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11 April 2007
What does your wardrobe consist of?→[More:]
Mine: 5 formal shirts, for office
10 or so informal I guess.
And loads of old stuff which I’ve got to give to charity.
Also have a couple of T-shirts from my teenage days which I still wear, a favourite of which is a Michigan University T that my cousin brother from the States had got for me, I think (the shirt’s over ten years old). Which reminds me, I’ve got to buy some more new Ts.
It consists of suits, cocktail dresses, formal dresses, casual dresses, business separates, casual separates, lingerie (and other underthings), club clothes (and corsets), jeans, t-shirts, sweaters, skirts-skirts-and-more-skirts, bathing suits (and other beach/boat clothes), coats, hats, wigs, shoes, boots and bags. No pyjamas, but yoga clothes and stuff for bellydancing class.
It is stored in my bedroom closet, a freestanding wardrobe in the bedroom, a freestanding wardrobe in the storage unit, the drawers built into my bed, the dresser, the spare closet at my parent's house (which is terribly inconvenient), the spare dresser at my sister's house (which is only the stuff remaining from when it was my "pied-a-terre" and i keep meaning to retrieve it) and two emergency suits (with shoes) at my office.
I had a serious recreational shopping "problem" until I licked it two Lents ago. Now most of what I own is out-of-date, but at least I'm slowly wearing all those cocktail dresses which had as-yet never been worn. I am slightly ashamed of the excess, but I've given lots of barely worn (and not particularly dated) work clothes to Bottomless Closet, so that's something, at least.
I don't have many clothes, aside from lots of t-shirts. I don't like shopping - it's a chore to me. And I wear jeans and a t-shirt to work every day in winter, and shorts or a skirt in summer, so I don't need a work wardrobe.
5 pairs of blue jeans (levis and lees), about 6 plaid flannel shirts, 2 solid color flannel shirts. 30-odd t-shirts, 10 or 12 pair of boxer shorts, about 12 pair of white sox, a pair of cutoffs, a pair of cargo shorts, a pair of khakis, my rockabilly shirt, a pair of black chuck taylors, a harley hoodie, a hartford whalers hoodie, a pair of black timberlands, a leather motorcycle jacket, an army fatigue jacket, a brown quarter length leather coat, a parka, 12 baseball caps, a sweater, seven pairs of earrings, a leather neckchain with a silver record album charm, an LA Kings hockey jersey, a black leather belt, a pair of red pajama pants with snowflakes on them, a bathrobe and my white gold wedding band.
Jeans (only 2 pairs of which fit me at the moment)
T-shirts, mostly plain
Various sweaters, hoodies, etc.
White panties, black panties, some with lace on them, mostly plain.
White bras, black bras, skin-tone bras.
Black socks. White socks.
Mix, match and layer the above, depending on the weather.
Black trousers, white shirt, grey tweedy jacket (for if I ever need to get dressed up at work, which is rare).
I also have a couple of 'dressing up' outfits in case I have to go somewhere smart, two skirts, one dress, a couple of pairs of dressy trousers and a few tops.
My clothes never go out of fashion because they weren't ever in fashion to start with.
About a week's worth of workaday 'business casual' stuff (long-sleeved button-down shirts and chino pants), two pair of shorts, a few pair of work pants, about two weeks worth of t-shirts, about a week's worth of boxer shorts and hiking socks, a hooded sweatshirt, a couple baseball caps, a pair of flannel pajama pants, some winter stuff (coat, hats, gloves, scarves, etc.) and some task-specific stuff (outdoor and cycling clothes). Oh, and a couple pair of clogs, a couple pair of sneakers, a pair of sandals and a pair of hiking boots. Wow. I'm a little surprised how long that list is.
Since other people are mentioning it, I've also got a digital watch and a bunch of piercing jewelry.
It would take too much bandwidth to list, but the annoying thing is all the pairs of pants I have from up to last spring, when a 36 waist was snug. Now a 34 is slightly loose -- Yay! -- which means I'm having to replace my slacks and jeans one pair at a time -- Boo! -- and get rid of some almost-new stuff or hope that I get fat again. Grr.
I have an absurdly large wardrobe. It's a trifle less absurd since I moved last autumn and gave away a dozen large boxes of clothing. I get rid of things pretty regularly, but that was a huge purge.
See, I spent 16 years in retail, most of it managing a posh boutique, and I acquired the wardrobe you would expect from that. Heck, I have six hatboxes for silk and chiffon scarves alone.
Now that I'm in college, my clothing needs are substantially different, so I had to acquire a student's wardrobe. But I don't have the heart to discard all of my pretty pretty boutique clothing, though I wear it rarely.
Also, I finally accepted that my body's natural state is that of shapeshifter: I happily slide around through a range of three dress sizes, so I keep enough of an assortment to accomodate those three sizes.
I do love having those soft luxurious outfits in my closet. I even have one full-length evening dress in wine-colored velvet that I've yet to wear. It's a timeless cut. Someday, I'll need it, and I'll have it.
Now I buy most of my clothing at Goodwill or in consignment shops. That keeps me picky, and when I find something I like, I don't hesitate, because it costs between $2 and $12. I just bought perfect pair of trousers for $10 this week. Woo-hoo!
Twenty or so sportcoats, a red corduroy smoking jacket, a few other assorted odd bits of outerwear (like this one), about fifteen hats (including a collapsible top hat), ten vests, a variety of button-down shirts and slacks (no jeans -- I hate wearing jeans), around thirty ties (on a motorized tie rack!), and some beautifully hideous sweaters. Oh! And some ribbons for hair. And a couple other accessories which would be difficult to describe. And a bow tie.
Jeans, and skirts. No shorts, no khaki pants, no black pants except for the pinstripe pair with my suit. Need to get some black pants. Hate khakis, hate hate HATE shorts. Lots of dresses- the more dresses, the better. Once the weather gets warm (FOR REAL!), I'll be in dresses 24/7.
Tons of plain t-shirts, tunics and sweaters, lots of black and white. Plenty of bright colors, too- pink, red, purple, multicolored stuff.
Vans style sneakers, patent leather heels, simple black pumps, black knee high heeled boots, black suede flat boots, brown heeled boots, green suede Hush Puppies, flip-flops.
about 1/3 of my wardrobe is filled with clothes that no longer fit / never did fit but i bought anyways / stuff i never wear - so, ignoring that, I have:
5 pairs of jeans: 2 that actually fit (one black, one blue), 3 that don't (with 1 being about 3 inches too big around the waist)
4 pairs of shorts
1 pair of army pants that I sliced/painted/drew on/patched
3 sweaters
various work related clothing that I need to upgrade.
JanetLand--wow was that a useless thread. Even setting aside the sneering, most people (as usual) didn't pay attention to the question which was not "who sells these sorts of pants" but "how can i search through all the places that sell theses sorts of pants simultaneously".
Also, dershins, you're quite the sharp dresser, aren't you? Good on ya.
Sweaters! I forgot my sweaters! (As distinct from my many cardigans.) Probably about 10 of them (including a beautiful cashmere turtleneck I got on an insane discount this winter, and which is so cozy and soft that it makes me wish for cold days just so I could wear it ALL THE TIME).
I have cap and jersey lust. Someday when I am flush, I will get a vintage Orioles jersey with this guy's name and number on the back for obvious reasons.
15-20 sweaters
2 pairs of blue jeans
1 pair of beige-ish jeans
12-15 tshirts (including solids & stripes, short and 3/4 length sleeves)
5-7 pairs of capris (it used to be shorts but I don't wear them anymore)
7 - 10 long sleeve shirts (suitable for jeans/capris or can be worn with nicer bottoms)
Nicer wear:
5 "nice" light sweaters (suitable for dressier, but not overly dressy, occasions)
1 nice dress
1 black skirt
1 black pair of trousers
Shoes:
3 pairs of sandals
1 pair of runners (sport shoes)
1 pair of white Keds that look like Chuck Taylors, but have Looney Toon characters on them
1 pair of brown leather loafers
1 pair of black lace-up shoes
1 pair of black loafers
Underwear:
10-12 pairs of undies
4 bras
2 slips (one long, one short)
1 camisole
more socks than I can count (some plain, some trouser socks, lots of socks with silly things on them (bees, bugs, cats, etc.)
Misc:
5 jackets/coats of varying weights
5 sets of pajamas worn only when travelling
1 robe
2 swim suits
1 black leather belt
1 brown leather belt
lots of inexpensive silver/white gold jewelry
a couple pieces of nice jewelry
lots of dead watches (I used to collect them but can no longer wear them due to metal sensitivity)
When we moved I got rid of 8-10 garbage bags/large boxes of clothes, some of which had been sitting in storage for years. It felt sooo freeing to get rid of it. I kept what I thought I'd wear but it could use some more paring down, especially sweaters.
i dunno, some sweaters and blouses, work (skirt) suits, many camis, even more tanks, a few slacks, a few tshirts, one or 2 pairs of shorts. i prefer skirts over slacks for work and i rarely wear tshirts or shorts even in midsummer. i have more bike clothes than 'real' clothes.
i have lots of fun lacy bits, including bras and the obligatory merrywidow, tho i don't really need 'em. i refuse to wear thongs. i have, and wear, a ton of knee sox (see knickers, below) and i wear thigh highs, stockings or (well-fitting) tights but never pantyhose.
i have 4 fairly distinct styles depending on time of day, destination and/or venue: corporate yuppie meh, dirty bike messenger, eurotrash roadie lycra billboard and hippie fleece granola girl. occasionally i'll go fullon goth fetish, but thats getting rarer as i get older.
shoes... eh. mainly my tastes run to 1) black and 2) slip-on
my bike shoes are much more stylish, but then for $250 a pop (that's with prodeal discount and doesn't include cost of orthotics) they'd better be.
accessories tend to be whatever people have gifted me over the years and/or whatever i replace on the cheap when the last whatsis broke/disappeared/wore out. this means i wear $2.50 sale bin hoop earrings with my grandma's vintage tennis bracelet.
jeans are either gap men's 30/32s or any decent fitting jeans i can find in macy's closeout bin. i re-thrifted a buncha jeans last year due to (my) shrinkage.
owing to the bike thing, knicks/breeks/plus-fours are a wardrobe staple of mine. i have several pairs in lycra, wool, canvas/cotton, microfibre and god-only-knows. i don't bother with women's capris cos they don't have functional pockets.
Business shirts - 6
Work pants - 3
Ties - 8 or 9
Business suit - 1
Dinner suit - 1 (tux to you 'merkins)
Jeans - 3
Casual shirts - 4
Various shorts - 10ish
T-shirts/polo shirts - 40ish
Caps - 10ish
Black shoes
Brown shoes
Sneakers
Sandals
Work boots
Some underwear
Lots of socks
Canvassy jacket that I wear to and from work in winter
A great leather jacket that I bought in the '80s for $700 and for which it is hardly ever cold enough here for me to wear
Plus a few sets of old shorts and t-shorts (with sleeves cut off) that I use for working (building, landscaping, working on cars/boats etc)
1) Black stuff (turtlenecks!)
2) More black stuff. You ave to have one of everything in black. It's a rule. Pants, Jeans, shirts, shoes, sweater, jacket, skirts, dresses.
2) Vintage stuff
3) crazy ass patterns no sane person can pull off but I somehow get away with. Bonus points if it's also crazy ass cuts & vintage. Double-bonus if it's a suit-jacket that looks like it was cut from the wallpaper of a brothel.
4) fishnet stockings. They look great either on their own, or with other pantyhose - shiny shimmery ones or bold color ones underneath.
5) Metachat underwear and T-shirts with injokes.
6) An ocelot fur which is 57 years old. People glare at me for wearing it, and I know - it was once a few gorgeous cats, but I don't see how throwing away a 50-year old fur and buying me something synthetic for winter is going to help. I feel skitzofrenic when I wear it, mind you.
I mostly am wearing jeans, t-shirts, a pink velour hoodie, and sneakers since I work from home and play with my dogs a lot.
For the times when I have meetings I have a couple Scully suits (I've been calling all my suits Scully suits since the x-files was on the air. They are updated suits but I imagine Scully would wear them) and assorted separates. I also like to rock the twofer sweaters that are combo shirts + sweaters.
You ave to have one of everything in black. It's a rule.
But it's also a rule that you should never wear them all at once. When people turn up at work on "casual Friday" (which has now been officially sanctioned as every Friday, provided there is a gold coin collection ($1 or $2) to be donated to a different charity each week) dressed like this, they are referred to as "I see x is going the Cash today".
Thanks Else. *counts black turtlenecks* Oh good, there's seven of those. *worries about having gone "the Cash" today checks outfit...* Aha! Red and black checkered shoes! Saved!
5 work outfits consisting of button-up shirts and slacks
3 polo shirts
3 tank tops to wear under work clothes/play clothes
3 pairs of jeans
4 skirts
4 or 5 perfect fit monochrome shirts from Old Navy in various colors (I love those shirts)
1 suit
1 little black dress
1 bathing suit
some sweaters, underwear, long sleeve shirts, etc
one pair of work shoes, one pair of athletic shoes, lots of strappy shoes, flip flops, and a pair of bowling shoes (those count, right?)
That's about it mudd-dude has about 3x as many clothes as me! But he gets less closet space.
I didn't realize I had so many clothes until I started thinking about it. Let me just say - I am a coat whore. And a shoe whore. And a purse whore. I must have a dozen different types of coats at least, from dress to casual, from heavy to light. I have five pairs of jeans, two jeans skirts, a denim dress, denim blazer, boucle blazer, nubby knit blazer, four dresses (including the white sheath that was my wedding dress), somewhere over twenty shirts of different types, two work shirts, five pairs of work pants, shrugs, twenty plus pairs of shoes (counting all of them - in season and not). A deep drawer for lingerie, that is hard to close as it's so full. Sweaters in the drawers of my dresser, along with yoga type pants and pajamas. Sheesh. And I just donated another bag of clothes. The good thing is, I'm big on clearance racks!
Oh, redvixon, I'm right there with you on whorish-ness...I am a purse/bag whore first, a shoe whore second and a coat whore last.
I took inventory a couple years ago and was surprised to find I had more bags than shoes - at the time it was about 70+...there have been a number of additions and subtractions since then in the shoe department so I think I might be an equal whore on that score now. My coats probably number in the 40+, although I've never actually counted them.
As for everything else? I keep my fall/winter wardobe in my bedroom dressers/closet and my spring/summer wardobe in the dressers/closet in the "guest" room next to me. There will have to be some serious editing before I move into my condo because there are things in my wardobe that have not seen the light of day in years. Thank goodness there are two closets though and they are BIG - they were a selling feature, truth be told.
In regards to jewelry, I've always loved it but since I started making it, I'd say my collection has more than doubled in the last year.
A walk-in closet full of various things, a dresser full of various things, a TV armoire with the drawers full of clothes, and five or six rubbermaid containers full of clothes. I could go into more detail but I doubt anybody wants to know more than that and also it would take a long time.
I've had to start buying men's pants because the pockets aren't deep enough in women's. I hate ironing, so I mostly wear pull over tops--turtlenecks choke me, but I can handle cowls. Other than nylon mixed with a natural fiber, I can't tolerate synthetics.
Insufficient neat-but-not-a-suit clothes. I have a second job interview this afternoon, and I'm not sure whether to wear the same thing I wore last time or rush out and buy something that's probably going to look stupid anyway.
The core of my wardobe is all used and discount stuff, which is starting to bother me some. Ah, in random order....
2 pairs "play pants" -- both jeans
1 pair work jeans
3 pair cords for work
3 pair work slacks (Dickies, actually)
1 pair track / running pants
Several work shirts: long-sleeved, button ups in a variety of colors.
A small number of work shirts: short sleeved button up and polo style.
Many tee-shirts of various fits, colors and designs upon them.
2 suits: one ill-fitting and conservative (need to tailor or replace) and the other nicely fitting but flashy/cocktail party styled.
3 ties (2 black -- differing widths and materials, 1 retro brown)
1 black Dickies jacket well worn.
1 black Snowboarding jacket (under used since moving here).
1 black TripleFiveSoul winter jacket
1 brown Carhartt jacket my dad gave me.
5 hoodies of different cuts and styles (4 pullover, 1 zip up)
1 pair of work only "big meeting" shoes.
1 pair of work only everyday shoes (on the way out / old).
1 pair of work and play OK shoes.
1 pair of skate shoes (etnies)
1 pair of play only shoes (vans)
1 pair of running shoes (need to be replaced)
0 pair of boots (Need for next winter).
Plenty of socks and necessary undergarments -- these I buy new.
In current rotation are about 3 pairs of dark jeans, ~5 smart/casual shirts, black and brown turtleneck jumpers, ~5 logo/coloured t-shirts, and three casual suit jackets to go with the preceding. And a bunch of black t-shirts for around the house.
Then I have three smart suits (one with matching waistcoat), 5 or 6 shirts to go with those, and a dozen or so ties.
Two dinner jackets, a few dress shirts in different styles, and a couple of bow ties. Overcoat. Smart shoes.
photo by splunge
photo by TheophileEscargot
photo by Kronos_to_Earth
photo by ethylene
