are 15%.
Warm stuff is 14.5%.
Shoes are 10%.
Bottoms are 8.5%.
How many pieces of clothing do I own?
Unless I have another pair of jeans hiding under the bed (I made sure to count everything in the dirty laundry basket), this adds up to 269.5 items of clothing. That’s a lot more than I thought!
I can no longer think of myself as someone who doesn’t buy a lot of clothes.
Because clearly I do! Whether I acquired the clothing through gifts, at a thrift shop, or purchased new (with a coupon, I dare say!), the sheer number of clothing items – 269 and that half bikini – strike me as way too many.
Why do I have so many clothes?
Does owning so many clothes cost me money? I refuse to buy anything that requires ironing, so no time or money lost there. Few of my sweaters are ever dry cleaned, less than 3 a year, I’d estimate. So that cost is negligible.
But you could argue that my clothes take up space, and with fewer clothes I would be comfortable in a smaller, cheaper house. You could also argue that so many clothes take up mental space, prolonging the daily chore of deciding what to wear. (I suspect fashionistas don’t consider this a chore, but an opportunity.) More importantly…
Does owning a certain amount of clothes make you want to own even more?
If you have the “perfect” cocktail dress, does it make you more likely to spend money to acquire the “perfect” pair of heels to go with? Does having one pair of black boots make you yearn for a pair in brown?
I once worked for a musician who was a minimalist.
His entire wardrobe consisted of the following items, purchased at The Gap (this was the 90s, so you can imagine how plain they were). Four pairs of tan khakis, a half dozen white crew cut T-shirts, and a handful of light blue jean button down long sleeve shirts.
He never wasted time deciding what to wear in the morning – and he never spent money buying more clothes.
Another thing that surprised me about taking inventory of my closets. It only took 15 minutes!
Welcome to Bargain Babe! I’m Mara, and I’m so glad you’re here. I am an obsessive bargain hunter and penny pincher, and I am determined to live a full life without EVER paying full price.
I’m going to do an inventory soon…but I KNOW I don’t own that many items of clothing. First, this is California, where to me, it’s always warm. I wear jeans most of the time, when I’m not wearing one of my 4 pair of capris, I have shoes enough to fill one of those shoe trees, but not overflowing……..I’m not a big shopper, never was, so my closet is not bulging. My husband has more in t-shirts than I do!
@Michelle Ventresca When you take inventory, let me know your numbers. 🙂 Living in a one-season climate makes it easier to own fewer clothes, but you sound like you are good at keeping your wardrobe down to a minimum anyway. I’m curious what your total is!
funny you should mention, I was going to work on my closet this weekend to swap out the winter for summer. I do have a lot of clothes broken down by seasons, shoes included. Its a good time to inventory what fits, what I haven’t worn, and give away things. Too many, is probably a good guess for me.
@di I’ve started to switch my summer and winter clothes. Brought down two plastic crates of summer clothes, but haven’t pulled out all my winter ones and put them into the attic. The semi-annual switch is a great time to cull through clothes and donate whatever you can. There’s nothing like a pared down closet to make getting dressed easy!
Oh, I know I own more than you’ve listed! lol…I have straightleg jeans to wear with tennis shoes and then I have boot cut to wear with my cowboy boots….then, I have jeans that fit, jeans that are a little too tight, and ones that are a little too big. I’ve learned that any weight I gain or lose is right in my butt, stomach, thigh area. If I don’t keep an assortment of sizes I may not have anything to wear one day! Crazy but very true! I love shoes, so I have a decent assortment of those. It doesn’t feel like I have a lot of clothes, but I probably do. Still, I just love finding a few new pieces when the seasons change.
@Melissa I can totally identify with your dilemma. I have three sizes for pants in my closet as I can be any of those throughout the year.
@Melissa You just made me realize I have two more pairs of jeans hidden somewhere! I DO own two pairs of skinny jeans…but I have no idea where they are. Shoot. I hate it when I put things “in a clever place” and then can never find them again. My jean sizes also vary to accommodate a few bowls of ice cream, or a week when I’ve been exercising a lot. A little stretch comes in handy!
So, what’s your number?
I’m guilty of overbuying when it comes to clothes, and as a world-class procrastinator, I never seem to get around to weeding out things I no longer, or rarely, wear. Not sure I can count high enough to run an inventory!
@EllieD Aha! We’ve discovered your weakness. 🙂 We all have one. I think mine is food, specifically eating out! I’ll blame my years living in NYC, which has the most amazing restaurants, for developing this expensive habit. I know you’re incredibly savvy about spending money on food. So I guess we have opposite weaknesses. 🙂
I can’t believe BB that you only have 5 scarves and you live in cold weather! I probably have close to 100 and I don’t plan on counting them. I live in So. Cal! Just love scarves, make them, get them as presents and always buy some when I travel overseas to remind me of my travels, easy to pack and bring back as gifts too. On the other hand I only have 2 dresses – we are all so different! This was really interesting.
@Diane Wow, 100 scarves! And the two I own are really decorative, not for keeping warm at all. I discovered after living through enough East Coast winters that scarves don’t keep me as warm as a fleece zip up and coat with a hoodie. Scarves constantly need to be adjusted and the cold air always seems to find a way through. Now I zip up to my chin and am nice and toasty!
On the other hand – 2 dresses in SoCal!?! I’m aghast. Do you wear shorts? Skirts? I love the ease and simplicity of dresses.
I’m a purger, so I tend to get rid of things I haven’t worn in a while when I bring new things in. But also, being tall (I need a 34″ inseam) and having big feet (11.5) means I don’t buy much because I have to look looooooong and hard to find pants and shoes that fit! I’m jealous you have 15 pairs of pajamas, I can’t even find ONE that are long enough!!
@Julie Hills I have a soft spot for pajamas. I just loooooove them. Maybe it’s because my Mom used to give us pjs as gifts hidden under the candy in our Easter basket. Always made them seem so special.
I wish I could purge like you! If I’m not in the right mood, I get wishy washy and cling to stuff I never wear. Sigh. I think I need you to come over and help me “edit” my closets!
As for large shoes and tall pants, have you tried Nordstrom’s? They usually carry size 11 (guess that’s not good enough for your 11.5 feet) and I’ve heard they have up to size 12 online. PJs – maybe try men’s? Not as cute patterns, but at least they’ll fit. Or perhaps you sew your own?
Yup, I do men’s PJs but they have a huge crotch/rise on a woman and I have to fold them over a bunch. For shoes, I do DSW and Nordstrom Rack. 11.5 is hard to come by though! But last year, I discovered Nike makes women’s cleats in an 11.5!! It revolutionized Ultimate for me, without having to wear men’s cleats that were too wide for my feet. As far as pants, I don’t have too much trouble finding jeans but I would kill for some comfy chinos or cargo pants and I seem to have a really hard time finding them long, or if I find them they’re at JCrew and $85, which is so expensive for me that I’d be afraid to wear them. I suppose I’ll just have to start saving my pennies and biting the bullet!
@Julie Hills Glad you found cleats that are made for your foot! As for chinos and khaki’s, I’ve never had a pair that didn’t eventually fit too short. It’s like they continue to shrink every single wash! Very frustrating. I wonder if there are other brands that make Tall sizes…Gap? LLBean? Haven’t bought slacks in a long time so I’m no expert.
@BB ~ I have several weaknesses, as most of us do, but my overarching problem is truly my world-class procrastination. As for clothes… I don’t really need much more at my age, but no one outgrows the need for food, hence my propensity to watch my costs in that area. You needn’t worry about any perfection emanating from me!!! Not gonna happen! LOL
@EllieD We all learn from each other. 🙂 As for your procrastination problem, can we talk about it later?
Hehehe.
LMAO!!! Later will be just fine! 😀
48 Tops (Blouses, Buttondowns, Tees, Tanks)
Percent 27%
16 Sweaters (Pullovers/Cardigans) Total 7%
6 Jeans 3%
2 Dress Pants 1%
12 Shorts 5%
5 Jackets 3%
3 Coats 2%
13 Dresses 6%
8 Skirts 4%
3 Boots 2%
8 Shoes 4%
7 Sandals/Heels/Wedges 3%
Work Out
4 Shorts
2 Leggings
15 Shirts (Not Including My Concert Shirt Collection)
2 Sports Bras
1 Sneaker
Total 24
Percent 10%
Pajamas
3 Pants
3 Shirts
10 Tees
Total 16
Percent 7%
Accessories (Not Counting Jewelry)
15 Scarves
10 Belts
7 Hats
Total 32
Percent 14%
Other
10 Camis
12 Panties
5 Bras
3 Bralettes
7 Socks
Total 37
Percent 16%
Grand Total 232
Trying To Work For A Total of 100 not including workout, misc, or pjs.