What is an “average” wardrobe? And how do I compare?
This turned out to be a difficult question to answer because there are widely varying numbers out there.
The statistics I could find were individual people posting their numbers or asking friends and acquaintances (which is certainly not a statistical sample of the population).
After falling down the research rabbit hole, I also looked at existing studies but the results probably depend on the sample of people asked and method of measuring, and purposes of the study.
This is definitely not rigorous as some more comprehensively tracked statistics but it is a starting point…
One statistic that looks too low to me is the oft-quoted average number of items in an American woman’s wardrobe of 103 items. This was the result of surveying about 1,000 American women a few years ago.
The gals I talked to all said they had probably 150-200 pieces at the low end and some were sure they had 500+.
While the online wardrobe bloggers tracking this info generally either had teeny capsule wardrobes around 50 items (though many didn’t seem to be counting workout clothes and/or sleepwear) or 500+ items, they are probably not representative of the population.
I also suspect that the item count is probably grossly underreported because most people probably have clothes that we forgot about or “don’t count” for whatever reason. It also contradicts with the study that looked at the percentage of clothes worn in the last 12 months, finding 82% of clothes had not been worn. I highly doubt that the “average” woman only uses less than 20 of the 103 items she supposedly has.
It’s more likely that her active wardobe is 103 pieces and that if she were to count everything she doesn’t wear, she’d easily end up in the 200-500+ range.
One statistic that looks too low to me is the oft-quoted average number of items in an American woman’s wardrobe of 103 items. This was the result of surveying about 1,000 American women a few years ago.
The gals I talked to all said they had probably 150-200 pieces at the low end and some were sure they had 500+.
While the online wardrobe bloggers tracking this info generally either had teeny capsule wardrobes around 50 items (though many didn’t seem to be counting workout clothes and/or sleepwear) or 500+ items, they are probably not representative of the population.
I also suspect that the item count is probably grossly underreported because most people probably have clothes that we forgot about or “don’t count” for whatever reason. It also contradicts with the study that looked at the percentage of clothes worn in the last 12 months, finding 82% of clothes had not been worn. I highly doubt that the “average” woman only uses less than 20 of the 103 items she supposedly has.
It’s more likely that her active wardobe is 103 pieces and that if she were to count everything she doesn’t wear, she’d easily end up in the 200-500+ range.
So, why bother comparing anyway? I’m sure everyone has different reasoning for whatever amount of clothes they have based on factors such as personal preference, storage space, budget, attachment to clothes, and so on.
You might be a just-in-case type or you might need to keep several sizes because your body tends to fluctuate between sizes. Maybe you just really like clothes.
For me, as an ultralight traveler and a general environmentalist, the minimalist wardrobe sounds appealing in theory but for some reason, I seem to accumulate clothes like a packrat. So, I wanted to have a gauge as to what was “average”. I’m not sure that the studies I found were conclusive but it was fun to look around nonetheless.
Aside from the overall count, I’m doing pretty well in the other areas.
I probably buy less than the average, I keep my garments for longer, and while my disposal rate is close to average this is mainly because I did a large clear out in 2020, getting rid of things I’ve held on to way longer than I should have.
Without the clear out, I’d be averaging only about 22 garments that left my wardrobe per year.
Also, I’m pretty diligent about decanting clothes that don’t fit or are falling apart so I have no unwearable pieces.
There are a few that are old and aren’t in the best shape but they are still technically wearable.
Also, I tend to end up buying roomier clothes rather than skin-tight things and have fortuantely been about the same size so I still fit into most of my old clothes.
As I said, I do wear a lot of my wardrobe and while I could do a lot better than the 43%, at least it’s better than the women in one study.
Am I a minimalist? Of course not.
Am I going to be more conscientious about what I buy in the future? Maybe… I always feel like I should be after looking at things like this but realistically, it doesn’t stick and I end up buying whatever I’m going to buy anyway.
Am I going to feel bad about my wardrobe? Nope. Not losing any sleep over it.
Sources I looked:
https://blog.closetmaid.com/2016/05/full-to-the-brim
https://allongeorgia.com/national-news/wasteful-world-study-reveals-we-dont-wear-82-of-closet-contents/
https://www.wsj.com/articles/fashion-brands-message-for-fall-shoppers-buy-less-spend-more-1409786240
https://www.plateconference.org/age-active-life-clothing/