Context: I noticed I have some clothes from 10 years ago that are still good to wear, and some newer things I have barely worn yet. I wondered if I reached a point where all the clothes I own would be enough to last for the rest of my life. There is a dresser and a closet worth of things.
For the sake of this question, let’s say you can’t buy, borrow, steal, receive as a gift, find, or make anything new to wear. All you get is what you have now. Is it enough?
I guess for 10-20 years. I have 2 pairs of jeans I wear regularly, but could shift to any other pants if necessary. I dont have a job where I need to dress up nicely, so I can basically wear whatever. T-shirts are my passion so I have at least 50 of them. Problem would probably be socks and underwear, maybe shoes.
Yeah exempting underwear, socks, and significant change in body size I’d likely be good for a few decades
Mmh, maybe around 20-30 years.
I have a Karl kani hoodie that looks like new and I bought it like 18 years ago, some things last ages.
Exactly this. If you buy quality products and be considerably careful with them, they figuratively last forever.
Depends entirely on if I’m allowed to mend my current clothes, and to what extent. If I’ve replaced every panel in a shirt, one at a time, have I made a new piece of clothing? Depending on the answer, potentially until I’m disabled enough that I can’t do small, detailed crafts anymore.
The last clothing I purchased was two packs of white socks and some boxer briefs this past year. Outside of that all my clothing is a decade or more old. I’m in my mid forties and still have three shirts from when I was in high school that I wear occasionally.
I currently need to get some new undershirts and will need more dress socks in the next year or two but for outer wear I have four pairs of Levi’s, six slacks, twelve button up shirts, three belts, three blazers, four pairs of dress shoes, two pairs of sneakers, and I think seven ties that are all 10-20+ years old and showing no wear. I can’t imagine a reason I would need to buy clothes ever again except for boxer briefs, socks, and under shirts and my last purchase of those lasted for just at 10 years with the first replacements being the new socks I bought.
Pants wouldn’t last too long. I have enough free t-shirts I could Donald Duck it for at least a century.
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Considering I still wear shirts I got in the 90s, I’m probablty set for life. Pants wear out faster tho.
Surplus clothes.
In highschool I liked having a lot of storage. So I liked things with pockets. Cargo pants were my jam! Turns out, military surplus BDU pants are somewhat cheap and VERY durable for around $30-$45 a pair. They can survive a tumble or two, can be repaired, wash easy, and breathe well depending on the blend.
Outdated or impractical camo is a fun aesthetic (can be punk as heck) and olive drab is a lovely color. (Thankfully I was never cringey enough to strut around in actively deployed uniform patterns unless it was on an airsoft field haha.)
Oh yeah, I have one of those funny tall-lanky bodies that you can’t department shop for pants for. Tac-pants come in a huge variety of fits.
I also hated shoe shopping. So a sturdy pair of combat boots lasted me ages without falling apart, were all-terrain, and supported the ankles! These boots were made for wear, so I never had to be upset over scuffs.
The BEST part? No (visible) brand names.
I still have some of those pants I wear since I graduated in the early 00’s. The ones with more cotton are a little threadbare now though. I just need some basic colors and my everday casual wardrobe is filled out. Acquiring replacements doesn’t break the bank either.
Form and function. Durability and mobility. Picking up some groceries or hiking the mountains. Incredibly versatile.
I don’t understand how the fashion industry continues to con people into expensive sweatshopped single-ply polyester that turns the wearer into a walking douchey billboard.
Was looking through some old photos recently and found one of me holding my son as an infant in a shirt I still have. He’s 20.
Granted it progressed from clean and nice to covered in paint as it transitioned to something to wear when doing dirty chores.
But, if I can get an Old Navy shirt to last two decades I think I’ll be good forever. Assuming I can maintain my figure and don’t outgrow them, that is.
Depends if you know. You can get some extra miles if you don’t wash them
Rest of my life. Assuming I don’t make the mistake of living to 100.
Hard to say for sure.
I have jeans that are still wearable from the 90s. Maybe need some patching here and there, but the important parts are solid. New jeans, however, have turned shitty. The fabric new is thinner than the heavily worn stuff that’s decades old.
Shirts are too variable to begin with. But, I tend to wear mostly tees and tanks day-to-day, so my nicer shirts last ages. I still have a shirt my barometer grandmother bought me in 1994 that’s in great shape, though too tight nowadays. In fairness, there was about five years I couldn’t wear it because it wouldn’t fit my shoulders or chest at all. But I then stopped lifting big and dropped mass.
Thing is, I have a fubu tee that’s from the late nineties or early naughties that I wore the hell out of, and still do. That sucker has zero holes in it, and almost mo stretching in the collar. The only problem with it is some stains and the thicker printing on it is crackly.
I have tees and tanks I bought in the last three years that are in worse shape despite being worn less.
So, the stuff that’s made well, I could probably be buried in in 20 years and it would still be presentable.
Other stuff, particularly the newer jeans, I don’t see lasting five years.
But it’s also true that the more clothes you have, the longer each piece will last. And I have amassed several boxes of clothing that I don’t wear regularly because I don’t like the fit, or they aren’t comfy material, or whatever. So, rough guesstimate, I could go months without recycling outerwear. It’s undies that take a beating in comparison because they get worn at a faster rotation.
Socks, I’d be screwed. I have massive fucking feet, and while I’m barefoot at home, they wear out fast. I can’t keep even hard wear socks more than maybe two years or so.
No, I go through socks fast enough. Also I need new boots.
Yeah, socks and undies tend to disintegrate over time, so perhaps 4 years for socks, 6 for undies?
The rest of the wardrobe could (and has!) last decades.
I personally think spending enough money to get boots that can be re-soled is worth it, but then I have a local shop that does that sort of thing. If you don’t have a local bootshop, kind of a moot point, for sure.
It’s down to finding a pair that I like enough. I’ve got wide feet and fit is important, and really only need winter boots, so it comes up late December and by the time I get off my lazy butt, it’s spring and I don’t care anymore.
Maybe this year.
I think underwear and socks are some of the worst culprits for poor quality nowadays. socks especially seem to get threadbare so quickly
As I posited elsewhere in the thread (source: I’m old), a big part of that isn’t even reduction in quality of materials but rather change in type of materials as new textiles have been invented.
I can tell you, my socks and drawers may not last as long as they used to, but god damn it, they’re the most comfortable sets of them I’ve had in my entire life.
You don’t want to know how it was wearing boxers, briefs, and socks in the 80’s/90’s, because it was bad and uncomfortable. I remember being embarrassed because I felt like I was endlessly adjusting my dick in them due to discomfort.
Modern socks and underwear are made from much lighter and more comfortable material, which in turn means that they simply don’t last as long because the material just isn’t as sturdy.
I can tell you when I’m underwear shopping I aim for comfort over longevity of material, because I prioritize basic comfort over the underwear lasting forever. I’m sure I’m not the only person who approaches it this way, I’d wager the majority of folks prioritize comfort of undergarments over longevity.
The biggest improvement in socks since the '80s was when they moved the seam from the end of the toe to the top of the toe. That seam was the bane of my existence.
I had a weird addiction to collecting Harley-Davidson dealer tshirts; I have about 20 or so, and say what you will about the brand itself or their image but their tshirts are pretty good. Nice thick cotton, really weighty, and pretty well-made.
Those alone would probably last me forever. I don’t wear them much, though.
