Late Summer Scientific Survey: Do you have enough clothes?

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Friday, September 20. 2019

Late Summer Scientific Survey: Do you have enough clothes?

Do you have enough clothes? Enough footwear? Enough for the rest of your life?

I understand that women need to keep up with fashion to some extent to avoid appearing non-serious (appearance counts!) so I am talking more about casual wear, outerwear, hiking gear, hunting gear, more than about professional wardrobes.

One of our end-of-summer rituals is to go through all of the closets and all of the clothes shelves. It's mostly getting rid of excess stuff.

It's difficult to anticipate one's life span, but it's easy for me to see what I will never run out of regardless of how active I remain:

I will never wear out my hunting gear.
I will never wear out my casual sport jackets
I will never wear out my 2 wool suits (weddings and funerals, not needed in court anymore)
I will never wear out my Tux
I will never wear out my misc. hiking and hunting boots
I will never live to wear out my fall/spring outwear
I will never wear out my more formal rain wear
I will never wear out my sporting rain gear
I will never wear out my casual shirts (not including polo shirts and tennis shirts)
I will not wear out my collection of gloves
I will not live long enough to wear out my fleeces and sweaters

I will wear out another blazer or two, God willing
I will wear out more work/dress shirts (I like the Brooks non-iron ones)
I will wear out some jeans and casual trousers
I will wear out the socks in my sock drawer. Underwear too.

One of my tricks is to keep near my age 35-40 weight. It is do-able.

Do our readers have enough clothing stuff for the rest of their lives? If so, what? I wearing out clothes a good measure of an active and fulfilling life?

(Addendum: seems like much of this does not apply to women, except for the outdoor clothing. Women have to stay up to date to look right.)

Posted by The Barrister in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation at 13:10 | Comments (14) | Trackbacks (0)

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Actually, after 20+ years I wore out my hiking boots. The soles (2nd pair) still have life but the uppers finally gave out.

#1 RonF on 2019-09-20 14:16 (Reply)

I've worn out plenty of outdoor work boots but never the uppers on dedicated hiking boots. Good for you.

#1.1 BD on 2019-09-20 14:38 (Reply)

I'm 66. I've been pruning clothes and shoes for the last few years, during the last few moves. Now that we're in what we think is our permanent home, I'll probably prune some more.

I have a slowly rotating set of jeans; that is, I buy one or two pair of jeans (usually at Sam's Club) every year or so. I buy about one new hoodie/sweatshirt/flannel shirt per fall/winter. I buy a few new dress shirts every 3 years or so. I have two suits that are several years old but are still in good shape. I've got several sports coats and some slacks as well.

I have four pair of Ecco shoes that, frankly, will probably never wear out; I replace the laces on a regular basis, but the shoes themselves are at least a decade old (in fact, Ecco no longer sells the model I wear). I use them both as 'dress' shoes and as comfortable close-toed shoes.

I have a pair of Birkenstock sandals that are probably a decade old. I use these for casual running of errands. I need to buy a new pair, but that may be the last pair I buy.

#2 bfwebster (Link) on 2019-09-20 14:53 (Reply)

What sport is a sport jacket worn for?

#3 Handy Randy on 2019-09-20 15:16 (Reply)

"What sport is a sport jacket worn for?"
Rutting

#4 Andrew Stanton on 2019-09-20 16:20 (Reply)

I'm in my early 50s.

I just replaced a pair of Asolo Fugitives with a pair of HANWAG Lhasas. I expect them to last as long as the Fugitives did--if not longer because they're allegedly resoleable. That will functionally be "the rest of my life". Mostly because unless medicine gets a lot better I'll be done with that kind of hiking by then.

I have several pair of Allen Edmond's shoes. I expect my Park Avenues, MacNeils and Badlands to last me the rest of my life. Or at least as long as AE is in business as currently constituted--because they can rebuild them. The sandals might, but only because I don't wear them as much. The boots (Benton?) will probably not because I'll trash the uppers.

Most of my suits will last as long as they fit--right now I'm trying to drop some weight which may mean that the trousers can't be altered enough to fit (my chest won't shrink as I'm moderately active.

I have several sport coats that are on their last legs--dang moths--so next time I've got extra cash it's a new tweed jacket and we'll see what else.

#5 William O'Blivion on 2019-09-20 19:46 (Reply)

T-shirts! Friggin' T-shirts. The wife and I attend a flock of athletic and other events that inevitably deliver up one or more free logo t-shirts. Hence, outside of work, I rarely wear anything else. And lots of the damn things just won't wear out. Even with my wife culling the shrunken and faded ones, I estimate we have t-shirts well into the 22nd century.

#6 Mike Anderson (Link) on 2019-09-20 21:37 (Reply)

I regularly ruin cheap work clothing with latex from vines or paint. I don't worry about tearing them up on thorns, either. Just toss and replace. I usually work in inexpensive sandals, too, which delaminate if I expose them to too much mud. Clothes I'm prepared to wear into public also get tossed if they get too stained.

#7 Texan99 on 2019-09-21 08:22 (Reply)

I'm 69 and in good health, generally. My goal is to wear out 1/2 dozen suits and sport coats leaving one suit (dark, Brooks Brothers for my funeral.

Hunting coats: Currently having one Orvis coat repaired (tall grass is like sandpaper), have one more in waiting.

Hunting boots: New Lowas for elk trip. Need to send my Schnee shoepacs in for new bottoms.

Rainsuit: Browning Gore-tex. Good for now but it won't last forever.

But I guess I won't either.

#8 Snowgoose on 2019-09-21 08:36 (Reply)

I somehow ended up with two Barbours, different styles. Will never wear them out. One must go to my lad. And I won a nice Lewis Creek one at some charity, so I am over-supplied.

Even if I retired and hunted daily all fall and winter, I'd never destroy my hunting gear.

Jeans are easy to wear out if active outdoors, but I sort of prefer to wear out khakis.

Suits? Only for weddings and funerals for me. Tuxes? Mine is in fine shape. But they are needed less these days.

To anybody whose life allows them to totally destroy some high end hiking boots (like Mendls) - kudos to you. You are really livin!

#9 BD on 2019-09-21 11:33 (Reply)

Almost forgot: I wear out my gym clothing, especially the sorts of sneakers I use for weights, calis, and cardio. They break down, maybe last a year with my daily program.

The clothing itself is very durable - shorts, etc.

#9.1 Bird Dog on 2019-09-21 11:43 (Reply)

It's interesting that this should come up just when I've begun thinking the same thing. I'm 72, soon to be 73, retired, not able to walk as far as I used to, and I've come to the conclusion that I no longer have to "look right" for anybody anymore. I definitely have more clothes than I will wear out before I'm gone, so a gradual culling is underway, and not only of clothes. This is that stage of life when you realize you wasted a lot of money (not to mention energy) on things that weren't important after all.

#10 RebeccaH on 2019-09-21 12:57 (Reply)

+1 Isn't it amazing how things that we once thought were important aren't so much anymore?

#10.1 snopercod on 2019-09-21 19:11 (Reply)

Just had my Dexter bowling shoes’ soles reglued. At least 10 years old and starting to fail. Use them weekly. Hard to get my US size here in Japan where I am retired, so running out of things is a constant as I have few options for back up unless I make a trip back to the States for supplies. As I dropped 25 pounds last year (for heart health), I recently had to buy a mostly new wardrobe, going from Size 10-12 to size 4-6 on a trip back to the US in May. Internet shopping was no help, as I was ordering things that were way too big. I had no idea what size I wore until I went to a brick and mortar store. I’m hoping these new basic Talbots slacks, jackets and knit tops will keep me another 4-5 years as my weight seems to be holding steady. I do have plenty of gloves and hats and outerwear that should keep me covered over the long term. Underwear is another story. . . .

#11 Suzanne on 2019-09-22 10:10 (Reply)

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Friday, September 20. 2019

Late Summer Scientific Survey: Do you have enough clothes?