$100 Billion Dollars spent by Americans each year on shoes, jewelry, and watches.
$99 Billion Dollars spent by Americans each year on higher education.
93% Of teenage girls who rank shopping as their favorite pastime.
30 Outfits owned by the average American woman in 2015.
9 Outfits owned by the average American woman in 1930.
70% Increase in menswear sales since 1998, contributing to men’s clothing becoming the fastest growing online sales category in the world.
8 Years of the average woman’s life spent shopping.
169 Hours per year the average woman spends shopping for clothes, shoes, and accessories, according to a recent survey of 3,000 women.
95 Hours those same women spent shopping for food needed to survive.
1/3 Of all teens and adults who said shopping made them feel better than working out.
160 Total shopping trips made per year, not counting trips for food. An average of one shopping trip every 2.3 days.
51 Additional trips spent window shopping for their next purchase.
$0 Typical resale cost of the average piece of clothing.
65 Pounds of clothing thrown away by the average family every year.
Figuring Out Clothes Shopping
Phew, that one was a doozy to put together.
I think we all knew teenage girls liked malls, but of all the possible activities in the whole entire world – shopping is what brings you the most joy??
I’m reminded of this meme:
I’m doing a little spring cleaning in my own closet this month, and I’ve decided clothes could very well be the most expensive items on the planet.
Unlike houses, cars, furniture, or a number of other things we buy, clothes have virtually no resale value. We all have to wear clothes, with the exception of a few strange communities that I want no part in. Which means we have to spend money on them.
Then we promptly throw them away.
Clothes are a wearable conundrum: cheap clothes tend to wear out quickly, while more expensive clothes might last a little longer. The catch, of course, is that target audience for expense clothes also happens to be the type of audience who never wants to buy used, making the resale value atrocious.
Enjoy that crisp $5 bill Plato’s Closet generously offered for your $80 jacket…
As I write this I’m looking at my closet, which is bursting at the seams. I’m pledging to adopt a more minimalist wardrobe. A good pair of jeans, one or two shorts, and no more than a couple t-shirts, sweaters, and casual long sleeves.
I’ll let the female readers weigh in via the comments on what the woman’s equivalent would be. Trust me ladies, you don’t want to take my fashion advice…
For work, I’m liking the idea of a uniform. Mark Zuckerburg, Steve Jobs, and Obama were pretty successful with their work uniforms, so I’d say it’s good enough for me.
Readers, any suggestions for developing a more minimalist wardrobe?
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I have all my shirts lined up in the closet. When I need a shirt I pull from the right and put freshly cleaned shirts on the left.
If a shirt just seems to hang out on the right for long enough it’s time to donate that one. I pretty much buy 2 new shirts a year and haven’t bought new jeans in 3. The only time I do buy new jeans is when there are holes in one.
Very cool strategy. I’m going to give it a try!
Shopping was a tough habit for me to break when I started getting my life in order. I adored shopping and the rush I got from it. I also looked fresh as hell. But hey, this stuff adds up in your budget and is extremely wasteful. Nowadays I buy all of my clothes from the thrift store–but only when they’re having a sale. That means I can buy slacks for work (like, nice ones) for 50 cents apiece. I’m participating in clothing recycling and getting nice clothes for pennies. Not bad eh?
Wow, and I though I hit the jackpot by finding a thrift store with $3 dress shirts. 50 cent pants is insane!
Whoa! Can’t say I’m surprised but I should have known….
I do a Goodwill donation cleaning every few months to make sure I’m not hoarding clothes I no longer wear. Every time there’s several shirts, shoes or other clothes that I don’t need.
I think pulling the trigger and saying goodbye to the old clothes is the hardest part. Very impressive that you purge every few months!
Over the last few years I’ve drifted to more of a “zero-based budget” approach with clothes. I decided what it was I truly needed, then I picked out stuff on the list from my current inventory and bought the rest (cheaply). Almost everything that remained was donated. It felt a little wasteful, but it was a one-time fix and makes the wardrobe much more manageable.
Having too many clothes is a bummer on many counts. Not only is it expensive, but some clothes I really liked and forgot were hidden by all of the clothes I no longer liked.
Good luck with the purge! You may want to read the Marie Kondo book (Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up) to help with it and also store your clothes afterwards (her storing and folding tips are great, which feels really weird for me to write).
Thanks Paul. I really enjoyed your book review on that one, so I just might have to check it out.
Great point about old clothes hiding the ones we actually want. That’s a common theme of accumulating too much stuff. The junk detracts from the good stuff.
Crazy amount of stats there.
As I sit in my office shirtless I am happy that neither my wife or I have a shopping addiction, especially for clothing. Just like eating out in our minds it should be a rare occasion and something “special”. We normally go clothes shopping 1-2 a year, which is insane.
Same, I limit my shopping trips pretty strictly. No more than a couple times a year, and almost always to replace old stuff. And even still, I’ve got too much! Pretty amazing how it builds up.
I am a woman and a lawyer. I have been on a yearlong quest to purge my closet of unworn extras. I have pulled out probably half my clothing and my closet still feels full.
Last week I moved across the country to start a new job and left most of my clothes behind since I am in the process of selling my home and finding a new home. I brought what the trendy blogs call a “micro wardrobe” with me: 3 pairs of pants (navy, black, and a lighter blue), 2 white silk shirts, a navy shell, and an orange shell, a white and navy blazer, a blue blazer, and a gold blazer. 3 work dresses. 3 pairs of work shoes: navy heels, navy flats, grey heels.
That’s it. It’s been two weeks and I still haven’t worn all the iterations possible from those 13 pieces. I’m really enjoying it.
Great comment, and thanks for sharing a nice minimalist woman’s wardrobe.
Great point about all the combinations. Some clever mixing and matching means even a small amount of clothes can provide tons of different looks.
I’ve been working on figuring out the wardrobe thing since last year. I’ve never shopped for clothes on a regular basis (I’m always shocked that people have a regular monthly allowance for clothing in their budgets) but I still felt that common unhappiness with my clothes (too much of it and not much I actually liked). Here are some thoughts/ideas/etc. that have helped me and my partner:
1. Find a way to visually mark which clothes you’re wearing. Much like the method Budget on a Stick mentions above, I use my hangers to tell me what’s being worn. I turn all the hooks facing towards me and once I wear and wash clothing, I turn the hanger the other way. After a set period of time (e.g. a season), I can easily tell what I’ve actually worn. Unless a person is exceptionally good at lying to themselves, this is a really good way to see what clothing is not being worn and maybe doesn’t belong in the wardrobe anymore.
2. I truly believe in and encourage uniforms. My partner wears jeans and t-shirts 99% of the time right now. We know that he prefers dark blue, gray and blue shirts so he got rid of the rest and now only has clothing that he likes. Also, since jeans, are a staple for him, he invested in two pairs of really well-made jeans that will last him for a long, long time. These are the only jeans he has but it’s also all he needs.
3. Even after downsizing my wardrobe considerably and becoming extremely considerate (aka picky) of my purchases, I was still feeling dissatisfied with my wardrobe as a whole until very recently. Capsule Wardrobe Sudoku has completely changed that. It is basically a quick way to pick a few items of clothing and see the outfits that can be created from those items. I tried it out for fun and was blown away by how excited I was to wear the combinations that this Sudoku grid yielded. The best part was that I didn’t have to buy anything new to make it work.
4. This is more for ladies but also applies to men: know what you’ll actually wear. This means being honest with yourself. I think it’s great to experiment but not when it means wasting money on a closet stuffed with rejected clothing. For example, everyone tells me that I look GREAT in bright colors, and I probably do, but I don’t enjoy wearing bright colors and after several attempts, I accepted that I like how I look in dark colors and that’s what I’m sticking to it. Figuring out what you like and will actually wear can take time and some failed attempts, but it’s key to maintaining a happy wardrobe.
5. This is related to #4 above: just because it’s pretty and/or super cool and/or trendy doesn’t mean that you should own it. I am old and wise(?) enough to know when a piece of clothing is SUPER CUTE but simply not for me, so I can admire its attractiveness without needing to own it. Actually, this goes for just about every purchase.
I’m still working on my wardrobe but I have made great strides in the past year. I know what I like and I keep only that.
GREAT tips. Thanks for sharing Bee.
I especially love the last one. It’s a funny human quirk that as soon as we find something appealing, we want to own it. I first noticed this at arts and crafts shows. I’d walk around being amazing at all the cool paintings and creations, and my first thought drifted towards, “How can I own this? Where can I put this? Should I buy this??” And bam… I created all this new stress for myself about how I couldn’t live without this item and yet, 5 minutes ago I didn’t even know it existed.
I had a real breakthrough when I started separating myself and came to grips with the idea that I can stop, admire, and appreciate something without having to spend money to own it forever. We don’t have to own everything. It’s an almost zen like realization, and it makes navigating through the world’s stuff so much easier.
I agree. It is almost zen like. It’s certainly helped me feel less stress because I’m not having the internal struggle you describe every time I find something beautiful.
These are crazy stats! We try to spend the minimum amount of time in a mall, we usually visit grocery stores and hardware stores, that’s about it.
Americans shop way too much, no doubt. With that said, I disagree with you that there’s no resale value with clothes. That’s because most people buy fast fashion stuff that doesn’t retain their value. I’ve had a lot of success buying more expensive things and then being able to re-sell them for almost what I bought said item for. And many of us who buy expensive things are able to do so by purchasing secondhand. I’m actually working on a post about affording designer clothes right now, which I hope will clarify a few misconceptions.
I hate the clunkiness of dressers so I keep my purchases really lean so everything fits into my single-sized closet. To minimize having too many clothes, when I buy something I usually get rid of or resell something else.
And uniforms are awesome! But you do have to do a bit of introspection to find the right combination for you. For me, I work in a casual environment so it’s jeans, sneakers and T-shirts all the time.
How do you go about reselling them? One of those Plato’s closet type stores or something else?
Online! Through eBay, etc. I’ve been doing it so long I have a system down, but I can see how it would be overwhelming for someone who has never done it before.
The girlfriend and I went to a few of those Plato’s Closet type stores, with an equally large stack of expensive clothes. She sold a mountain of pieces and walked away with $80, while I one got one $5 bill for a very expensive dress shirt. I do wonder if the second hand market is a little better for the ladies, thanks to demand.
I’d really be looking forward to your post about this though. I’d love to give your system a try.
The same thing happened to me and my roommate. My stuff got bought; my male roommate walked away with a couple bucks. He was PISSED. There’s nothing that kills your self esteem like selling clothes at consignment shops.
I’m confused about your focus on women’s shopping habits…
Are women, in your opinion, the main culprits in frivolous spending?
Check the article again. Mens clothing is the fastest growing segment in online sales.
Some years ago, I was very much into the value of potential. “This dress has a bit of a gaping neckline, but it could POTENTIALLY be fixed.” “These pants are too long, but they can POTENTIALLY be hemmed.” “This dress doesn’t look that great on me, but it can POTENTIALLY be altered to fit better.” About 10% of these items I bought actually got the changes they needed; the rest sat in my closet waiting for the time I cared enough to mess with them. These were thrift store purchases; each item would cost $3-10. Not a lot at all.
At some point, I realized that I was fooling myself that a $6 dress that didn’t fit me was a good deal just because it was only $6 and it POTENTIALLY could fit me some day.
So now, every time I look at myself in the store mirror trying on an article of clothing, I ask myself if it prompts me to think, “Oh my god, I would pay ANY amount of money for this!” If it does not, then it doesn’t matter how cheap it is; it goes back on the rack. If I wouldn’t be willing to spend $500 on a dress, I will not spend $6 on it.
The end result is that I have a very small number of items that look fabulous on me, and a ton of money that I didn’t spend on everything else.