How many clothes does a lady really need? Help

lostinrates

calicocat wrote: »

LOSTRINATES ! I have really whacky picture of you in my head with your evening gown etc on.........fabulous. :rotfl:

.

They give me pleasure and were fun to wear, so whyj stop wearing when not pristine, what a waste of investment in something that makes me happy. It does make people look twice when i am feeding horses in a dress and wellies, but it makes me happy.

catch_me_if_you_can

...missed another long coat...

I need a capsule wardrobe.

Pink.

Hi L and N,

Now that you've had some input from the Old Stylers I've moved your thread over to the Health Beauty and Fashion board to see if you can get more advice.

Pink

OrkneyStar

VJsmum wrote: »

Blimey - I probably have 20!! and about 10 pairs of shorts, 3/4 trousers.

I NEED them all - really I do (stamps foot and clings to them possessively)

Surely it is whatever you are comfortable with / have room for?

Agreed.
It is when you start to feel over-whelmed by it that you might need to do something.
I have lots of t-shirts (short and long sleeved) as I wear them under other tops when it is a bit chillier, under jumpers in winter, and they get cut up into cloths when really too old to wear lol!
I am also getting to see more what suits, anything that really doesn't is donated, sold, or made into something else (eg made a cardigan into a hot water bottle cover earlier today).

gillsmills

Are you also a hoarder when you have walked past the last pair of flanelette pj's for sale at the full price of £8.50 in the shop (i aint giving in and paying that) when you already had 3 pairs bought at £3 last year and £4 pairs bought at £4 earlier on this year. So see at times i can exert amazing willpower and at other times it just leaves me hopeless and helpless- it is an illness!!:rotfl:

YORKSHIRELASS

I have decided that rather than having a major clearout and being overwhelmed I will attempt to do it in stages. So I have taken 13 items of clothing not worth ebaying to the recycling bank today as a start.

I have also found some things that havent seen the light of day for a while so have decided I need to organise my clothes a bit better.

TudorRose

I had a good clear out of my clothing a few weeks ago & took 9 bags of assorted clothes & shoes to the CS.
I did it by having my DIL come round to help as having her there made me a lot more decisive than if I had been doing it alone. We put everything on the bed & then I made quick decisions as to whether to keep an item or not. I then immediately took it to the CS so I couldn't change my mind.
I have decided that now I am going to wear everything I have until it gets tatty & needs chucking. I do not need any clothes for the summer as I have more that enough alraedy & I probably won't need any for next winter either. I just need to stop looking on the racks in the charity shops.
I have bookmarked the Project 333 site & will read it but not sure I can be that drastic but it would be good.

Jacks_xxx

GreyQueen wrote: »

They way I would do it is to think about how I live my life, and look at the quantity of clothes I have for each role that I play, then ask myself if it is a reasonable or excessive amount.

My own life is;

Office Barbie; smart black trousers and shoes, plus a selection of tailored blouses, some more summery and some a bit warmer for winter.

Gardening Barbie: comfortable and shabby clothes for the allotment.

Casual Barbie: So-so casual separates for socialising with friends at their homes or the cinema/ pub in a low-key way.

Decorating Barbie: a pair of tatty trousers and one or two tops suitable for painting in.

Hiking Barbie: pair of hiking boots, waterproofs, hiking socks.

At Home Barbie: yoga trousers and stretchy tops for lounging.

Posh-do Barbie: a very small category in my lifestyle.

Apart from things like undies, nightwear, dressing-gown and swimming cozzie, everything I own could be assigned to one of the above categories.

Other women would probably have a completely-different set of "roles" or "hats" that they wear and need to have categories which reflect that, such as specialist sports or hobby wear, more dressy clothes etc etc.

I guess that the fact that you've chosen to post on this subject indicates that you feel a wee bit overwhelmed by the quantity of your apparel, but there is no right or wrong answer. If you enjoy your clothes and have the space to store them, why get rid of any at all?

I love this!

I always kind of envy the minimalist wardrobe peeps because I love simplicity and detest clutter - but I can't have one because my lifestyle demands that I have to be too many different Barbies!

I may not have to be Wedding Guest Barbie for more than a few days a year but she can't be Naked Barbie, :eek: and Wedding Guest Barbie can't usually wear the same clothes as my other Barbies:

Exercise Barbie

In The Deep Mid Winter Barbie

Summer Holiday / Hot Weather Barbie

It's a Dirty Job But Somebody's Got To Do It Barbie

Work Barbie

Housework, Pets and Childcare Barbie

PTA Barbie

Ballgown Applicable Barbie.

I look at this:

http://www.missminimalist.com/2011/03/the-minimalist-wardrobe-aka-the-10-item-wardrobe/

And part of me wishes I could have that - and the rest of me has a million questions.

"Where are her exercise clothes?"

"What does she wear on the beach?"

"What does she wear to a summer fete, picnic, or music festival?"

"What does she wear to clean the oven or creosote the fence?"

Does she really wear that plain black shift to every single dressy event she attends? Every wedding / party / summer ball / day at the races / barbecue / funeral / job interview..?"

"When it's boiling hot that's what she wears????"

"When it's freezing she doesn't need wellies, chunky jumpers, scarves and gloves like the rest of us? "

I guess she doesn't surf either!

I do like what she wrote here though:

http://www.missminimalist.com/2011/08/declutter-your-fantasy-self/

It's important that all our Barbies should be relevant to our actual lives, not fantasy ones ...and speaking for myself, I'd like to get rid of my "dressing to please other people" Barbie.

mini10

I am loving this thread- I have been decluttering for several months now, and although I have reduced my wardrobe, I still have many items in it that I will not wear but cant face parting with!

I am hoping to put my house on the market this weekend and spent a couple of hours in the loft last weekend sorting things in preparation for the move, there are boxes there that have survived several house moves without even being opened, probably about 17years since they were packed- would I really miss them???

BitterAndTwisted

No, you wouldn't: if you'd missed them or had a use for them you'd have unpacked them by now. Unless you have some precious Chanel, Dior or similar pricey classics in there why don't you just get them down to the charity shop without even looking at them? Or get a friend to go though them and the pricey-but-can't-wear-any-longers-but someone-else-would-and pay-good-money-for-them should be put up on ebay for you.