Back in January 2020, I took an inventory of my wardrobe. I had never actually counted how many items were in my closet before and it was interesting exercise.
The Wardrobe Inventory
Here were my tallies:
Pants (including jeans) – 12
Shorts – 1
Skirts – 18
Dresses – 17
Jumpsuits – 3
Tops (includes T-shirts) – 50
Sweaters (pullovers) – 9
Sweats (including sweatshirts, sweatpants, hoodies) – 6
Coats & Jackets – 17
Layering Items (cardigans, shrugs, blazer-like items, dusters) – 10
Suit – 1
Shoes – 25
TOTAL Number of Items in My Wardrobe – 169
This total doesn’t include workout clothes, outdoor-specific clothing (like hiking pants), pajamas, and “home clothes,” which are slightly ratty clothes or other demoted clothing that I only wear at home.
What the Numbers Told Me
Counting items and seeing that total next to each category really gave me a sense of how unbalanced my wardrobe felt in some areas. Some things that popped out at me:
- I have a shorts shortage, though I knew this already since I only owned 1 pair. It’s not an item that I wear much here in San Francisco where the temperature seems to hover around 64 degrees. But I could stand to use another pair for heat wave days and visiting other places.
- The number of skirts, 18, feels high relative to how often I wear them. 3 are fancier special occasion-type skirts. Another 3 are wool or wool blends, which I haven’t worn since I worked an office job. (One of them I bought after my office job, so I’ve never worn it out. It still has the tags on it.) Still, that leaves a dozen skirts, mostly knee length, which I also don’t wear that much. Again, I blame the weather here. Knee-length skirts are not practical for being out and about in San Francisco where temperatures drop rapidly when the fog rolls in. This just leads to emergency tights buying.
- The number of tops I own also surprised me. I knew I was it was a problem when I lost count taking inventory in this category. 50 seems like a lot. While 20 of them are T-shirts or more casual tank tops, that still leaves 30 tops, which is plenty. This section could definitely use a good culling. And if I want another top, I should think hard about what purpose it serves before adding it to my collection.
- I’m proud of the number of shoes I own, 25, because just a couple years ago, I owned twice as many.
Now, this total — 169 — is where I was in January 2020 after 3 years of slowing down my shopping and whittling down my wardrobe. I used to own much, much more, though how much exactly I can’t say. It wasn’t until 2019 that I started to keep track of how many items were coming in and out of my closet. (I reported the numbers every month in my diary posts.)
Over the course of 2019, I subtracted 47 items from my closet, but also added 24, so I know that at the beginning of 2019, I owned 192 items. I most certainly owned more than 200 items prior to that. Seeing that I’ve listed roughly 200 items in my Poshmark closet from my own personal collection means that I’ve had close to 400 items, though not all of them at one time.
Some of the 25 pairs of my shoes that have survived rounds of culling. Read my reviews of some of them: Allbirds Wool Loungers, dr. Liza Leopard Print Flats, Everlane Form Sandal, Everlane V Heel, Hopp Studio Wedges, Allbirds Tree Breezers.
Pandemic Considerations
Continuing to downsize my wardrobe was already on my mind — and then the pandemic hit. This past year I’ve worn only a small percentage of my wardrobe regularly as I sheltered in place. Roughly, that number is 30 to 40 items, or about 20 to 25%. I didn’t touch any of my jeans except for 1 pair. I never wore skirts out since my trips out of the home were mostly groceries and supplies runs. Sure, I played dress up at home because I enjoyed putting together looks and find it fun. But in my day-to-day, comfort was queen. Sweatpants ruled.
While we might be returning to a more normal life later this year, living in the pandemic has underscored how much of my wardrobe I don’t need. Pre-pandemic, I was already leaning towards looser clothes. The pandemic has only confirmed that I should KonMari items that fit on the tighter side. Some things I just don’t want anymore. (Looking at you, hard jeans!)
In 2020, I subtracted 14 items, but added 18 to my wardrobe, so I started off 2021 with 173 items. This year I plan to go through each section of my wardrobe, especially the categories with high numbers, and scrutinize each piece. (I don’t have a specific goal number in mind, but I plan to get that number down.) While I’ve already been doing this somewhat regularly for the past few years ever since I started paying attention to my consumption in 2017, every time I do another sweep, I get a little more strict about what to keep. No doubt the pandemic has made me even more picky.
Now that I’ve counted the number of clothing items I own, I’m so curious what other people’s numbers look like. Have you ever taken an inventory? What did it reveal? And has the pandemic changed your feelings towards your wardrobe?
I have to start with the caveat that I have worked from home from very long time (8 years!) AND I moved internationally in 2020, so I purged a lot of my clothes last year. I did an inventory last month and I own…60 items or clothing and 10 pairs of shoes. I was kinda shocked by how low that is. I did Kon Mari the shit out of my entire life before moving and got rid of a lot of things I had previous loved, but no longer fit, since I had a baby (who is no longer a baby 🙈). There are some definite gaps in my wardrobe, so I’m hoping to fill them in 2021. 🤞🏻
Wow, minimalism goals! I do sometimes use the moving scenario to decide whether or not to keep something: Would I move across the country with this? But maybe I should expand it to: would I move to another country with this?
Yes! I think it was a perfect storm of a situation for being really minimal. I had pre-baby clothes I loved, but hadn’t worn because they no longer fit me right. So they were out I had a box of maternity clothes I was holding onto for maybe someday, they weren’t coming with me either.. And a bunch of clothes I’d bought post-partum when I was nursing/pumping and a different size, so I just got rid of all of them too. Some of my shoes didn’t fit post baby either, that was the saddest part. So now I am slowly going to build it back up. And hopefully not buy any more yoga pants for a bit. Haha! I also have to say that I own about a dozen scarves, they aren’t in the inventory. Haha!
Last month I did this exercise in my journal and I have a total of 93 items of clothing, but somehow it feels like I could do better. I’m hesitant to cull too much though because I did a Kondo-style cleaning 5 years ago and realized it was a bad idea since I bought back a lot of things I missed. I didn’t count coats/jackets in that number above and I have 18 pairs of shoes. Like you, I’m not a fan of wearing shorts. I have two pairs.
I know it’s all personal, but coming from 173 items, 93 sounds great to me. That’s a good reminder about not culling too much. I’ve definitely gotten over-zealous and have donated things that I later realized were serving a particular purpose. Ooops.
I decided to go on a clothing shopping ban for the next year. Wish me luck! Inventory: long coats 10, jackets 36, scarves 40, tee shirts 26, leggings 17, jeans 18, dressier topa 10, boots 24 and shoes 24. I am not happy with these numbers. I don’t need this much. Also, 15 handbags and 4 wallets.
A shopping ban is a great way to take stock of what you have. You can do it!
I think the ex data analyst in me enjoys looking at the numbers and patterns (I have so many tops!), and have been maintaining a clothing inventory for a few yrs (introduced to the idea from some blog I think). Your post prompted me to do an update and review 😅. As a child of immigrants, I have a tough time getting rid of stuff that are “so so”, even when it takes up space in my small apartment. I know it adds to my clutter and I’m getting better at getting rid of stuff, but my bar is still pretty low for things I hold onto and having a certain low number of clothes doesn’t motivate me too much. I used to be motivated by being able to sell things on Poshmark etc, but for whatever reason,my things aren’t being bought up as often as they used to, and with time being more limited, I don’t think it’s really worth the effort to sell anymore. I know the easy answer is to donate or give to buynothing groups, but I’m curious, what motivates you to get rid of stuff you don’t love so much anymore?
Thanks for your blog, I always enjoy reading it! Your perspective on how you evaluate your closet is really helpful!
Thanks for your kind words. It’s nice to know people enjoy reading my blog. Sometimes it’s hard to know. I’m also a child of immigrants, so I get holding on to things because they might be useful and you don’t want to be wasteful. (You should see my stash of cardboard boxes. I can’t help but save them.) For me, clutter feels kind of stressful, so that’s a general motivation for me to pare down. Getting rid of things improves my environment. And though my closet isn’t exactly cluttered (yes, it has a fair amount of stuff, but visually it’s well organized), I like the idea of just owning things that I absolutely love and that fit well. So even if something seems fine, but I’m not reaching for it for whatever reason, I have to admit to myself that it’s not working for me. I think about how that item is not being used to its best potential — someone else might be using and enjoying that item more. So, finding something a new home is somewhat motivating for me (though it can be time consuming). But this is why I prefer trying to sell things or give them way (whether to a friend or a stranger in a Buy Nothing group) before donating to a thrift store, as I feel like it’s more likely to be used.
Aah yes, I get it, I have some boxes stashed away behind my couch in anticipation of moving in uhm many months from now. These are helpful reminders— I may not want the item so much anymore, but it might be exciting to someone else. + It really is so gratifying when people are interested in what I post on my buynothing group! The clutter is a bit of white noise until it isn’t and I’m shifting clutter from one surface to the next…
The closest I’ve come to counting my wardrobe is when I put together a seasonal capsule collection of 30 or so items. But I’m certain my wardrobe far exceeds 4 seasons or 120. Being a fashion blogger can truly be in conflict with keeping a smaller wardrobe. To that end, the last year I have drastically reduced what clothing items I accept from brands because this was adding pieces to my closet that didn’t always resonate with my style long term. If a brand asks me to select 3 items I select only 1. Now I no longer feel pressured to receive new items unless I can truly see myself in them. And I’m able to focus on styling pieces in my closet in new ways. As for balance, I have a coat obsession and have far more than I can wear in a practical way. So I’ve decided to apply the 1 in / 1 out rule to keep things in check. My closet still lacks a few great pairs of menswear inspired trousers. I’m searching preowned but always come up empty handed. As to whether the pandemic has changed the way I feel about clothing? It’s only made me scrutinize trends more carefully and hone what I truly want in my closet. I’m not yet ready to count my closet but I’m sure it will be revealing when I do!
Yes, downsizing is inherently in conflict with fashion blogging. Glad to hear you’ve found a way to work with that by accepting fewer pieces from brands and only ones that work for your wardrobe. I also love coats. And though the number I own reflects that I have a good number, I always want more. Secondhand shopping has its challenges. I am striving for it, but it takes more work in some ways.
I stumbled upon your blog while searching for reviews for the Everlane Wide Leg Crop pant (really love your thoughts, btw!)
I still have to go through all your posts (new reader here! 🙋♀️)… this one resonated with me because I used to go through frequent culling as well. I say “used to” because I think I ended up with all the clothes I wanted to keep around late 2018/2019. I don’t have the number, but I do keep track of when I purchased items, their cost, and where they are now. I like taking care of my clothes and shoes (I take them for repairs and resole-ing if needed), so quality matters to me.
I may go through another closet count exercise because of two major life events: 1) new baby and 2) hybrid model work (working from home some days). My 2018/2019 outfits don’t all address these new events. Oh well.
A general comment: you’re probably the first blogger I could relate to (immigrant family background, similar height and… even similar feet description!) can’t wait to get through all your posts!
I’m so glad you’re here. Thank you for reading. It’s so gratifying to know that readers can relate to my story. Major life events seems like a great time to reassess your wardrobe. I like to make a wish list so that I don’t get too off track when I shop. (And congrats on the baby!)