How many clothes do I need? When is enough enough? How many clothes should a woman have in her wardrobe?
A Lifestyle Fifty reader messaged me recently with these questions – to which I very much related.
Do we place too much emphasis on the clothes we own, are we in danger of being like the Emperor in The Emperor’s New Clothes?
In the West, most of us have as much as we need of most things to sustain our lives in a comfortable way. But it’s easy to tip over the top from enough into too much, especially when it comes to clothes.
They become much more than just fabric to cover our bodies, and have all sorts of connotations relating to self-confidence, and wanting to improve our image.
And the choice, so much choice. Do you prefer Jeggings or Treggings or Jeans for instance, and what about leggings? So much to think about!
So how many clothes does the average woman have? What clothes do you have? Could you easily pack for a weekend away? And how many clothes is too many clothes?
In this post we look at the basic clothes items women have in their wardrobes.
Table of Contents
How many clothes is too many?
In her message to me, my reader said:
“Ashamedely I have a serious dilemma. I have way too many clothes, like say perhaps 50 pairs of jeans, pants, good pants, and casual pants – but what is reasonable?
How many jeans does a girl typically have? How many white ones, black ones denim?
How many good pants or old pants?
How many summer dresses – the ones to go to the shops, or to the beach or to go out in, and then for each season?”
“I had around 90 T-shirts, and 90 blouses, before I began to give some away, so you can see my dilemma. I’d like to know what’s a reasonable amount so I have a foundation to work towards.”
“The problem with someone like me is that every item you love is beautiful, or it cost a lot, or was purchased with good intentions.”
“I think as women we find it very hard to give them up because we are in love with them. They can bring us pleasure and make us feel good.”
“At the height of my clothing addiction I spread my clothes into the wardrobes of 3 bedrooms and then onto rails. I couldn’t possibly wear them all and over time they wear out just hanging there.”
“Since then I’ve given many of my clothes away to friends and charities. But I think I still have too much.”
“What does a normal woman have in her wardrobe space? How many clothes do I need, what is reasonable and what is normally typical?”
How many clothes should I have?
So how many clothes do you have? You might ask, “How many outfits should I have?”
And how do you feel about the clothes you have?
In response to a Lifestyle Fifty survey, readers answered a set of questions (anonymously), and this is the result.
“How many hanging clothes overall do you have hanging in your wardrobe?”
| 20-50 | 21.1% |
| 50-75 | 35.1% |
| 75-100 | 14.0% |
| 100+ | 29.8% |
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“How many pairs of Jeans do you own?”
| 0-5 | 37.9% |
| 5-10 | 46.6% |
| 10+ | 15.5% |
“How many pairs of Pants/Trousers (not including jeans) do you own?”
| 0-5 | 24.6% |
| 5-10 | 36.8% |
| 10+ | 38.6% |
“How many tops, blouses and shirts do you have?”
| 5-10 | 3.5% |
| 10-15 | 8.8% |
| 15-20 | 12.3% |
| 20-30 | 29.8% |
| 30+ | 45.6% |
“How many bras?”
| 1-5 | 29.8% |
| 5-10 | 47.4% |
| 10-20 | 21.1% |
| 20+ | 1.8% |
“How many coats and jackets do you own?”
| 1-5 | 22.8% |
| 5-10 | 35.1% |
| 10-20 | 38.6% |
| 20+ | 3.5% |
“How many pairs of shoes and boots do you own?”
| 5-10 | 15.8% |
| 10-20 | 35.1% |
| 20-30 | 21.1% |
| 30-40 | 15.8% |
| 40+ | 12.3% |
“How Many Dresses do you own?”
| 5-10 | 44.8% |
| 10-20 | 41.4% |
| 20-30 | 10.3% |
| 30+ | 3.4% |
How many clothes do I need? What do Lifestyle Fifty readers think and how many clothes do they have?
Comments ranged from …
- I have far too many clothes.
- I can’t part with my clothes even though I don’t wear them.
- I keep a range of sizes in my wardrobe – ie larger and smaller in case I gain or lose weight.
- When you feel overwhelmed by your clothes, pare them down until you feel satisfied.
- I like to cull my wardrobe to make room for new purchases.
- I find it hard to part with my favourites.
- Too many clothes makes dressing confusing.
- I’ve been trying to cull and not buy new things, but failing.
- I have way to many, most of which don’t fit – I hang on to them for sentimental reasons.
- I end up wearing only the most comfortable, the rest just hang there.
- I’m comfortable being seen in the same outfits repeatedly, and this releases me from the need for an expansive wardrobe.
- I have so many great clothes but I wear the same 15 or so items, or maybe cycle through sets of things, never taking advantage of the chance to wear everything.
- I have more clothes than I could possibly wear in a year, but still struggle to find something to go out in.
- I see something, think that’s nice, try it on, and mostly I used to buy it.
- I wish I had less clothes. Everything is jammed in and I end up wearing the top three things on the pile.
- I don’t own any dresses.
- I don’t own any trousers.
- Now that I’m retired my wardrobe has contracted to reflect my lifestyle.
- My clothes go from being worn outside the house, then demoted to being worn around the house.
- I just can’t resist a gorgeous dress.
- Where I live we need three wardrobes – summer, winter, spring/autumn.
- Tend to gravitate to a handful of favourites all the time.
- I made a tough decision to part with two dresses with designer tags. I struggled with them for a couple of years. They were great, but not on me.
How many clothes should a woman have in her Wardrobe?
“I have enough clothes and shoes I don’t need to go shopping said no woman ever.”
Unknown
Personally I believe that this really is going to vary from woman to woman and her lifestyle.
If we ask the question “How many clothes should the average woman have?” is assumes that we are all average – which we are most definitely NOT!
And let’s be truthful most of us have said at some stage or another: ” I don’t care how many clothes I have, I have nothing to wear.”
According to a survey of a 1000 USA women, ClosetMaid found that the average women has 103 items of clothing in her closet.
But she only wears around 10% of them and considers 21% to be unwearable 33 % too tight and 24% too loose.
Consider the 80/20 rule which means that 80% of the time you’ll probably only wear 20% of your clothes. So it makes sense to let go of 80% of the things you don’t wear anyway.
Recovering Shopaholic says in her post How many clothes are enough that “Enough” is an individual and a moving target:
“Enough is a very individual concept and it can also be a moving target. I know it was for me… My initial target was 250 total items (clothes, shoes, purses, and scarves), then 150 garments. Now I’m leaning toward 100-120 garments and 25 pairs of shoes, as that feels right to me at this point. But if someone would have mentioned those numbers to me back in January, I would have felt anxiety creeping up my sides. I would have been scared that I wouldn’t have enough.”
How to maintain a wardrobe that works for you
Important considerations when decluttering is to decide which clothes work for your lifestyle.
- Do you go out to work and need a work style wardrobe?
- Do you know how to dress for your body shape?
- Do you play sports?
- Do you wear mostly casual wear at home?
- Do you have an active social life?
- Do you attend many evening events?
- Do you need four seasons of clothes?
- Do you prefer dresses that disguise your tummy area?
- Do you like having different types of dresses you can dress up or down, summer or winter?
- Do you like getting cost for wear out of your clothes or is having choice important?
- Decide what exactly you need clothes for and throw out things which don’t serve you anymore.
- Are you petite and have a wardrobe full of oversize clothes? Learn how to dress well if you’re short, and discard what doesn’t suit you anymore.
- Have you given up a sport – then get rid of the gear because you’ll probably not take it up again and by then fashions might have changed.
- How about evening events? Do you go to many or in truth very few?
- If you’re retired you may no longer have to attend work functions – so that ‘work’ wardrobe can now go too.
Too many clothes? Why not gift them to a charity shop or thrift store – Here are 10 of the best thrift shops on the internet to get you started.
Want to buy some affordable designer clothes that will stand the test of time? Check out this post: Sensational Casual Clothes for Women Over 50.
What do you need for a basic wardrobe?
In reality we probably need a basic wardrobe consisting of 3 of everything which would cover us under the basis of one clean, one in the wash and one dirty.
But this presumes that everything in your wardrobe goes with something else that matches.
Although it is very hard to achieve (and requires discipline) I do believe in the power of a capsule wardrobe, which has one or two extra show pony pieces to spice things up a little.
A basic capsule wardrobe is one which covers the essential days and evenings of your life with clothes that fit well, mostly in block colours of white, black, ivory, cream, navy blue and grey.
A crisp white shirt and blue jeans will actually take you most places, and a little black dress can be accessorised beautifully with prints or colours or jewellery to give it punch.
So your capsule wardrobe should consist of items which you can wear anytime, and all the time, which can be jazzed up if necessary either with show pony pieces or pretty accessories.
It’s much easier to get dressed when you don’t have too much to choose from, but when mostly everything in your wardrobe matches everything else as well as your lifestyle.
However, apart from the fashion side of things, as we age, I believe we should always think about our underwear.
Everywoman over 50 should have a few pairs of washable leakproof pants in their wardrobe.
Check out some of the best leakproof underwear, why you need them, and why they are a much better and more eco-friendly option than panty liners – or simply click to Buy My Favourite Brand Modibodi Here.
And Bras – let’s not forget them because they are the mainstay to creating the best silhouette for your clothes.
This post gives the lowdown on how to fit your bra correctly, and here’s our ultimate guide to buying a bra.
Video: How to Create A Minimalist Wardrobe
The excuses we tell ourselves
It’s very hard for most people to have the philosophy of one item in, one item out when it comes to our wardrobe space and buying clothes and shoes.
Because most of us will always find something existing that the old item matches with, or we’ll find a reason that we just have to keep it.
These are some of the things we might tell ourselves:-
I bought it with Mum on a happy shopping spree, but Mum is no longer with us and it invokes memories of a happy time – so I can’t chuck it out!
I bought it to console myself after something bad happened and that piece of clothing has become such a comfort to me.
I spent wayyy too much on that piece of clothing and therefore can’t possibly get rid of it!
It matches something else in the wardrobe that I just can’t chuck out either.
I will slim down to fit into it again one day.
It will probably come back into fashion.
It looked great on the model in the photo. I still might wear it one day.
How to be ruthless when decluttering clothes
When it gets to the stage that you think it’s not the number of clothes you own, but the number of closets that you don’t own, then you probably have too many clothes.
Because your house is not a landfill for unwanted or unused garments!
Now comes the hard part; deciding what to keep and what to throw away.
It pays to be ruthless so that you’ll end up with a closet in which each item of clothing has space to breathe.
You need to easily be able to see each piece of clothing without having to shove half a rail of garments to one side.
Being ruthless is going to take some resolve.
Give yourself a set amount of time to declutter, and don’t spend time agonising over every decision.
Once you’ve decided what you are going to give away or sell, put those items in another closet and don’t look at them again unless it’s to give them away or sell!
Believe me – look at them again and they will most likely find their way back to your wardrobe!
11 tips on how to reduce your closet
Take an inventory of everything in your closet.
Make a list of how many blouses, shirts, T shirts, jeans, jumpers, jackets and so forth that you actually own. This will make your understand how much you really have, and what might be superflous.
Touch each item of clothing, look at each piece carefully and consider do you really love wearing it, and does it go with something else in your wardrobe? Do you wear this piece often? Is it frayed or worn out?
Immediately throw away the first offenders – those things that look tatty, that are stained, or clothes you don’t like anymore.
Go with the seasons
Sort your clothes into seasons. If there are any clothes from the previous season that you have not worn, then it’s time to bid them farewell.
Consider your lifestyle
Take an honest look at your lifestyle now. Has it changed?
Do you work from home now?
Have you become a homebody?
Do you need 10 cocktail dresses anymore?
Try the Hanger Trick
Turn all the hangers around to face one way.
When you wear something then turn the hanger around the other way when you put the item of clothing back.
After 12 months if there are hangers still turned around the original way then it’s time to part company with those pieces.
Throw away clothes that don’t actually fit anymore
Throw away clothes that don’t fit. And not just clothes you don’t fit into.
It’s time to say goodbye to clothes that have stretched, or that have always been too tight, and those that show too much bust, or gape at the front (those beautiful blouses you keep making excurses for) all those clothes that you actually don’t feel very comfortable wearing for one reason or another.
Take photographs of sentimental items
For those items of clothing which you just can’t bear to part with, but will probably never wear again, my tips is to take a photograph of them and stick them to your closet door with a written memory attached.
Or go one step further and create a photo book of your most loved clothes and write short memoir paragraphs to go with them to remind you of the past and people you love.
Do I love it?
Ask yourself, “Do I love this piece of clothing?” If the answer is “Yes”, then follow this up with “Do I wear it?”
There’s a difference to loving a garment and actually wearing it! If you don’t wear it, then no matter how much you love looking at it, it has to go!
Does it feel uncomfortable?
If the garment scratches you, or makes you feel a bit itchy, then you’re going to avoid wearing it. So too if it’s a little tight.
Ask yourself, “is this garment uncomfortable in any way?”
Does this piece of clothing reflect who I am?
As we go through life we project different images.
In many instances our clothes can define us.
You might want to be viewed by others in a particular way.
Or perhaps you couldn’t give a fig, and that’s okay, but if you want to project a particular image to the world then cull your wardrobe.
Is it full of Bohemian, hippy style clothes when really you want to look smart casual? Ditch the clothes that no longer serve you.
Do these clothes look good or not?
If your clothes are balled, or need stitching, or if they are stained, or faded, you are probably not going to keep on wearing them except in the garden.
These superfluous clothes need turning into rags or dishcloths or binned.
Have a regular declutter
If you have a six monthly or seasonal declutter you’ll get much better at it, and your wardrobe will be clean and full of clothes you wear and love, rather than packed to the rafters with stuff you no longer wear.
My take on the problem of too many clothes
I believe that many of us enjoy buying clothes. It’s the dress-up-girl in us from childhood, and dare I say it’s that age old fairy tale of the Princess in the castle.
I love clothes and fashion, and like many other women have too much in my wardrobe. But having said that I do cull regularly giving clothes away to friends or charity shops.
Many of us really do derive comfort from clothes and some of them have sentimental value too even if we don’t wear them anymore. Just touching them and looking at them can bring back warm and fuzzy memories for all sorts of reasons.
We have to get over the fact that some clothes possibly helped us through difficult times, and that in its own way the buying expedition provided solace.
When we realise that we have too many clothes, or we can’t find things in our wardrobe, or we spend too much time planning an outfit, and that many items just don’t serve us moving forward, then it’s time to declutter.
When it comes to your clothes, I think if you reach a decision that you have too many clothes for your closet or your lifestyle, then you probably do!
It’s time to declutter for your sanity and your wardrobe space.
Other Great Posts in This Series
A Minimalist Wardrobe : Create Your Ultimate Capsule
Best Dresses for women over 50 – (What dresses should you have in your wardrobe?)
How to style clothes you already have
How to Organize a Small Closet (if you have lots of clothes!)
Ultimate Guide to Fifty Plus Women’s Fashion
Tips for an organised winter wardrobe
Arm Cover Ups – Best Sleeves for Under Dresses – how they can help you get more use out of your sleeveless dresses.
Fashion Tips for Women Over 50
Over to you?
How many clothes do you have?
How many clothes do we need?
Any tips for decluttering?
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SO TRUE
Thank you for the articles
Thanks for the awesome ideas.
Thanks. It was an interesting survey for sure!
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This is just awesome. Thanks for putting them all in one place. Great effort.
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I didn’t know that most people own 5-10 pairs of jeans. I need to get more work clothes. I’ll have to buy some online.
Hi Tex, I also was intrigued by how many clothes people owned, both large amounts and small!
Interesting article! I’ve done the hanger flip trick and it really does work, I’ll be doing it again now with the seasons getting ready to change. I’m also a believer in the “something has to leave before something else comes in” rule. It tends to make you think differently when looking at something you are considering purchasing when you know you have to give up something else.
For those who have a hard time parting with clothes due to the money aspect, look for a local consignment shop where you can sell those items and at least recoup some of your investment. I did that after I left my last job and no longer had need for quite so many outfits that were office appropriate. Used the money I made from that to replace those items that fit my new lifestyle better.
Great tips Flo! Thanks for sharing them with us 🙂
Women’s wardrobe is always amazing. You will see clothes for every occasion, every season and every joy, Thank you for sharing the beautiful and helpful post.
Hi Jo,
Reading these survey results I’m definitely on the low side of average. I’ve written a few articles on my blog this year showing my summer op shop wardrobe, my tips for op-shopping for clothes, and recently about our local Community Clothes Swap. Would love a mention in your newsletter to link readers to these posts if you think this is appropriate! I think we are becoming more mindful about the costs of fast fashion including impact on the environment and sweat shop workers who are mostly women. It would be interesting to repeat this survey in a year or 2.
I love the idea of your local Community Clothes swap Jo! What a wonderful initiative. Yes, I wonder how this survey might look in a year or two as people become more concerned about what they wear and not how much they have in their wardrobes.
A Very good article. My problem is I gain and lose weight so I feel
I need two wardrobes for each season I have way too much stuff that I don’t wear or have never worn but almost scared to get rid of it in case I need it one day. I have over 100 pairs of shoes I only wear about 20. I recently moved house and am in total disbelief about how much I acquired over the years that I don’t use.
I feel you pain Mandy! I also get worried about chucking things out, but when I do I feel much better! I know … how much stuff we accumulate over the years that we just don’t have any use for is amazing. You don’t realise you don’t need it until it’s not there anymore!
I think peoccasion. a hard time getting rid of clothing they don’t use because they made a monetary investment and it’s hard to think you spent money on something only to toss it because you didn’t wear it for a long time, waiting for the right occasion.
A lot of people now have the added conundrum of having to work from home because of covid and not needing their work clothes – a number of people won’t return to the work place or will end up in different jobs-after investing in work clothes just prior to covid lockdowns.
I’m trying to clear up the closets myself and will end up with a minimalist closet!
Well done Sarah 🙂
This was shocking to me
I have significantly less outfit than your survey
Primary reason is that i am living in middle east where clothes are expensive and lower quality
So I shop less and also swap them with my sibling.
And i guess generally speaking Women in less wealthy countries are the same.
Thanks for article, very informative
Hi Zohre, yes I would absolutely agree. This post was focussed on mostly a United States and Western European audience, and I can see that for some women it would not resonate. I love that you shop less and swap clothes with your siblings. Thanks for commenting, and reading 🙂
I did the hanger trick starting last summer, and have found that I really do wear almost everything in my closet. Not that it means I don’t have much. I just LOVE variety.
Interesting read for sure!!
XOOX
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
Thanks Jodie, great to hear that the hanger trick worked for you – and well done :)!!
Love the article! Interestingly enough, I am in the lower group of responses in most all of the questions you polled and am still trying to downsize. My main problem is dresses. I work at an office so I often wear dresses to work. Also in general I just dresses more flattering and comfortable than a top and pants. For that reason I probably have over 40 dresses and yet don’t have enough tops and pairs of pants. Yet each time I go shopping for more I end up coming home with another dress. I used to say I would like to have only 2 weeks worth of clothes, but I find that hard to quantify because I
need different clothes for different activities so now I’m trying to limit myself to no more than 10 of a certain type of clothing or half that for something I wear less. So 10 tops, 10 pairs of pants/shorts/skirts, 10 dresses, and 5 tshirt and legging combinations. I decided recently I am going to pack away all but 10 of my dresses, purchase enough of the other items to get me to that number and then try using just those clothes for the spring/summer season. If come autumn it has worked well then I will simply donate all the dresses I have packed away. I will say so far it feels wonderful to walk into my closet and it not be packed full of clothing.
Hi Melissa, Thanks for your lovely reply and suggestions too. Good luck with downsizing and re-organising your closet.
I enjoyed your article. I have been working on purging for more than a year. A few months ago my entire department were let go. It was a shock after almost 22 years. Now, with more time while on the Job hunt again, I find myself letting things go even more. I keep reminding myself to hold on to some for when I am working again. I am, however, taking your advices and only keeping those which make me feel good and confident wearing them.
Glad you enjoyed the article Linda. I’m sorry to hear about the redundancies – what a horrible shock. Good luck with the job hunting. I hope the wardrobe minimising goes well 🙂
Mission Accomplished.
Wow! Well Done! That’s awesome 🙂 I’m super impressed 🙂
While I’m on the moderate to low side of the figures in your survey, I do get bored with wearing the same things over and over again no matter how good they look on me or comfortable they may be … and so, I buy more. Also, it is hard to tell if an item is going to be a favourite when you buy it! I have gained more insight into this with experience eg if it’s not comfortable in the dressing room or needs hand washing it stays in the store, as I *know* it will just hang in my wardrobe. Going clothes shopping can be a bit like russian roulette!
I agree Janetti – I get bored with my clothes and sometimes it’s the ones I’ve kept which I bring out again and think, “Oh, that’s lovely,
” and it feels like new! Me too, if it needs hand washing, or dry cleaning I have to remind myself not to buy it! Thanks for your thoughts 🙂
Hi Jo, Thanks so much for your timely article on Wardrobe matters. Having just been through 9 months of disruption and repair works due to water damage in 2 bedrooms, which are now clean, dry, repainted and carpeted: the Games Room however still resembles a well stocked OP Shop, and my W.I.R. bulges. Couple this with my recent (intentional) weight loss, and it seems to be the perfect timing and incentive to embark on a ruthless and hopefully satisfying clear out, rather than just shoving it all back from whence it came!! I like the idea of photographing special outfits before passing them on so that someone else can get pleasure from wearing them. By tomorrow, when I have the house to myself (‘Retired’ Husband works 1 day/week!!) I shall be organised and ready to go forth and purge. Wish Me Luck!!
Good luck Shirley! I can understand how you might cherish that one day a week to do your own thing – and a clear out needs concentration! Well, it does for me at least!
Glad that you have got over your 9 monts of disruption – it sounds as if your hosue has been in the wars – great that it’s all sorted now.