Ask the Readers: How Much Do You Spend on Clothes?
Published on - September 16th, 2011 (by J.D. Roth) The “Ask the Readers” feature is well-loved here at Get Rich Slowly, but by far the most popular question I’ve ever asked came at the end of July. “How much do you spend on food?” I wondered, and GRS readers posted 367 comments sharing their buying habits and the costs in their cities (and countries).
Several readers sent me e-mail after this question asking for more. “You should do a whole series of questions like this,” one woman wrote. And she’s right. So, for a while at least, I’ll be posting one similar question every month — a survey of our spending habits as a whole. This is by no means scientific, I know, but it’s pretty darn interesting.
Today, let’s talk about the things we wear. I want to know how much do you spend on clothes?
Because I’ve lost fifty pounds over the past couple of years, I’ve had to buy a lot of new clothes. My method for re-building my wardrobe isn’t exactly what I’d imagined. First, I got rid of the things that didn’t fit. Also, using my one-year wardrobe project, I purged the things that I no longer wore. From the little that remained, I’ve been s-l-o-w-l-y adding new items.
I do this in two ways:
- About half of the time, I buy clothes from thrift stores. All of my pants, for instance, come from thrift stores. (Well, except for a couple of pairs of travel pants.) So do many of my shirts and sweaters. I’m much more selective about what I buy at thrift stores than I used to be, though. I only buy things that I really like. (In the past, I used the shotgun approach to thrift shopping, buying tons of things because they were “cheap”. But cheap clothes you never wear are no bargain!)
- The rest of the time, I buy from outdoor stores like REI. Over the past few years, I’ve become a fan of functional clothing. And wool. God, I love wool. In fact, I recently purged 90% of my cotton t-shirts in favor of a handful of wool t-shirts. I could write pages in praise of Icebreaker wool shirts, but that would be silly. These clothes are expensive when purchased new, so I try to buy as much as possible at sales (REI and Icebreaker both have awesome sales) or at outlet stores.
Last weekend, I bought a new sweater at the Icebreaker outlet near my home. As I paid, I chatted with the clerk. He, too, loves wool clothes, but he’s a student and can’t afford many. “I buy them on eBay,” he told me. “I set up alerts to track the stuff I want, and then buy it if I can get it cheap.” Brilliant!
So, how much do I actually spend on clothes? I don’t know. I’ve been tracking my spending since the beginning of the year, of course, but I haven’t analyzed the numbers yet. Besides, this year is a total anomaly. I’ve essentially re-created my entire wardrobe because I’m now a medium (with a 32-inch waist) instead of an extra-large (with a 40-inch waist). In a normal year, I don’t buy this many clothes!
But what about you? How much do you spend on clothes? How do you shop for them? Do you buy used? Only shop at Nordstrom? Do you have certain brands you’re loyal to? How do you weigh cost versus quality? What tips can you offer for building a wardrobe on a budget? And what role does gender play in the cost of fashion? Last but not least: How much of what you wear is wool?
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Reading these posts is why when I go out I see people wearing pajamas in public, sweats instead of real clothes, out of shape t-shirts and baggy-seat jeans. You people look pathetic! What ever happened to self-esteem? Why is it okay to dress like slobs? Go to any city in Europe and people wear real tailored clothes and shoes, not mickey mouse tennis shoes! Women wear skirts and dress shoes, men dress slacks and a dress shirt. They really don’t cost more if you buy a few foundational pieces instead of a bunch of used worn out clothes from thrift stores or wallmart. Spend a little on some good quality pieces and wear them longer and Care about your appearance, you will feel better if you look good!!!
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My husband and I budget for $200 each a month for pocket money to spend on what ever we like. If things are tight one month we might not get it but on the whole we manage with that. That includes if we want to eat out or other forms of entertainment too.
I would probably spend $50-$100 a month on clothes, usually only the one item. I like nicely made clothes, I like nice comfortable leather shoes, I like good leather handbags. I don’t go crazy on brand names but I like quality stuff and I try to shop the sales.
I found over the years that for me, trying to save money by buying a cheap tshirt is a false economy. If I only get one season out of it, I prefer to spent more money up front for one that will last say 3 times as long for only twice the price.
I wish I could shop in thrift shops, I often pick up furniture there to do up for our house and have a great time doing that but I have no luck at all finding clothes there in my size. Also all the people saying TJMaxx and all only have large sizes need to come to my local store I swear all they stock are smalls and petites. Maybe we can work out some sort of swap.
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My husband and I are both “into” clothes and dressing stylishly, so I was just super surprised to look up our spending history and see that we’ve spent just $218 on clothes/shoes/accessories between the two of us in the past YEAR. I’d reckon that we probably divided that expense pretty evenly, for about $109 per person.
We both have rather small wardrobes (about 18 inches of closet each, plus two very small drawers each for underwear and such.) We definitely run our clothes into the ground. Lately we haven’t donated many clothes, just toss them or cut them up to use as rags when they’re irremediably stained or worn.
I also try to be very discriminating about what I buy, though that sometimes involves splurging. A few years ago I bought a classic and well-fitting black tropical wool pant suit from Banana Republic, about $250 on sale for the ensemble. I wear either the trousers or blazer of that suit at least 3 times a week. They’re still in like-new perfect condition and should last me at least another 10 years, and at this point 20 or 30 wouldn’t surprise me. Last year I bought a red silk haute couture trench coat (a sample) from ebay for about $100. It sounds impractical, I know, but I wear it every chilly day and it’s amazingly stunning and I get constant compliments on it. It’s cost per use is probably already below $1, and should go down and down for many years to come. This year I’ve only bought a pair of black sandals (after my other sandals fell to pieces after about 5 years) at a discount shoe store for about $20, and two dresses appropriate for work when no skirt that exactly fit my expectations could be found in my city. They were about $40 each at a shopping mall boutiquey chain. They’ve both gone through many washes now, and I can see that one will last much longer than the other. Same brand, same price, not the same quality. Oh well.
Oh yes, and here’s the last way I’m able to spend so little: I have a good friend who’s a compulsive shopper. Every year or so I help her clean out her closets, and she gives me things she can’t bear to just donate to strangers. I resist most of her would-be donations-to-me, but I get a few t-shirts and trendy belts and what-nots this way.
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Wow – I just checked mint.com and we spent $12k over the last year on clothing (maybe $3k is mine). We have a budget set of $600/mo combined but are clearly not sticking to it. However, we both have very good jobs, no debt, and substantial savings so I guess I can’t complain about the wife’s spending (esp because she makes more than I do!)
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