#30Wears | Navy Jumper
Sunday, October 28, 2018For a while I've been keeping a tally of how many times I wear recent purchases. It's not as hard as it sounds because of my capsule wardrobes, I print out a list and keep a running tally next to each item. At the end of each capsule I tot them up and add them to a master list.
I'm aware that this might sound a bit daft, but I was interested to find out how many times I wore certain items, and how long it would take to wear something 30 times.
I've rambled on about the #30Wears campaign in other posts, so you can read more here if you fancy.
I blogged about the first item to hit 30 wears back in September '17, and the next item to earn it's #30Wears Badge of Honour is one of my wardrobe staples, a navy jumper. I purchased this in September last year to replace a similar one that had come to the end of it's life.
Here are a few outfits it's been worn with. Teaming it with my green skirt was obviously a favourite for last year (and I still love it just as much as ever), the red skirt this year. I wonder what I have against putting that navy bag over my shoulder?
In the early summer it teamed really well with a pair of yellow shorts that have still to make an appearance on the blog, and it goes without saying that it has been worn with jeans countless times.
It is starting to show signs of wear, but it has loads of life left in it yet.
I knew it would fit into my wardrobe with ease, and I thought I'd get a lot of wear out of it but if you work it out it's only been worn 2.5 times a month, which doesn't seem like much at all. Am I over thinking this? Probably. But I do find it interesting.
One school of thought it that if you extend the life of a new garment by an extra nine months the environmental impact of that garment is reduced by 20-30% (source). This only works if it's being worn frequently whilst it's in your wardrobe, stopping you from buying anything new.
There are many stats estimating how much of our wardrobes we actually wear and it seems to be somewhere around 20%, leaving 80% unworn. If it's unworn it doesn't matter how long you have it, it's the wearing of it that counts. It stands to reason that if you're wearing more of your clothes more often, you'll buy fewer new garments.
Imagine if we all wore our clothes until they wore out? Or purchased more pre-loved instead of buying new? There has to be a happy medium, but if everyone made a change to their high street shopping habits, even simply purchasing less, the impact would be incredible - in a good way!
I have a few other garments nearing 30 wears, expect posts soon.
12 comments
What interesting facts.
ReplyDeleteThe great thing about blogging/IG is that it encourages me to rotate the clothes in my wardrobe. I'd say I'm the opposite to the normal (nothing new there) wearing 80% of my clothes as opposed to 20%. x
You have the best wardrobe!
DeleteHehe! I'd say I wear about 50% of my wardrobe regularly. I have a lot of dresses and skirts that don't get worn nearly enough, one day I'm going to take a leaf out of your book and start wearing them to the supermarket.
xx
That navy jumper has certainly earned its keep. I'm not sure that many of my clothes, apart from coats and shoes, will be worn 30 times any time soon. I simply have too much clothes, but in my defense, I think at a rough guess I'm wearing about 70% of my clothes ... xxx
ReplyDeleteAnd you buy mostly pre-loved which has no environmental impact. I'm simply looking at my habits and trying to make responsible choices, and I like looking at 'the numbers' :)
Deletexx
I wear most of my clothes until they wear out! I hate clothes shopping and have no interest in fashion (or being fashionable) and I often hate the the clothes in the shops so I'm the kind of person who shops only when I really have too and I've been wearing the same old things for years, with just a handful of new things added each year - which I then wear for years and years!
ReplyDeleteDespite that, my wardrobe is stuffed and I'm definitely guilty of only wearing a fraction of what's in it whilst resisting passing on those items I don't wear just in case I ever want to wear them. I'd really like to get my wardrobe sorted though and slim it down a bit to a smaller collection of regularly worn items...
I'm also guilty of wearing the same outfits over and over. I don't have large collections of trousers / jeans / skirts etc so am very limited in the ability to mix and match. I'm probably into the hundreds for number of times worn for many of my clothes, but they'll all have been worn in the same ways! Your 30 wears posts make me think it would be great to have a much more versatile wardrobe, but I don't think I can easily achieve it as I'm so set in my ways (and unfashionable) and just wouldn't think to wear X with Y instead Z!
If only more people were like you! I sometimes wish I didn't buy so much, that said, I don't think my purchases are out of control. But I enjoy clothes, not fashion, but style and putting outfits together. I get a real boost from wearing an outfit I love.
DeleteI hate getting rid of things too. So many times I've donated something only to want to wear it a few weeks later.
I like to find different ways to wear things, but I do repeat outfits quite a lot - case and point, green skirt and navy jumper! My capsules have helped me to mix it up a bit, and help me to buy things that 'fit' my wardrobe.
There's nothing wrong with wearing the same outfits over and over, especially if that's what you're comfortable with. Your wardrobe, your choice :)
xx
No, not daft... I find it interesting 🙂
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the older items in my wardrobe must have been worn at least 30 times over the years. But at the other end of the scale are dresses bought for special occasions that don't get worn anywhere near enough. I clearly need to be invited to more weddings ;)
I'm glad I'm not the only one!
DeleteThere is always going to be a mix of worn a lot / worn rarely. Last year I bought a pair of cords that hit 30 wears within a few months, I hardly took them off (and yet they've only been on the blog once).
I have the dress thing too, I'd love to wear them more often. They're the things I find the hardest to part with.
xx
Interesting facts and I think I need to wear some things more!!
ReplyDeleteThe capsules help me to wear things more often, but I do easily get caught in a rut.
Deletexx
I'm a big fan of navy, it goes with so many things and always looks good, smart and classy.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts exactly. It's why I have so much navy in my wardrobe.
Deletex
Thank you for taking the time to comment x