We have too many clothes!

[laurafergie]

laurafergie -

Do you have a rule of thumb for adults that you'd be willing to share?

-- Laura

Adults are a bit different. The two week rule is great to start with in regards to underwear, socks, bras and the like.

However, since adults, in theory , do not grow - it is really easy for things to get out of hand. I am very much in favor (if it is in the budget) of buying adult clothes for investment. For example, buy the best quality winter coat you can afford in a classic style and so on. This does not mean, however, that you need a dozen winter coats because they were a great deal.

The PP that said, the clothes should fit comfortably in your space is dead on.

ETA: If it too small or too big, you don't need it. If you haven't worn it in a year, you don't need it. (The only exception to this rule would be a wedding dress or something of that nature.)If it is out of style, you don't need it. If it needs to be repaired and you are not prepared to do that immediately, you don't need it.

Professional clothes, a minimum of 2 weeks work, and those being mix and match with different accessories, per season.

Hopefully some of the professional clothes can go into your "Nice Casual" - but you would need 4-5 outfits, per season.

Casual, like going to grocery store, the same as above.

Laying around the house, or work out clothes about the same.

At least two bathing suits with cover ups.

SHOES-I try not to put a number, just buy classic and it has to fit in your space.

A least one black cocktail dress and for formal - I advise the sparkly top with the black pants/skirt route. Then you stay classic from year to year. This is very subject to your particular life style.

However - if you have a life that I do - everything is reversed. I have lots of nice casual clothes and only a few professional suits.

 

[momxx5]

Having 5 kids, I used to "wish" that they could have 3 outfits each.....one in closet, one to wear and one being washed in laundry.....lol, that was a dream!!!

In reality, we have never had that many clothes. Usually enough to get by, but that is doing laundry daily. Through most of their growing years my older 2 DSs were the same size, so one would wear the shorts on Monday and by Friday they were washed and the other would wear it.
Now that they are teenagers the mid 2 DSs are more the same size.

If I may, as some one who has always given hand-me-downs:
If you are going to donate the clothing, start ASKING around. Right now, with the yucky economy, a couple of t-shirts and a few pair of jeans could mean the world to someone.

We had never recieved hand-me-downs until very recently. If it were not for the kindness of some close friends my girls would not have anything to wear.
My girls are totally different shapes and have Feb/Sept birthdays so seasons are different too. Older DD(12) is so skinny thank goodness for the jeans with the adjustable waists. Younger DD(8) is a shorty and while petite she have a bum....so all these low cut jeans just don't fit. She does a "sit" check....can she sit down without her underwear or bum showing. Poor thing has such a hard time.

Anyway....please consider asking around if any of your friends, or people your friends know, children from church, or even asking the school counselors.....who has needs. It maybe surprising to know who has needs. Many people are finding themselves in new situations, living under new circumstances and your gifts of hand-me-downs might be the biggest pick-me-ups they get!!!!

Trust me.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

Wow! Some of you have entire department stores in your closets compared to us!

My kids (both boys) have 5-6 pr of jeans to wear to school and on weekends. 5-6 pr of pajamas each. They have more shirts, both short- and long-sleeved, a couple of sweatshirts and sweaters (we're in Florida, not too many needed). One pair of sneakers each, one pair of Crocs each, one pair of church shoes each. They have a couple of pairs of church pants and button-downs.

We live a very casual lifestyle! I do laundry about twice a week and everyone has plenty to wear!

 

[southern_redhead]

In my defense, I was raised by a woman that has (at last count) 45 pairs of high-end black shoes and 18 pairs of high-end black boots.

Wow. That is a whole lot of black shoes Does she have many of other colors or is she strictly into black (a woman at church ONLY buys black pants/skirts/shoes/blazers, etc.. and then will add one color somewhere like a shirt/sweater/scarf.)

I clean and organize folks IRL

So, how did you get started in your line of work? I would love doing that and I think (not to sound big headed LOL) that I'd be great at it. It seems to be my personality type to organize things and I am constantly driving my mother insane by saying "Have you read those magazines? Couldn't they be thrown out?" or the like LOL She is my polar opposite. She saves EVERYTHING because there is an article in there she wants to save or she might need the box (really? you'll need this VCR box someday?) or she might lose/gain weight and those clothes from the 80's might be in style at that time. I'm not sure where my uber efficient personality came from - perhaps it developed as self preservation

 

[Mom2Ben02]

My house would be immaculate if we were nudists. Unfortunately, it is 4 degrees here today, so clothes are not optional. I have SO much laundry to do, and we still have clothes in the closets and drawers.

SIGH...

 

[laurafergie]

So, how did you get started in your line of work? I would love doing that and I think (not to sound big headed LOL) that I'd be great at it. It seems to be my personality type to organize things and I am constantly driving my mother insane by saying "Have you read those magazines? Couldn't they be thrown out?" or the like LOL She is my polar opposite. She saves EVERYTHING because there is an article in there she wants to save or she might need the box (really? you'll need this VCR box someday?) or she might lose/gain weight and those clothes from the 80's might be in style at that time. I'm not sure where my uber efficient personality came from - perhaps it developed as self preservation

I got started by cleaning houses.

Several years ago, with a BIG crescendo in 2007 - We had some really hard financial times, like we ended up selling just about everything we owned to survive.

Anyhoooo - I had a few tough decisions to make, mainly my younger kids were going crazy, and the older girls were acting out and I knew I had to be at home for them and we could not afford me to be a SAHM, so I answered craigslists ads to clean houses so I could be at home when the school bus came and one thing led to another.

There were a lot of learning curves. Mainly to value my time and knowledge and not give it away. Also to pick my clients carefully and know the difference between someone who will pay for my time and knowledge and someone who will leech me to death. MY DH says I interview my clients and not the other way around!

ETA: This is not for the faint of heart. People are very emotionally attached to their things and they aren't on board (even if they are paying for your services) then it becomes very stressful for all involved.

 

[NMW]

Wow. That is a whole lot of black shoes Does she have many of other colors or is she strictly into black (a woman at church ONLY buys black pants/skirts/shoes/blazers, etc.. and then will add one color somewhere like a shirt/sweater/scarf.)

Yes, she has other colors. Black shoes and boots are just her favorite though. She wears more black than brown, even with things like jeans that you could do either color with. Oh, and all her dress and wool coats are either black or red.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

My house would be immaculate if we were nudists. Unfortunately, it is 4 degrees here today, so clothes are not optional. I have SO much laundry to do, and we still have clothes in the closets and drawers.

SIGH...

Ugh, I know what you mean. I do three times as much laundry in the winter with all the layering! It's even worse here in NC because it will be freezing in the morning when the kids leave fore school, then actually get up in the fifties by the time they get home so they have to layer and strip it off as it warms up .

 

[*JoGo*]

i'm currently trying to get my boys' clothing situation under control. i have an addiction to children's place (specifically the clearance!). my younger son abuses his clothing and CP holds up well, but i still refuse to pay full price, lol.

when they had the $10 denim deal in July or Aug, I stocked up on jeans for my oldest. he needs slim AND the adjustable waist - he is super skinny. meanwhile the younger one needs regulars, and prefers pull-on pants - the roll-up cargos are his fave.

they currently wear the same size shirt, so i've gotten rid of all the 7/8s as they went thru the wash and give them away if they're not stained.

but the shirts... oh my goodness! SO. MANY. so rather than buying MORE for the younger one, they wear the same shirts. and they've recently decided they don't like long sleeves OR sweaters. all t-shirts and polos.

they already have plenty from last summer that will fit this summer, so i'm going to do my best to not buy anything. and when school comes around, hopefully all they will need is socks and pants.


my own wardrobe is sadly lacking. i work during the school year, so i have pretty much no winter clothes, just work clothes. i wear a tank top, long sleeve shirt, work polo, and a sweater/jacket... plus jeans and sometimes long-johns. i'm always cold. whenever old navy has their long tanks on clearance, i get a few and get rid of some old ones.

 

[karice2]

Two weeks worth of underwear is not going to cut it around here. Last time I counted I have about 84 pairs of undies. I think about 26 normal bras and 12 sports bras/

There are so many options for underwear and you need different ones for different outfits. I also wear two pair on the days I go to the gym. Add my sports bras and that is an additional 5 bras per week.

I have enough work clothes in my closet to go for a month and not do laundry or go to dry cleaner. The hours that I work with no one to help means that laundry is the last thing that gets done when I have free time.

I also hate to fold but can bear to put anything away unfolded.

My issue is sheets. I was raised in a house with a woman that had 5 sets of sheets for every bed. I think I have at least that many for both of the beds in my house. The problem is I only sleep in one and never have guests.

Anyone need some high thread count queen size sheets.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

Interesting topic. We have 10 days of undergarments. Just enough for a 10 day Disney vacation without doing laundry.

My kids each have 6 weekend outfits (1 jean, 1 casual 2 sweats and 2 church) and 5 uniform tops. We can do ok with 2 uniform pants for DS and 2 jumpers for DD. I can wash them mid week. Other uniform pieces we usually only buy 1. 1 sweat shirt , 1 button sweater, 1 senior shirt, 1 choir shirt etc. but those seem to multiply too!

I have been buying DS some winter clothing on sale as he will no longer wear uniforms next year and he seems to not be growing any longer. I figure he will need a lot more casual stuff for college than in high school where they must dress up (in uniform or a tie) everyday.

Tee shirts though really do take over quickly! They play sports do dance and theater and every time we sign up for something a tee shirt seems to be included! I have not counted but I bet there are at least 30 in DS drawer right now!

 

[BabyTigger99]

My DS has approximately 35 jerseys (football, baseball, and soccer). Works for me right now, though, because he has worn a Packers jersey every day ( think he has 10 of those) since January 7th, and won't stop until the Super Bowl!

 

[Ava]

I don't know what a reasonable amount is- there are so many factors- how often does he change clothes each day, does he need uniforms for school (I count those differently), are you counting all seasons or just the current season, etc.....

I know for us I noticed that we all really have way too many clothes. I've made a point to not only get rid of stuff, but more importantly, not buy more than we need. Where things tend to go wrong for our family are birthdays and Christmas. We live in CT and have well defined seasons. By Christmas it is cold and we have established winter wardrobes for the kids already but then well intentioned family members would be buying them the equivalent of an entire second winter wardrobe. Their birthdays are in the summer and we would have the same problem- by June I've bought summer clothes but when their birthdays roll around everyone buys them tons of summer clothes. On my end, I try to avoid the whole buying stuff on clearance because it's a good deal. If I don't have anywhere to put it, that $2 shirt is not such a great deal, and let's face it, a lot of times by the time things are on clearance like that, the season is almost over. I do try to buy ahead though- for next year- and hope that is the good balance between saving money and not overloading us with stuff.

I know I just get flustered when I look at all these nice clothes my kids have and their dressers are overloaded but they barely wear half the stuff. Part of it is that they wear uniforms to school but part of it is just too much stuff. Too much stuff seems to be an unfortunate theme in our house though.... I refuse to do it anymore

This has happened to us with DD, she has SO MANY clothes! Part of it is the first thing you mentioned, getting a lot as gifts. I also have a hard time saying no to hand-me-downs from friends & co-workers. The other problem we have is she is tall & slim (for a toddler) and can sometimes keep wearing an item long after the size on the tag says she should've outgrown it. She's also difficult to fit in bottoms, which you'd think would limit her wardrobe, but no. If we find pants that fit her we tend to buy more than 1 pair, and then a lot of the gift clothes she gets sit unworn because they don't fit her.

We were also getting overwhelmed by all the stuff in her drawers that she doesn't wear, thinking, "OMG she has all this stuff with the tags still on it, she has to wear it!" So we just went through & took out anything that still had the tag on it, and put it away for next fall. Most of it should still fit her then and if not we'll either put it away for #2 or sell/donate it.