Wide Open Wallet
An honest look at family finances
Building a wardrobe
Author: Ashley28 Oct
Warning: I’m about to make myself look really bad. So if you think I’m some put together super mom then please don’t read this. Seriously, stop right now!
Here’s my confession: My wardrobe is an embarrassment. Most of my shirts I would like to just throw in the trash, but then I would have no shirts. So I can’t really do that. And don’t tell me to donate them because these are shirts that wouldn’t even sell in a thrift store.
There are several reasons this is the case. First off, clothes are expensive and I really never spend money on myself. So buying something that costs $20 (gasp!) seems extravagant. Want proof that I never spend money on myself? I went to try on a shirt a few weeks ago and my 7 year old was with me. She said “Is that for me?” “No” I replied. “Is if for [her brother]?” “No” I replied. “Well then, who’s it for?” The fact that it could be for me was totally out of the question.
Secondly, spending that $20 doesn’t really do much when my whole closet needs to be replaced. I know that small steps will take you great distances. And I’m getting to that. But it’s kinda hard to buy one thing when you have nothing nice to wear with it.
Third, I hate to shop for clothes and it’s practically impossible with a two year old. I get one shot at the dressing room, so it better be a good one. Need something in a different size? Too bad. Come back tomorrow. Or chase a two year old out of the dressing room half naked.
And fourth, I never go anywhere! The people at the grocery store have already seen me in my old T-shirts. So no need to dress up for them now.
I counted the other day and I own 4 shirts that I’m not embarrassed to wear. One pair of pants that I like, one pair that I like but are about to rip at the knee any second, and one pair that fits but that I don’t especially like. That’s it ya’ll!
I’ve decided that I’m going to take $20 out of my allowance every month and buy a piece of clothing. If I don’t buy anything then I am going to put that $20 aside for a future shopping trip. It’s got to happen. I’m going to work up slowly to replacing pretty much everything in my closet. I will be perfectly happy to throw out all my old clothes. It’s odd and goes against my nature to mandate spending. But the unwillingness to spend the time and money shopping is what got me into this mess.
So what is a reasonable amount of clothes to own? I’m guessing 4 shirts and 1 pair of pants isn’t sufficient. This is a serious question. What is a “wardrobe”? 7 outfits? 10? 14? Am I allowed to wear the same jeans twice in one week? How many pairs of jeans should I own? How many shirts?
pic by: striatic
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17 Responses for "Building a wardrobe"
I’m a 20-something with no family who works, but here’s my wardrobe, which I feel is pretty adequate (this is stuff I actually wear):
* 2 pairs of jeans, one dressier, that I LOVE
* 3 pairs of dress pants (one brown, one black, one khaki)
* 10-12 shirts that are appropriate for work or to wear with jeans
* 2-3 dresses
These clothes get me through 2 weeks of not doing laundry, so I’d say it’s enough. I don’t wash my jeans every time I wear them. More like every third or fourth time… as long as they’re not dirty.
I’m 30 with a job I have to dress up for, and the things that actually make the regular rounds in my closet are:
* 1 good pair of jeans, 1 old pair of jeans (for play)
* 2 black pants, 1 brown pants, 1 khaki pants (for work/church)
* 10-12 shirts/blouses/sweaters (for work/church)
* 5-8 colored, fitted t-shirts (for play)
* Assorted t-shirts proclaming the events I participate in/volunteer for
It works well for me - the work/church shirts, when paired with jeans, are perfect date outfits when I get to go out with my husband. I don’t wear dresses or skirts, so I don’t even bother keeping them “in stock”. The pants will get me through a week and a half of work, and most don’t require ironing if I catch them out of the dryer quickly enough (thank GOODNESS!)
I was laughing when I read this because it describes me and my wardrobe perfectly! I am a SAHM with 3 and 5 year olds, and the idea of shopping for clothes is non-existent. I too have a drawer full of t-shirts that need to be thrown out, but why buy new ones when they are just going to end up with paint/food/unknown substances all over them in a week anyways??? I have nothing but jeans and a pair of khaki pants that I wear if I’m going to my parent’s church. My church is jeans friendly! Even date night is usually a jeans & t-shirt affair. The only nice clothes I own are sweaters (most of which I’ve had since my pre-kids days) and since we moved to Arizona, they are pointless to own! I just can’t part with them because I really love some of them, and eventually we might move somewhere else.
All that to say; I feel your pain, you are not alone, and good luck in your quest for a better wardrobe!!
Good luck with the wardrobe! I know what its like to shop with a 2 year old and as a mom you just dont want to spend money on yourself! After I had my first daughter, I went on a shopping spree for work clothes. I had no choice, I needed them for the job. I spent about $1,000 on 5 pairs of dress pants, 2 pair of shoes and about 12 shirts. Not too bad. I could have doner a better job bargain shopping, but I don’t have time to do that! I plan on doing the same thing after the birth of my next child, though hopefully on a smaller scale!
Okay, you have to take this with the understanding that I love fashion, love clothes and got myself into a lot of debt way back when buying said clothes. I still shop for myself but I shop for designer clothes at goodwill now instead of Nordstrom.
I am a mom with no job outside the home.
My wardrobe consists of the following all in varying degrees of niceness, most falling under dressy casual and a select few in the casual casual and a few in the very dressy
6 pairs of jeans
5 pairs of shorts
6 skirts
2 pairs of dress pants (not sure where all my pants went, must investigate. but i am more of a dressy jeans girl anyway)
5 dressy tank tops
5 casual tank tops
10 nice casual tshirts
3 dressy s/s tops
5 casual long sleeve tops
8 dresses, most casual, a couple very dressy and of course a little black dress
6 blazer jackets of varying degrees of casual, a couple dressy.
8 sweaters, most casual but stylish (i try to avoid boxy and frumpy)
You may think this sounds insane, maybe not. But it’s MUCH better than it was before
I’m trying to get down to the basics that I love and can wear and still look trendy, cute, and put together but not overboard.
Shoes are also a bit of an issue here. I have 26 pairs from running shoes to a few pairs of high heels and many in between. Since moving to Florida I have become a bit of a flip flops fanatic.
Good luck working on your wardrobe $20 at a time! If you have a good Goodwill around you, you can get quite a bit for that $20 each time. I get some snazzy new with tags stuff when I need something.
I think the best idea is to buy yourself a set of outfits rather than one new thing each month. Spend some money to invest in some new things and if you do it right you won’t need to spend any more on clothes for a year or so. Get some skirts, trousers and tops, shirts and jackets that can be mixed and matched, and make sure you’ve got at least 2 pairs of shoes to go with everything you buy. It might not seem frugal to do this, but it’s better than buying a new skirt and never wearing it because you have nothing to wear it with. If you shop right you can get an entire new wardrobe out of about 10 or 15 new things.
My suggestion would be to shop the Old Navy clearance. Their clearance sections always look like a bomb went off but you can find some really cute tops for way under $10 each. I’ve found sweater’s for $6, t-shirts for $1.99, etc. Again, the trade off is that you have to do some digging, I don’t know how feasible that is with a 2 year old, but… if you have the time, definitely worth checking out.
Oh, and as for the dressing room problem, my suggestion would be to shop at places with a good return policy (no expiration date, can look up receipt if paid with a card, etc.) and try things on at home. I hate using the dressing room and, at home, I can see if it works with the things I already own.
Ditto here. I wear sweat pants and tshirts. My hubby and I wear the same type white athletic socks so no need to match (his are the gaey ones!). I live in a small town so everyone has seen me at my worst and best so when I dress up once in a blue moon I get all sorts of compliments which is good for my ego. Plus at 40-something I am past the stage where I care what anyone thinks. My hubby still thinks I’m hot in sweatpants so who else matters? My sons will tell me to pack something besides sweatpants when I visit them at college so maybe I need to do some shopping too!
Namaste
Realize it depend on where you live! I know you’ve lived in cold climates so I think those who do have wayyy too much clothes. You wear more layers and jackets so you have stuff like hats, scarves, undershirts, galoshes, winter boots, winter socks, etc.
I wear jeans 5 days week for work with a sweatshirt and shirt. I layer like mad during the winter, but I have a lot of different winter coats. I have a ski jacket, full length down coat, short down coat, wool coat, full length wool coat, couple of different fall jackets, and a summer jacket.
Geez, I can’t believe I have so much clothes or shoes. I have everyday sneakers, but I have winter boots and galoshes. I wear the winter boots and pack the sneakers for work and change when I get there. Plus i have a couple of gloves and hats and scarves. And I have ear muffs.
I think whatever you spend is fine. I know I have a lot, but according to friends it’s nothing compared to what people who have lived here years have. They constantly buy and add to their collections. And the worse is packing away the winter stuff.
We had a similar problem, though not quite the same. My sister and I work at home, so we don’t need to wear nice clothes and still have clothes we bought when we were in college (7-8 years ago). Out of style? Probably. But still in good, wearable condition.
But our problem with buying clothes is that we can’t justify spending the money when we know we can make it ourselves for a fraction of the cost. It drives me nuts sometimes.
Of course, we don’t go shopping anymore for many reasons, but whenever we used to go to the mall and see a cute top (even if on sale for $20), knowing that we could buy a couple of yards of fabric for $2-5 and making one like it in a few hours always stopped us from buying any clothes.
It was annoying, but I’m glad for it now because my regular uniform these days is a big, baggy t-shirt and old shorts (sometimes with holes in them).
I am a SAHM so my wardrobe is very basic. After Christmas each year I go to JC Penney’s and buy a couple of sweaters (I live in the south) and they are usually marked way down. I have a few pair of jeans, afew pair of capris, a couple of turtlenecks, and about 10 different color shirts from Target. These are the v-neck T’s. I have some dress clothes - a couple of suits and dresses that I rarely wear.
My favorite are the Target shirts. I have bought the same style in Kohl’s and Penneys and they don’t seem to hold up or fit as well. The Target shirts are about $5 regular price and sometimes on sale $3.
I wrote a WHOLE post about this, hon!
Here: Wardrobe Essentials
Well, for me at least but it might help you! I`m an IT professional.
Now that I’ve finally graduated from college, I’ve tossed out all the truly atrocious pieces in my wardrobe (hand me downs I’ve worn since high school or earlier!). I’ve allocated $50 a month to my wardrobe until it gets a bit more presentable. I’ve been kind of wondering what most people have as well, so the comments were very interesting, especially that a lot of people only have two pairs of jeans!!
My strategy for upgrading my wardrobe, is to start with basics. I’ve gotten a few nice t-shirts and plain colored tanks. I’m now on a mission to get probably 3-4 (I wear them to work) pairs of well fitting nice jeans, at least one that I can wear with heels. I need some new sweaters, but I’m hoping to knit those (time!).
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OOOh! We’re totally in the same situation. I’ve been looking so frumpy lately. I decided to start a blog to chronicle my makeover in progress. It doesn’t have to be expensive, and in fact, I think it can be fun!
Setting aside $20 each month is a great idea.
I used to shop for clothes based on: 1. Price 2. Size 3. If I actually liked it.
Now, I’m trying to do it this way: 1. If I like it 2. If it works well with other clothes I have 3. It has to fit well 4. The price has to fit my budget.
I’m going to look at price tags last, since I don’t want that to influence how much I like a particular item.
Good luck with your wardrobe overhaul!
Oh, and one other thing: Maybe you can make a shopping list of clothes you’d eventually like to have in your wardrobe. Be really specific.
Put the items in order of “Need ASAP” to “Can wait awhile.”
That way, you’re picking up pieces with a purpose.
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