[Hayek]

We moved to a new place and my wife again reminded me that I have too much clothing.

I decided to, over the next year, not by anything new unless I'm replacing something that wore out and am getting rid of something comparable. No new suit without tossing out an old one, etc.

I already moved some stuff to the basement so it's out of sight, out of mind. I found that I'm enjoying what I have a bit more and am just living with a smaller wardrobe. I have another box of clothes that I'm planning on tossing out or donating, assuming I don't realize I'm missing anything once a few months have gone by.

Creating this thread for accountability. Will post updates each month. Wish me luck!

 

[Andy]

Hayek:

In a similar position! Business and location are pushing me to a less dressy state (I am fighting it, but ...)!

What's difficult is that clothing/shoe/etc. items I have are all high end and in good shape so hard to get rid of them.

Just gave lots of stuff to charity including my method of leaving my travel clothes at the end of a trip: Packing Tips For Travel

 

[fishertw]

We have also just recently moved to a new and smaller location. I shed a lot of very good things in the past nine months but still find that I have a number of items that need to go. I will be doing that in the near future. Shoes, dress shirts, etc. While I am now finding opportunities to wear sport coats occasionally while due to covid etc, i did not wear them for over two years, I still need to pare down to less. I like your method of posting here to remind yourself of this and to check back occasionally to post how you are doing in that effort.
Cheers, Tom

 

[William Kazak]

Consider wearing oxford cloth and supima dress shirts with kakis and jeans. Also, under crew neck sweaters with just the collar visible. Also with a cardigan.

 

[Tweedlover]

I recently bought a pair of shorts (at WalMart). Otherwise, I haven't bought any new clothes in quite some years. I'm easy on clothes and they last me forever. Actually, my wardrobe has largely been built up via thrifting and gifts. Closets are chock full and so seldom will buy clothes new or used.

 

[eagle2250]

We have also just recently moved to a new and smaller location. I shed a lot of very good things in the past nine months but still find that I have a number of items that need to go. I will be doing that in the near future. Shoes, dress shirts, etc. While I am now finding opportunities to wear sport coats occasionally while due to covid etc, i did not wear them for over two years, I still need to pare down to less. I like your method of posting here to remind yourself of this and to check back occasionally to post how you are doing in that effort.
Cheers, Tom

Sequential moves to new and smaller home spaces seems to be our evolving approach to downsizing and reduction/elimination of the hoard. Alas, it seems the shoes/boots are the hardest to part with and, while not sartorial, getting rid of the books is not much easier! LOL.

 

[Vecchio Vespa]

As I have previously recounted, a few years ago I trimmed enough inches to necessitate a wardrobe reboot. As a retiree, housebound by a pesky virus, making a little extra through an easy gig, it was kind of fun to rebuild the whole thing. I may have overshot what I needed in a few minor ways, but I have space in my closet and dresser. I dress up at least weekly for church and the odd event here and there, so I have enough dress shirts, ties, and odd jackets to form a nice palate. I have found that an open collar and untucked gingham, linen, or madras shirt is cooler than a pique polo. So I really have overshot my polo needs. I have five. I have supplanted them for daily wear with two gingham (raspberry and navy), two linen (pale blue and white), and one patch madras. That mix is just right. My OCBDs are also at five (pink, pink uni, blue, blue uni, and white). It is a long game to rotate through them. They'll get more wear if it ever cools down (November). Cream, khaki, olive, and Nantucket red shorts cover all bases, and the same colors in long pants, augmented by cords in tan and olive, grey flannels, and grey tropical worsteds. I have enough odd jackets and summer suits to rotate the colors in both hot and cool weather (for summer a blazer, madras, tan glen plaid jackets and poplin and seersucker suits and for winter grey and taupe herringbone, grey large glen plaid, and a blazer). I love herrngbone enough that I could easily have skipped the large glen plaid odd jacket). For shoes my feet thankfully did not change, and I have LHS in chromexcel and snuff suede, tassels in no.8, and casual shoes. Rarely used these days are a charcoal weddings and funerals suit and a dinner suit. Sorry to have rhapsodized in such detail (I spared you u-trou, socks, belts, and sweaters!). Since everything is either new or new to me, and I am 73, I can easily go a long, long time without new clothing. As for those who get squinchy at letting things go, especially things like expensive shoes that are just gathering dust, unless you have specific plans to wear them, think of giving them a start on a new life where someone else will either love and use them or succeed you in letting them gather dust and radiate guilty vibes!

 

[eagle2250]

As I have previously recounted, a few years ago I trimmed enough inches to necessitate a wardrobe reboot. As a retiree, housebound by a pesky virus, making a little extra through an easy gig, it was kind of fun to rebuild the whole thing. I may have overshot what I needed in a few minor ways, but I have space in my closet and dresser. I dress up at least weekly for church and the odd event here and there, so I have enough dress shirts, ties, and odd jackets to form a nice palate. I have found that an open collar and untucked gingham, linen, or madras shirt is cooler than a pique polo. So I really have overshot my polo needs. I have five. I have supplanted them for daily wear with two gingham (raspberry and navy), two linen (pale blue and white), and one patch madras. That mix is just right. My OCBDs are also at five (pink, pink uni, blue, blue uni, and white). It is a long game to rotate through them. They'll get more wear if it ever cools down (November). Cream, khaki, olive, and Nantucket red shorts cover all bases, and the same colors in long pants, augmented by cords in tan and olive, grey flannels, and grey tropical worsteds. I have enough odd jackets and summer suits to rotate the colors in both hot and cool weather (for summer a blazer, madras, tan glen plaid jackets and poplin and seersucker suits and for winter grey and taupe herringbone, grey large glen plaid, and a blazer). I love herrngbone enough that I could easily have skipped the large glen plaid odd jacket). For shoes my feet thankfully did not change, and I have LHS in chromexcel and snuff suede, tassels in no.8, and casual shoes. Rarely used these days are a charcoal weddings and funerals suit and a dinner suit. Sorry to have rhapsodized in such detail (I spared you u-trou, socks, belts, and sweaters!). Since everything is either new or new to me, and I am 73, I can easily go a long, long time without new clothing. As for those who get squinchy at letting things go, especially things like expensive shoes that are just gathering dust, unless you have specific plans to wear them, think of giving them a start on a new life where someone else will either love and use them or succeed you in letting them gather dust and radiate guilty vibes!

Good advice, for sure!

 

[P Hudson]

I approached this from a different angle several years ago. That is, my primary concern was less with how much I had than with the wisdom of my purchases. So I decided to only buy things (apart from necessities and gifts for others) in November of that year. By the time November rolled around, most things I would have bought were a) forgotten, b) no longer all that appealing, or c) on steep discount. Another factor is that I'm willing to spend an undefinable smaller amount (say +/- $150 here and there) many times in the year until it adds up to many thousands. But when I did all my shopping in November, I hit the brakes at a much lower total expenditure. In more recent times I have spread my shopping out through the year but aim for fewer, higher quality items. The result is now that I buy too many items at too high a price. Maybe I'll check my spending until November rolls around.

 

[Vecchio Vespa]

I approached this from a different angle several years ago. That is, my primary concern was less with how much I had than with the wisdom of my purchases. So I decided to only buy things (apart from necessities and gifts for others) in November of that year. By the time November rolled around, most things I would have bought were a) forgotten, b) no longer all that appealing, or c) on steep discount. Another factor is that I'm willing to spend an undefinable smaller amount (say +/- $150 here and there) many times in the year until it adds up to many thousands. But when I did all my shopping in November, I hit the brakes at a much lower total expenditure. In more recent times I have spread my shopping out through the year but aim for fewer, higher quality items. The result is now that I buy too many items at too high a price. Maybe I'll check my spending until November rolls around.

Waiting for sales at O'Connell's and other places that do not have a lot of sales can be another decent limiting approach. Of course some things I want just never go on sale, like Mercer shirts, so building my set of five was simply spread over a year.

 

[fishertw]

Waiting for sales at O'Connell's and other places that do not have a lot of sales can be another decent limiting approach. Of course some things I want just never go on sale, like Mercer shirts, so building my set of five was simply spread over a year.

Bought my first Mercers in a introductory offer that they had. Cant remember the details but it you bought 4 you got some special offer. Got a pink , white, yellow and blue uni stripe OCBD.

 

[Vecchio Vespa]

Bought my first Mercers in a introductory offer that they had. Cant remember the details but it you bought 4 you got some special offer. Got a pink , white, yellow and blue uni stripe OCBD.

I got a little knocked off my first, a white OCBD.

 

[Hayek]

I approached this from a different angle several years ago. That is, my primary concern was less with how much I had than with the wisdom of my purchases. So I decided to only buy things (apart from necessities and gifts for others) in November of that year. By the time November rolled around, most things I would have bought were a) forgotten, b) no longer all that appealing, or c) on steep discount. Another factor is that I'm willing to spend an undefinable smaller amount (say +/- $150 here and there) many times in the year until it adds up to many thousands. But when I did all my shopping in November, I hit the brakes at a much lower total expenditure. In more recent times I have spread my shopping out through the year but aim for fewer, higher quality items. The result is now that I buy too many items at too high a price. Maybe I'll check my spending until November rolls around.

This is a good idea and similar to something I started doing (and then stopped) a few years ago, which was to figure out what I needed in the early spring and then again in the early fall and just buy stuff over the course of the year as things went on sale.

 

[Hayek]

Alright, first update for the month of June:

Bought: 1 quick drying undershirt and one pair of "technical" quick drying shorts that should be good for travel, from Mack Weldon. Bought these before I hatched this "no new clothes" plan but no regrets in either purchase.

Got rid of: Three pairs of shorts, one which ripped and two which I just didn't like to wear (a too big pair of workout shorts and and seersucker shorts which need to be dry cleaned, which is extremely annoying, as it's hot and humid so I need to dry clean them after nearly every wear).

Other changes: Added to my box of clothes I rarely wear and will soon donate or throw away (I just keep them in this box for a while to make sure I truly don't want them before ditching them). To accommodate the smaller closet in the new place, I also put some perfectly good clothes in a separate box just as storage for now (I have no need to keep 15+ cotton undershirts in my drawer at one time, or 3 blue OCBDs). This has been a good move, I re-discovered some shirts I haven't worn in a while.

Overall off to a decent start and hope to downsize more this month. I definitely feel more focused on quality over quantity and the joys of having less. I've started to ask myself for example "what's the realistic minimum number of dress shirts I need" and hope to use that as a starting point when buying anything new.

 

[Hayek]

July update:

New buys: 2 pairs of replacement sports sneakers, that's all

Got rid of: Tossed out an old pair of driver mocs which have seen better days...and frankly I think drivers are a pretty useless shoe in general

Other changes: Cleaned out the closet by moving more clothes across 3 boxes: one for stuff I'll donate or toss out soon, one for out of season clothes, and one for stuff that I want to keep but don't need to have in my closet (I work from home most days and have no need for 4 white dress shirts on hand, for example).

Overall the experiment has been progressing well and putting on "blinders" by limiting what I can wear on a given day has been liberating.

 

[Hayek]

I think this will be my last post -- it has been over 6 months, and this experiment has generally been successful.

I've gotten rid of a lot of stuff I don't wear anymore, and most of what I've bought have been replacement gym/sports clothes (sneakers, shorts, running pants that I also wear on long flights). My biggest splurge has been a new blazer from Sid Masburn as my current navy blazer is getting old and worn. I've cheated by buying a couple shirts, but overall I've thrown out more than I've bought.

I'll leave you all with some parting thoughts:

1. If you post on this board, you probably have too much clothing, and it may be a good idea to embark on a similar exercise. I've found that I've rediscovered some things that I hadn't worn in a while, and I no longer feel obligated to wear a shirt I'm not 100% happy with just because it's in my closet.

2. My wife has also approved of my attempts to cut back, to the point where she didn't ask, to my surprise "...do you really need a new jacket? Doesn't that blazer look exactly the same as all the others?" when I got a new blazer. She even bought me a pair of Gucci loafers for Christmas, after previously making fun of me for having so many shoes! So, this exercise may also lead you to marital bliss.

3. My basic method of organizing has been to have 3 "buckets" where I keep my clothes. Bucket 1 is my closet/dresser; this consists of stuff I reasonably expect to wear on a day to day basis. Bucket 2 is a separate wardrobe I have downstairs where I put stuff that's out of season, or things that I just don't need to have ready access to but can't stand to throw away (i.e. I own 6 good French cuff dress shirts but in the post COVID world with fewer in person meetings, I have no reason to have all of them taking up space in my bedroom closet). Bucket 3 consists of things that I'm planning on donating or throwing away -- I've been keeping stuff there for a few months before actually ditching anything to make sure I have no regrets. Try doing this yourself; you'll be surprised by what you don't miss.

4. It has also focused my attention on fixing some things that I haven't worn because they weren't quite right. So I got a vamp stretcher to loosen up a pair of Alden loafers, and had a sport coat shortened, so it now fits much better. Without thinking about buying new stuff, I've paid more attention to what I have.

TL;DR: Try buying less stuff and be thoughtful about what you do buy, you won't regret it!

 

[William Kazak]

Interesting observations. Many of us are blessed and therefore have accumulated more than we need. In the Midwest, with such a variety of temps and weather conditions, I have quite a number of things. I have outerwear; coats jackets, trench coats. Another closet is summer only. My other closet is wool slacks, blazers, ties and dress shirts. Portable rack has chinos with belts and another rack short sleeved t-shirts in various colors. Oh my Lord!

 

[Vecchio Vespa]

It is illuminating to go through the exercise of looking critically at what you have, assessing what you need, and only then deciding what you want. In my case I keep what I roll (one pair of jeans, four tee shirts, three polos (one or two is plenty), four pairs of shorts, boxers, and (too many) socks. In my closet hang my three tweed jackets (one too many) and blazer, heavy flannel and tropical worsted grey trousers, five OCBDs, five sport shirts (one I plan to give away) three cords, and three khakis. In garment bags are one dark grey suit and a dinner suit and pleated shirt. On the floor are two pairs of LHS, one pair of tassel loafers, a pair of Quoddy Maliseets, a pair of Rancourts, and a pair of nice western boots. I could easily do without one of the snuff suede LHS and the Quoddys. On the floor of my closet there is usually a donation bag. Sweaters (two Shetland and a Fair Isle sleeveless) stay in a camphor chest. I could do fine with only one Shetland since I pick the same one 95% of the time plus. In another garment bag are two summer sport jackets, a summer blazer, and two suits, poplin and seersucker. Again I could easily prune the summer jackets. With this wardrobe I can go a good while without doing laundry and can always feel well dressed for every occasion. I have more outerwear than I need (topcoat, raincoat, down sweater, Barbour Beaufort, and wind breaker) and plan to give some away.

 

[fishertw]

It is illuminating to go through the exercise of looking critically at what you have, assessing what you need, and only then deciding what you want. In my case I keep what I roll (one pair of jeans, four tee shirts, three polos (one or two is plenty), four pairs of shorts, boxers, and (too many) socks. In my closet hang my three tweed jackets (one too many) and blazer, heavy flannel and tropical worsted grey trousers, five OCBDs, five sport shirts (one I plan to give away) three cords, and three khakis. In garment bags are one dark grey suit and a dinner suit and pleated shirt. On the floor are two pairs of LHS, one pair of tassel loafers, a pair of Quoddy Maliseets, a pair of Rancourts, and a pair of nice western boots. I could easily do without one of the snuff suede LHS and the Quoddys. On the floor of my closet there is usually a donation bag. Sweaters (two Shetland and a Fair Isle sleeveless) stay in a camphor chest. I could do fine with only one Shetland since I pick the same one 95% of the time plus. In another garment bag are two summer sport jackets, a summer blazer, and two suits, poplin and seersucker. Again I could easily prune the summer jackets. With this wardrobe I can go a good while without doing laundry and can always feel well dressed for every occasion. I have more outerwear than I need (topcoat, raincoat, down sweater, Barbour Beaufort, and wind breaker) and plan to give some away.

I still aspire to that level of paring down. Not there yet but you do inspire me.

 

[William Kazak]

It is illuminating to go through the exercise of looking critically at what you have, assessing what you need, and only then deciding what you want. In my case I keep what I roll (one pair of jeans, four tee shirts, three polos (one or two is plenty), four pairs of shorts, boxers, and (too many) socks. In my closet hang my three tweed jackets (one too many) and blazer, heavy flannel and tropical worsted grey trousers, five OCBDs, five sport shirts (one I plan to give away) three cords, and three khakis. In garment bags are one dark grey suit and a dinner suit and pleated shirt. On the floor are two pairs of LHS, one pair of tassel loafers, a pair of Quoddy Maliseets, a pair of Rancourts, and a pair of nice western boots. I could easily do without one of the snuff suede LHS and the Quoddys. On the floor of my closet there is usually a donation bag. Sweaters (two Shetland and a Fair Isle sleeveless) stay in a camphor chest. I could do fine with only one Shetland since I pick the same one 95% of the time plus. In another garment bag are two summer sport jackets, a summer blazer, and two suits, poplin and seersucker. Again I could easily prune the summer jackets. With this wardrobe I can go a good while without doing laundry and can always feel well dressed for every occasion. I have more outerwear than I need (topcoat, raincoat, down sweater, Barbour Beaufort, and wind breaker) and plan to give some away.

I know what you mean about having a favorite Shetland. I got mine last year and between that and a lambswool crew I choose them both depending on the Midwest temps. My lambswool v neck and merino long sleeved polo shirt are not used very much.