It’s time to look back on the past year and take a look at the state of my wardrobe and shopping habits. Every year, I recount how much I bought and spent, and how I’m faring in my goal to be a more conscious consumer who’s consuming less. This year, I’m also adding a section about what I decluttered.
Pictured above: Some of the items I acquired in 2022: Vetta top, Everlane jeans, Lo & Sons bag (PR product that was gifted to me), Muji shoes [similar]. BTW the shoes are new and have not been worn outside and that is why I felt OK about putting them directly on top of my shirt.
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What I Bought in 2022
In 2022, I spent $2,418 on 34 items, which is significantly more than in recent years. (My count does not include jewelry, accessories, and undergarments.) 2021 had been my lowest shopping year yet in terms of number of items with just 17 items. I had been steadily trending downward over the past five years.
What did I buy? Here’s a breakdown by category:
Shoes – 4
Tops – 6
Sweaters – 2
Dresses/Jumpsuits – 3
Skirts – 4
Pants – 3
Shorts – 2
Outerwear – 6
Bags – 4
I bought quite a few tops even though in counting my wardrobe, I concluded I already had plenty. But most of these were tank tops for the summer. (We’ll get to that in a moment.) Outerwear also jumps out at me. It’s another area where I feel I have enough. Two of the new buys were blazers, though, which had long been on my wardrobe wants list.
Of the clothes I acquired in 2022, I already know I’m not keeping two items. In both cases, I was trying to buy a certain thing — a black midi skirt (from this post), a black cropped cardigan — and these items checked some of the boxes for what I wanted, but not all. In the end the details were not right. The cardigan, for example, was longer in the body than I really wanted. I should have been pickier! I need to remember not to compromise when it comes to clothes.
The Reasons I Shopped More
What happened in 2022 that caused me to shop more? There are three things I can point to:
1) I moved to a place with actual seasons and found myself needing summer clothes. I mean, I owned a single pair of shorts before this. Now I own these and these too. Eight of my purchases were specifically for the summer (most of it was from Pact, as you can see in this review and this one.)
2) In my personal life, I had a very difficult year and reverted a bit back to my retail therapy ways. I was less discerning about thinking through purchases.
3) I traveled abroad to a country where the clothes fit better … so I went shopping. Many of my outerwear purchases came from my vacation.
What I Decluttered
Some things I decluttered because they’re too small now: a J. Crew wool pencil skirt and a snakeprint shirt. Not the heels, though! Those are dr. Liza and I’m keeping them.
Over the course of the year, I also deleted 30 items from my wardrobe, so overall, I had a gain of 4 items. Even though I did a purge of my closet before moving at the end of 2021, I still found things to get rid of in 2022.
The most common reason I removed something was that it was too small or too tight (12 items, reason 1b on this list of the reasons I got rid of things in my wardrobe). I held on to some things hoping that I’d lose the weight I gained during the pandemic. And while I’ve lost some of it, I realized that I also just like to wear things looser than I used to.
The next reason was that I just never wore the thing (5 items). This was followed by Not Me Anymore (4 items). The rest of the reasons were for fit issues or details of the garment not being right. And one item just plain deteriorated (the pleather jacket in this post).
Some More Stats, Plus My Goal for 2023
After doing a wardrobe count, I have 188 items total (this includes shoes and bags). That means 18% of my wardrobe is new. When I see the stat like that, it seems high.
Five of my new wardrobe items in 2022 (15%) were secondhand and 62% were from ethical brands. It’s been my goal for several years now to shop secondhand more (at least 50%) as that’s the more sustainable way to shop. Every year, I’ve failed at it. I think for 2023 I’ll make this my only shopping goal so that I take it more seriously. Try again!
With so many life changes, that doesn’t seem like a large number of new items to me! And I fully support shopping for clothes while traveling – there’s nothing better than a wearable souvenir!
I’m glad you think so! I do love a wearable souvenir as well, though I’ve definitely bought things that didn’t work out in the long term. But I guess that happens anywhere.