There is no one size fits all answer, but I will try to answer the question How many clothes do I need as directly as possible. Later in the article, you can find the exact number of clothes for different types of lifestyles.
Although I cannot give you an absolutely correct answer on how many shirts, shoes, or jewelry pieces anyone should own, I can give some guidelines on how to figure out how many clothes you need to own for your everyday needs.
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Do You Have Too Many Clothes? – Quiz
According to the Closet Maid survey, the average American woman has 103 items of clothing in her closet.
44% of them can’t find an item in their closet at least once a month,
33% of them say they have clothes that are too tight, and
10% of them are depressed each time they open the closet doors.
Don’t fall into the statistics, be happy with your wardrobe.
To begin with, you need to take a good hard look at your closet and determine if you have too many clothes.
To find out the answer to this question I’ve prepared a quiz to help you out.
Ask yourself the following questions. If you answer more than half of them with Yes then you definitely have too many clothes and need to work to declutter your wardrobe.
Quiz questions:
Does your closet look messy?
Is your closet not big enough to fit all of your clothes?
Do you buy clothes compulsively?
Do you have clothes that don’t fit?
Are there clothes, shoes, or bags that need repair?
Are there items of clothing you haven’t worn in more than a year?
Is there more than 20% of your wardrobe that you don’t like?
Are there shoes, clothes, or outerwear around different spaces of your home?
Do you feel guilty about getting rid of the items that were gifted to you?
You shouldn’t keep anything in your closet that doesn’t fit just right and matches with everything else in your closet. Plus, you shouldn’t have more clothes than you can store in your closet.
Ideally, you should be able to fit all your clothes, shoes, bags, and jewelry in one space and have all of them at one glance.
How Many Clothes Do You Need?
When deciding on how many clothes to have, the important thing to remember is that clothes are designed to look good for a certain number of wearings and washes. So there are many reasons why items in your closet may not fit or make you look attractive: colors fade, fabric stretches or shrinks, garments lose their shape, and some fabrics don’t handle regular wearings and washings as well as others.
The number of clothes a woman should have depends on three factors: her lifestyle, her work, and the climate she lives in. These factors should help you decide on the exact number of clothes you need in your everyday life.
The perfect amount of clothes should sustain you in between two washes.
Lifestyle Factor
The lifestyle factor deals with the way your life is set up, your responsibilities, and your free time.
Let’s take a look at the main points that are connected to the number of clothes you need.
How often do you do laundry?
It’s not the same if you have a washing unit in your home or you have to go to a laundromat to do your washing.
Do you do laundry only on weekends, or do you prefer doing it more often? If you prefer doing it more often then you can get away with fewer clothes, but if you only do it once a week then you might need more clothes.
Also, take into consideration how much of your closet needs closer tending, like dry-cleaning or regular ironing. If a lot of your clothes are hard maintenance then you most certainly need more clothes to have in-between washes.
How much closet space do you have?
Women who have bigger closets can afford to have more clothes because they have enough space to store them all. But, if you have a smaller apartment or you share a closet with your partner, try to downsize the number of clothes you have. This will make your home cleaner and your life less stressful.
In addition, think about the way you organize your closet. Do you hang your clothes or are they mostly folded? Do you have the possibility to store extra clothes that you are currently not using?
Do you have kids or pets?
Are there any other living creatures in your home that might be poking, chewing, ripping, tearing at or otherwise destroying your clothing? Kids and pets tend to destroy your clothes or shoes and therefore you need more clothes in your arsenal to combat that. 🙂
How do you spend your free time?
What you do in your free time determines how many clothes you need for your leisure activities. For example, if you like to swim how many bathing suits do you need? If you like to play sports do you need more pairs of sneakers? Do you enjoy going out to clubs or do you prefer walks in nature?
Work Factor
It is not the same if you work from home, in the office, or you wear a uniform to work. Your workplace influences your wardrobe a lot.
Think about the following questions when deciding on how many clothes you need for work.
What kind of job do you have?
Where do you work?
Is your job more formal or casual?
Do you have specific work attire?
Do you have a uniform? If yes, how many sets do you need?
What are your company’s policies when it comes to working clothes?
Does your work require physical activity? How often do you need to have clean, dry clothes?
Do you travel for work?
When you answer these questions you will have a better look at how many clothes you need.
Somebody who works from home definitely needs less formalwear than a woman who works in an office. If you wear a uniform to work then you don’t have to spend as much on clothes as people who often travel for work. You get the gist.
Climate Factor
Where you live determines how many clothes you need. Think about the following factors to evaluate the number of clothes you need.
What climate do you live in?
Think about the place you live in. What’s the climate like? Is it colder or warmer?
A person who lives in a warm climate definitely needs fewer jackets and coats but may need more bathing suits. On the other side, a woman living in a cold climate will need more layers to keep her warm and therefore have more clothes in her wardrobe.
Do you need clothes for different seasons?
Do you experience all four seasons in your homeplace or do you live in the state of constant summer?
A woman who lives in a climate that has all four seasons will definitely have extra clothes she wears only seasonally. They definitely need more clothes in their wardrobe to sustain them throughout the year and it is not a matter of fashion but necessity.
If there are extreme temperatures where you live you need to take care of yourself properly. If that means you need a special type of clothing for that, go for it.
How Many Clothes Do I Need? – Exact Numbers
Below you will find the exact number of clothes women in different life circ*mstances should have as a bare minimum. They are enough to sustain you for a week without doing laundry. These numbers are based on my experience and the experiences of several women I know who all lead different lifestyles.
Each person should have at least have 7 panties, 3 bras, 7 pairs of socks, and 2 sets of pajamas. Those items are not included in the lists below.
***Below each list of clothes, you can find a visual checklist that you can save to your phone, computer, or Pinterest board and use as a helpful tool while organizing your closet.
Woman Who Works from Home
List of clothes that a woman working from home needs:
1 jacket
1 cardigan
1 sports jacket
5 long-sleeve shirts
5 T-shirts
1 sweater
1 undershirt
3 sweatpants / leggings
2 jeans
1 formal pants
1 skirt
1 dress
1 swimming suit
1 formal shoes
2 casual shoes
1 scarf
1 belt
1 bag
Woman Who Works at an Office
List of clothes that a woman working at an office needs:
List of clothes that a physically active woman needs:
1 jacket
2 cardigans
2 sports jackets
6 long-sleeve shirts
6 T-shirts
2 sweaters
2 undershirts
3 sports bras
3 leggings
1 sweatpants
2 jeans
1 skirt
1 dress
1 swimming suit
1 formal shoes
1 casual shoes
2 running shoes
1 scarf
1 belt
1 bag
1 backpack
Women Living in a Colder Climate
List of clothes that women living in a colder climate need:
1 thick jacket
2 wool coats
1 sports jacket
1 jeans jacket
2 cardigans
5 long-sleeve shirts
5 sweaters
3 T-shirts
5 undershirts
1 thick pants
2 sweatpants / leggings
2 jeans
1 formal pants
1 skirt
1 dress
7 thick socks
1 formal shoes
2 casual shoes
2 boots
1 scarf
1 cap
1 belt
1 work bag
1 casual bag
Women Living in a Warmer Climate
List of clothes women living in a warmer climate need:
1 jacket
1 blazer
1 sports jacket
1 long-sleeve shirt
5 T-shirts
2 blouses
2 skirts
3 shorts
1 jeans
1 formal pants
1 sweatpants / leggings
3 swimming suits
3 dresses
1 work shoes
1 casual shoes
1 sandals
1 flip flops
1 belt
1 work bag
1 casual bag
How Many Shirts Should I Have?
A regular person should have at least 7 shirts in their closet to have a clean one for each day of the week. However, our life circ*mstances vary and some women don’t need as many to sustain them through the week.
Here are the short answers for different types of women:
A woman working from home should have 5 T-shirts and 5 long-sleeve shirts.
A woman working at an office should have 3 blouses, 2 long-sleeve shirts, and 3 T-shirts.
A woman who is a stay at home mom should have 6 long-sleeve shirts and 6 T-shirts.
A woman who is physically active should have 6 long-sleeve shirts and 6 T-shirts.
A woman living in a colder climate should have 5 long-sleeve shirts, 5 sweaters, and 3 T-shirts.
A woman living in a warmer climate should have 2 blouses, 5 T-shirts, and 1 long-sleeve shirt.
For the exact number of clothes take a look at the paragraph above.
How Many Outfits Should I Have?
You should have at least 7 outfits to sustain you through one week.
If you leave your home every day most of those outfits should be outfits for going out, however, make sure you also have one casual outfit for when you spend time at home.
If you spend most of your time at home, most of those 7 outfits should be casual clothes to wear at home, but make sure you have at least one formal outfit.
3 Simple Tips to Keep the Number of Clothes Under Control
These simple tips will keep your closet organized, and the number of clothing items under control.
Create Capsule Wardrobe
Capsule wardrobes are a simple way to create different outfits without having too many clothes. Start by choosing a color scheme, and buy everything in that color range. You can also use patterns, or single fabrics as your capsule wardrobe choice.
A capsule wardrobe usually contains 30 items not counting the underwear, and I based my lists of the recommended amount of clothes on this guideline.
Purchase Quality Over Quantity
Don’t let the sales that pop up in your area or time of year sway you into thinking that you need more clothing than you really do. Purchase quality over quantity and you will need fewer clothes long-term.
RELATED ARTICLE: Quality Over Quantity Explained by a Minimalist
Do a Closet Audit Seasonally
Go through your closet every season and get rid of the pieces you no longer like or fit into. This helps keep the number of clothes you need to a minimum while allowing you to mix and match with your remaining items.
RELATED ARTICLE: 7 Steps to a Successful Closet Purge and Organization
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The Bottom Line
We are all individuals and our life circ*mstances differ. One woman is good with only 30 items in her closet, while another one has 60 and she is completely content.
As long as you feel good in your clothes and your closet is tidy and organized, don’t stress too much about the exact number of clothes you have.
Use this article as a guide to the minimum amount of clothes you need to have for your lifestyle. With our tips start your decluttering process and feel happy in your clothes!
Are you interested in living a minimalist lifestyle?
Learn more about minimalism from the following articles:
29 Minimalist Quotes to Encourage You on Your Minimalism Journey
Minimalist Travel Packing List for Women: Ultimate Guide With Bonus Tips
Four-Step Easy Minimalist Makeup Routine for Beginners
Did you enjoy this post? Know someone else who might like it? Please take a moment to share on Pinterest, Facebook or Twitter. Thank you!
With the increasing popularity of minimalism and capsule wardrobes, many influencers suggest that a woman should not have more than 50 pieces of clothing (including shoes and accessories) in her closet.
But how many pairs of jeans should you own? You should aim for 4 to 5 pairs of denim jeans, excluding shorts. It is a good number to meet your everyday needs, even though a woman own 7 pairs on average, and men 6. The number of jeans you should own is much lower than you think.
Depending on your laundry schedule, you might need more than 5 pairs of pants. But for most people, 4 to 5 pairs of casual pants, including denim jeans, are more than enough to meet everyday needs. Keep in mind that you don't need to wash your casual pants too often. You should wash them only when you need to.
There's no magic number of clothing items that you should have in your closet, but a good rule of thumb is only to keep clothes that you love and actually wear. If you haven't worn something in the past season or for more than a year, chances are you're not going to wear it again, and it's time to get rid of it.
Research cited by Fashion United found that on average women own 7 pairs of jeans and that men own on average 6 pairs, but despite this, we only really wear 4 pairs that we own.
If you wash your clothes usually once a week, you really don't need that many pajamas in your closet, saving you time, space, and money. Depending on your laundry schedule, you might need more than 5 pajama sets. But for most people, 3 to 4 pajama tops and bottoms are more than enough to meet everyday needs.
The idea behind Project 333 is simple: Wear only 33 articles of clothing for the next 3 months. All clothing, accessories, jewelry, outerwear, and shoes count towards your number. Exceptions include wedding rings, underwear, sleepwear, in-home loungewear, and workout clothing.
You should have at least 7 outfits to sustain you through one week. If you leave your home every day most of those outfits should be outfits for going out, however, make sure you also have one casual outfit for when you spend time at home.
It's a business principle suggesting that, for many events, 80% of the results come from 20% of the causes. Why am I mentioning this? Well, applying this to your clothes, you probably wear 20% of what's in your closet 80% of the time.
On average, most people do well with three to five pairs of workout leggings, shorts, or a combination of the two. More than how many sets of workout clothes you have, it's important to have comfortable, high-quality gym clothes in your closet that are suited to your workout routine.
You should own 5-6 casual tops, t-shirts, tees, as well as 2-4 workout tops or tanks. One t-shirt or top for each day of the week is a good rule of thumb to build a conscious wardrobe focused on simplicity and versatility. For most people, one t-shirt for each day of the week is plenty enough to meet everyday needs.
SEVEN PAIRS OF SHOES, THE IDEAL NUMBER? The 7-shoes-for-7-days recommendation is now old fashioned, but it is based on irrefutable good sense, which is always in style. Shoes should rest between each wear to prolong their life.
That's a total of 12 pairs of shoes for a woman who lives a balanced life. Take a look at the gallery below for an idea of what that collection might look like. That's my answer to how many shoes a woman needs.
Jeans can typically be worn 3 times before washing. Leggings and tights should be washed after every wear to get rid of the baggy knees. Suits typically can be worn several times during normal use before dry cleaning (3-4 times for wool and 4-5 times for synthetics).
"On average, they own 16 at any one time, topping up their collection with four purchases each year." And then the story goes on to reveal that while we women have enough bras to go at least two weeks without doing laundry, on average we wash them only every two months.
According to one study by Harper's Bazaar, the average number of bras a woman owns is nine, with younger generations tending to have more. Victoria's Secret also reported that women often buy a new bra every 2-3 months but tend to wear the same six throughout the year.
Have you heard of the 80/20 rule? It says that 80% of the time you wear 20% of your clothes. It's true! This means that it's probably safe to let go of the other 80% of the things that you're not wearing anyway!
Kelly shared her Rule of Four lesson publicly when signups were open for the May course, so some of you may have seen it. The goal is to have at least four accessories or points of interest to every outfit.
Set an expiration date for the items in your closet. If you live in a four-season climate and you haven't worn a piece of clothing in a year, it's probably time to donate it. And if you live in a one- or two-season climate, then you likely should let go of something you haven't worn in the past six months.
The average size of an American woman has historically been reported as a size 14. The clothing industry somewhat took this into account and adjusted its sizes. Though, most labels didn't even do that; the majority of clothing lines still sell up to size 12 and that's it.
The average weight for women is around 170 pounds. With these measurements, the typical American woman wears a large to extra large pant size, or between a size 18 and 20.
Millions of people around the world have no shoes at all while the average American has nearly 20 pairs each. What's going on here? It's time for a Stuff Check.
The experts at the American Cleaning Institute (ACI) have detailed a helpful guide for how often we should wash our clothes. For pajamas, they suggest washing them after three or four wears. That's about two pairs of pajamas a week.
You may be surprised to learn that many women don't change their pajamas for 17 days, which according to a survey from the Daily Mail, is significantly more than men, who average only 13.
Can clothing tell you much about a person? Answer: No, I don't think the clothing of a person tells “much” about a person except only how much “fashion-conscious” he or she really is. Besides, I never really feel “comfortable” with “judging” a person based on his or her “clothing”.
What is the 30 wears challenge? Started by climate activist Livia Firth in 2015, the 30 wears challenge is a campaign that encourages consumers to abandon fast fashion's overconsumption and replace it with a slower approach to clothing.
White Pant Rule: No white (pants, shoes, or belts ---nothing white from the waist down) before Easter, and no white after Labor Day. I wore white jeans after Labor Day last year!
According to Dunn, you should spend 5% of your monthly income on clothing. To find the exact dollar amount you should be spending per month, multiply your take-home pay by 0.05. For example, if your monthly take-home pay is $3000, you should spend around $150 per month on clothing.
The 80/20 relationship theory states that you can only get about 80% of your wants and needs from a healthy relationship, while the remaining 20% you need to provide for yourself. Sounds like the perfect excuse to treat yourself to a spa day. This idea of an 80/20 time split is nothing new.
So leggings are absolutely no exception to these rules. When you put them on, if they make you feel great, then absolutely wear them. There is no age cutoff limit. There is nothing out there that says if you're over 40, you cannot wear leggings anymore.
There is no right or wrong answer to wearing leggings after 50. I think that if you feel comfortable wearing leggings, then by all means wear them. Here is our list of the best leggings for older women: SATINA High Waisted Leggings – buttery soft and have a super flattering high waist.
"There's nothing in leggings that would cause any change to occur within the muscle or the fat of the leg," she says. "If your stomach and legs are flabby, it's because you're eating too much or not exercising enough," says Klauer. "Leggings don't affect your legs positively or negatively -- they're neutral."
If you want a minimalist wardrobe, you can start with 7 bras. This will give you enough options while keeping your closet functional. With this strategy, you can have 4 everyday bras and 3 bras for specialty use (such as going to the gym or for wearing certain types of dresses, etc).
Two or three pairs of jeans. Only keep the ones that make you look and feel good. Three or four tank tops. For layering, and when the weather gets nicer, for wearing alone.
So how many hoodies should you own? It all comes down to your style and how much casual wear you need in your wardrobe. For most people, five is an ideal number -- plenty of options without going overboard.
A strong wardrobe is comprised of at least 4 different sweaters. Two of these should be business casual and work appropriate so you can wear them to the office or meetings. Think crew neck sweaters, v-necks that can be layered under button downs, and cardigans.
Selling shirts is not hard and while everyone and their grandma is doing it now, not everyone is doing it right. If you take the extra time to do the small things, you can get started and profit from T-shirts in 2021.
A minimalist should own 5-6 casual tops, shirts, tees, as well as 2-4 workout tops or tanks. One top for each day of the week is a good rule of thumb to build a conscious wardrobe focused on simplicity. You don't need that many shirts to look and feel your best.
Overall, it's best to have at least ten or so. When starting your first collection, keep it in that area, and you can reap the benefits from market research in no time. Again, a lot depends on other factors like your target market, clothing manufacturers and their MOQs, and where you're selling your product.
Dress pants or slacks: after 2-3 wearings. Jeans: after 4-5 wearings. Sweaters: up to 6 wearings, if worn with an undershirt; 1-2 wearings if worn without an undershirt. Suits/blazers/casual jackets: after 5-6 wearings.
Depending on your laundry schedule, you might need more than 5 pajama sets. But for most people, 3 to 4 pajama tops and bottoms are more than enough to meet everyday needs. Keep in mind that you don't need to wash your pajamas too often. You should wash them only when you need to.
Two or three pairs of jeans. Only keep the ones that make you look and feel good. Three or four tank tops. For layering, and when the weather gets nicer, for wearing alone.
Figuring out what to stop buying as a minimalist isn't always easy. That's because minimalism means something different to everyone. ... 4) Extra kitchen items
Stick to Three or Four Colors in Your Color Palette
While there are more than 16 million color combinations recognized internationally, strategically, designers and brands should not choose more than three or four colors for their palette. With too many colors, the garments can overwhelm consumers.
Most people should wash their sheets once per week. If you don't sleep on your mattress every day, you may be able to stretch this to once every two weeks or so. Some people should wash their sheets even more often than once a week.
How often you need to wash your bras isn't an exact science. But dermatologist Alok Vij, MD, says that as a general rule, you should wash them after every two to three wears.
Set an expiration date for the items in your closet. If you live in a four-season climate and you haven't worn a piece of clothing in a year, it's probably time to donate it. And if you live in a one- or two-season climate, then you likely should let go of something you haven't worn in the past six months.
Hobby: Shopping, Table tennis, Snowboarding, Rafting, Motor sports, Homebrewing, Taxidermy
Introduction: My name is Duncan Muller, I am a enchanting, good, gentle, modern, tasty, nice, elegant person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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