How many tops/tees/sweaters do you have

chocpretzel

Wed, Sep 28 2022, 10:20 am

I’m feeling embarrassed now that I have over 70 🙈

I have a walk in closet with narrow shelves for all my tops. There’s 6 shelves and 10 fit per shelf on average. Then I have the nicer ones that are in the hanging section of my closet.

I have 5-7 of each type for each size. So 5-7 summer tops In xs, small, medium, maternity. 5-7 winter tops in each size. 5-7 “at home” tops in each size. And for in between weather. And then there’s the dressier tops in each size.

amother

Scarlet

Wed, Sep 28 2022, 10:43 am

I have about a weeks worth for summer
Weeks worth for winter
Few blacks shells for under sweaters
Few shabbos winter tops (summer I wear dresses)
Tons of pajama shirts

amother

DarkGreen

Wed, Sep 28 2022, 12:51 pm

My dream one day is to have a capsule wardrobe, like a real minimalist.

Right now, it makes no sense-I am pregnant, then postpartum, then nursing, then don't fit into anything from before pregnancy, then finally lose a little weight but the things from 4 seasons ago are out of style, and then the cycle begins again...bh.

lamplighter

Wed, Sep 28 2022, 1:19 pm

I constantly declutter my clothes. I only keep clothing that I wear. If I may soon wear it (lose weight, gain weight, maternity, strictly a different season) it goes in storage in a box at the top of my closet. It's a pleasure to get dressed in the morning. I have house clothes, out clothes, and shabbos clothes.

amother

DarkViolet

Wed, Sep 28 2022, 1:28 pm

I have at least 50, but only wear 10 due to weight gain. I love the other 40 so I am having separation issues when deciding to give away or not. I'm crazy!!
And of the 10 I do wear, I don't even have a proper shabbos top! It's nuts. I really need to give away so at least someone can enjoy them instead of collecting dust in the closet.

momsprince

Wed, Sep 28 2022, 1:38 pm

Did you all count before voting? I'm guessing there's a big difference in the numbers between estimating and actually counting.

amother

Wed, Sep 28 2022, 5:28 pm

I think my problem starts and ends with a site called Shein. I buy things cuz it's 10 for the price of 1 but then I don't wear it ever cuz I don't really like it but can't throw out something that I never wore...

amother

Aster

Wed, Sep 28 2022, 6:26 pm

I have an occasionally wear shirts and skirts from 20 years ago.
I keep everything and every time I get rid of something I instantly need it.
My DD just got a beautiful Shabbos dress and I have a weird colored shell that is many many years old, that matches perfectly.
I just got a beautiful sweater which matches an old skirt.

I am blessed with a very large closet, but it is poorly organized. I happen to really have a good memory for colors and clothes. Nothing is as frustrating as knowing the perfect other part of an outfit and then discovering it was gotten rid of.

seeker

Wed, Sep 28 2022, 6:47 pm

Y'all inspired me to examine my closet and realize I really do need to cull.

Let's see if my poll reply (20-30) is in line with reality:
Hanging in closet:
2 nicer tops for when you need to dress better than regular weekday but not quite dressy
3 Shabbos tops, 2 of which I wear regularly and 1 I like but don't wear as much because dry clean only
1 velvet winter Shabbos top which I don't wear much because it's very black velvet. But I would wear it to a winter wedding and I don't have anything else I love for winter simchas so for now it stays I guess.
1 blazer that doesn't really go with any skirts I have so I should probably get rid of it even though I like it.
3 work-type tops that I wear regularly
3 work tops that I don't wear regularly
3 oxford blouses that hark back to seminary times and I should probably give up on them being back in style, but it was my default look for so long that it's hard to let go.

OK I clearly underestimated because that's already 16 and that's only the hanging things. But I identified 5 things that should really go. So I guess my hanging closet should really contain 11 tops.

And with banging out all that I no longer have time to check out my drawer. But I'll tell you it's stuffed because I got some new sweaters that I didn't really wear yet so I need to see what I like before I can start getting rid of things. And also sweaters are my comfort zone so I really need a dual wardrobe because they only work for half the year. So without taking the time to look through it, this is what I think I have:
3 "nicer" sweaters (for that sheva brachos that's right after work with ambiguous expectations)
4 Shabbos tops (I did not realize I had that many Shabbos outfits. Why do I feel like I keep wearing the same ones over and over?)
3ish old favorite work-level sweaters that are hanging onto their last threads
4ish new sweaters that need to get broken in before I can decide if they're replacing the old favorites
4ish casual tshirts
2-3 work tops that are lighter than sweaters
2-3 others that are not in good condition anymore but are comfy and loved so I wear them when I'm not going anywhere.

So like a total of 22-24 in the drawer? Some of which I haven't quite claimed ownership of (the new sweaters)

In summary I should have voted for 30-50 instead of 20-30 because my total is around 35, but also in summary I should actually go through those sweaters and try to predict which ones I will actually wear, and give away those oxford blouses that are never coming back in style for adults.

seeker

Wed, Sep 28 2022, 6:47 pm

I should also probably stop picking up new sweaters at the thrift store. I do like sweaters but I need to show more loyalty to the ones I have.

amother

Mustard

Wed, Sep 28 2022, 6:53 pm

seeker wrote:

I'm mystified at the under 10 replies. I know I have too many but even if I do another serious purge I wouldn't be able to get by on less than 10. Let's assume you don't wear the same thing to work too often, that's at least 4 tops for work. You need to either have lighter ones for summer and sweaters for cooler, or layers. Let's say you go with year-round pieces only, then you need a couple of layering pieces. So figure a bare minimum of 4 work tops plus 3 layering items? Now I don't know about you but I don't like to wear my work clothes when I'm just, say, cleaning the house. I don't want my nicer things getting worn out too fast. So figure 3 chilling out non-work tops. I'm already at 10 and that's without anything for Shabbos, and also that's very very minimal because it assumes you're wearing the same things pretty often which means either you do laundry a lot or you never get dirty or sweaty. Also if you're skating by on such a minimal wardrobe then if anything gets ruined you need to replace it pretty urgently, that feels a lot like pressure.

ETA even if you don't work so you don't need my minimum of 4 work outfits, then you need more of the home/casual clothes because you're wearing those every day. So 10 still feels low to me.

Not everyone has work clothes and home clothes.
Some of us wear same quality all week long.

Last year I wore the same few tops and skirts every day of the week. Incuding the days I didnt work or just chilled.

This season I bought a few nice summer dresses that I like to wear specifically for work, but I have no 'home' clothes.
One or 2 hoodies but thats it.

DreamerForever

Wed, Sep 28 2022, 6:54 pm

Oiy, Op. Please let me stay in my cave of denial and don't make me count them Whew

seeker

Wed, Sep 28 2022, 6:56 pm

Like I said, if people wear the same quality all the time (instead of work/home) then they need more of that quality. I'm able to get by on 3 t-shirts because I'm wearing work clothes most days; if I didn't have a work wardrobe then I'd for sure need I guess 6ish tshirts? Or the other way around.

Anyway maybe I'm just a little jealous of people who know how to live more efficiently Dont know