So I know it's been awhile, but I wanted to write out my closet cleaning experience. I went through my closet this morning and calculated that I have 248 items in my closet. (This number does not include shoes, socks, underwear, bras, and accessories--all these are to be gone through separately later.) What it DOES include: pants, shirts, dresses, skirts, pajamas, hoodies, sweaters, and various other clothing items.
248 is a lot. I googled "average wardrobe size" and came across a blog that said one should shoot to wear each piece of clothing you own at least 8 times per year. That means you'd own 46 outfits.
I own 98 shirts (both long- and short-sleeved) and 59 long pants, shorts, and skirts. That makes a LOT more than 46 outfits. Not to mention my 13 dresses.
Basically, I could probably half my wardrobe and still make 46 outfits.
Counting up every piece of clothing I own made it readily apparent to me that I have too many clothes, and I fully intend to get rid of a majority of them.
(In the past, worrying about the possible dress code at future jobs prevented me from giving stuff away. But I have 11 dresses I could wear to work--that's 2 weeks of work clothes right there. Assuming my office's dress code is business-casual, I have PLENTY of clothes to meet the standards. If it's dressier than business-casual, I'm not going to meet it with my current wardrobe anyway, seeing as I only own 1 full suit and 1 other suit jacket with no pants. I did give away 2 suit jackets already--one that was too boxy--shoulder pads are weird--and one that was too tight.)
