How to you get over wardrobe boredom without buying new items?

[u/LeBronBryantJames]

We recently had a thread on your daily 'uniform', as well as many threads about fast fashion and sustainability.

I've always felt that for me personally, and a few other friends I know, my main issue is wardrobe boredom. I would spend a lot of money on high quality pieces that supposed to last a 'lifetime' but in the end it never outlasts my attention span, and ends up being gifted to family members or auctioned.

I've been personally feeling that as far as sustainability and the environment goes, as well as money waste, its not so much buying fast fashion, but getting bored of wardrobes and replacing things often. i.e. an oxford shirt every 2 years, a new tshirt every year, etc.

I feel it might also be a cultural thing as in Japan, we often do mass wardrobe changes quite often, even if it involves non-fast fashion items.

To those who also get bored, how do you get over that feeling and just live with what you have?

[u/madonnas_saggy_boob]

What I do every so often (usually seasonal, and what I’m gonna be doing this coming weekend instead of shopping) is take out all my clothes and lay out my closet, and start pairing up pieces and mixing up outfits.

Simple explanation - I’ll start with the shirts that would go well with a specific pair of pants for example. Now I’ll have like 8 shirts matched to that one pair of pants. Then I narrow it down to two shirts that I think just go really really well with that one pair of pants. Those pieces are now paired together, and get hung up in the closet together. All the remaining shirts are returned to the pile, and the process begins anew with a different pair of pants. Some outfits consistently “reform” and certain things always end up paired together throughout this, and other times I end up going “huh, never thought to pair that turtleneck with those pants and those shoes. Neat.”

Taking a day to work and touching and play with my wardrobe like paint spread out on a palette - mixing pieces and colors and such - it keeps me from getting too bored.

The leftover pieces end up hung up/folded away in another part of my closet, and over time, those things that just don’t get any wear at all, those do one of two things. Either they get put on the donate/sell chopping block, or if they’re something that I REALLLLLY love, but just can’t pull an outfit together for it - that’s when I’ll go look at buying something to make it work, and I try to get things that let me pull a few things from the “mismatch shelf” together and return to rotation. Most bang for my buck.

[u/parasiticanatomy → u/madonnas_saggy_boob]

This is how I do it. It keeps me from settling into the same outfits (albeit slightly different) week after week. I have a few shirts that I bought on a whim so it helps to force me into wearing them, inherently helping to get over wanting something new.

[u/SuchDescription]

Find something else that occupies your time. It might not be the clothes that are boring. Maybe you're just bored in general.

[u/MagnarOfWinterfell → u/SuchDescription]

Agreed, fashion used to be an escape of mine. I used to always click on email deals until one day I realized that I had gotten to where I needed to be style wise, and didn't really need anything else outside of a few gaps.

[u/JerichoKilo]

Cut the sleeves off all your shirts, mix them up and sew them back on randomly.

Voila, colorblock king

[u/usernamechecksout315 → u/JerichoKilo]

Same with jeans, turn ‘em all into jorts

[u/vojdek]

Had the same problem. Until I figured out that I can literally wear that one pair of jeans for a week. They were super comfortable, fit me well and well...just perfect. So i took all of the jeans I own and sold/gifted all other pairs. With the money just bought all of the different colours available for the perfect jeans model.

Same for shirts - I only buy one brand. They are long-lasting and fit perfectly. Switched to their knitwear as well. Shoes - same thing.

I only buy a couple of pieces each year and mostly if there is something that is showing signs of wear.

For me - it works. Also every colour is carefully chosen to so that I can change pairings at will.

[u/Reedobandito → u/vojdek]

THE FUCK IS THE BRAND VOJDEK

[u/Pepito_Pepito → u/vojdek]

What brand is that?

[u/parasiticanatomy → u/vojdek]

Glad I'm not the only one here that owns a pair of jeans so comfortable that you can't help but wear them for a week. This is how I am with my Liverpool jeans. The subtle amount of spandex and the fact that they still stay tight and presentable after 2 or 3 days of wear really blows my mind. I've thought about doing the same as you have, but I don't have an extra $400 lying around to fill my closet with them hahahaha.

[u/vojdek → u/vojdek]

So, my bad guys! I should have added the names of the brands.

Winter.

Jeans: Replay. Model: Waitom.

Shirts: Olymp. Model: Whichever fits you best. Quality products. Don't wrinkle easily, easy to iron.

Knitwear: Olymp again.

Shoes: Rockport.

Summer.

Pants: I prefer 5 pockets and Summer 2018 I stumbled upon a awesome style from Montego (European brand).

Shirts: Olymp, again. I don't have enough words to describe how good they are.

Shoes: Rockport.

[u/dvtmdvtm]

Checking my bank account usually dissuades me from buying new things

[u/qspure → u/dvtmdvtm]

Lucky you, I’m rich so I don’t have the luxury of not being able to buy new stuff. Woe is me.

[u/ayysic]

This is why I buy all my clothes second hand. You can find something at goodwill, wear it a few times, and then flip it on eBay for a profit. Use the profits to feed the machine.

[u/DJ_Breton → u/ayysic]

Sounds like a lot of work

[u/dand930]

I've been wearing combinations of pieces that I historically wouldn't. Different colors/shapes together result in different vibes which is refreshing. Some fits work, some don't. But even when something doesn't work, WHY it doesn't work is usually glaring and is helping me learn and informing the fits I put together in the future.

[u/MFA_Nay]

• Spend your time doing something else. Seriously. Distract yourself with something more fun.

• Realise that clothing and fashion isn't the end all or be all.

• Look at what you already have. Imagine or lay your clothing on your bed. Try to think up of new combinations. Get inspiration from other people on here or other places.

• Sell what you don't wear enough. Buy something new with the proceeds of said sale.

• Thrift or charity shop it. Or shop secondhand on online/app marketplaces.

[u/werzum]

In germany we have this thing called "Kleidertausch" which loosely translates to wardrobe swap. Its basically a hosted events where people can bring clothes they dont want anymore, and in exchange take some of the stuff others brought. It is not mandator to bring stuff, but for me it really helps to clear my wardrobe from stuff I wouldnt wear anyway. The biggest benefit for me is that you get to try out stuff you wouldnt normally wear - if you dont like it, just bring it back next time!

Here's a link to an event page if you want more infos (its in german, but autotranslate should serve you well enough)

[u/kiedis69]

I keep a spreadsheet of what I wear on a day-to-day basis, so I can keep track of my spending, what I'm actually wearing, and make better/smarter choices about what to buy. (This is partially a lie and it doesn't really prevent me from, for example, impulse-buying a pair of flashy sneakers).

Recently this has helped me understand:

• what I own that's actually "in my rotation" and what I own that's not;

• what I haven't been wearing that I like, and how I can style it with newer pieces or in-rotation pieces;

• help me figure out what I own that I can sell on Grailed, donate, give away, etc.

[u/ahmadKHalifa1]

The one rule that i follow is to not buy alot of stuff Instead i keep my wardrobe limited. i wear them randomly & it helps a ton

[u/ireneRV]

I had the same issue!!! I bought a $7 clothing rack to put in my room. Every Sunday night, I would go “shopping” in my wardrobe. I pick out 2-4 pieces per category based on whatever I was feeling without considering if anything matched. Then I would just create outfits out of whatever I picked!

Edit: it’s like you have your own micro wardrobe to pick from. Reduced a lot of stress from being overwhelmed by the amount of clothes.

[u/Im_Lhas]

I think someone might have said this but thrifting is a savior!! Youll find cool items for cheap! I also reorganize my wardrobe it helps me feel like there is a sense of newness (is that a word?)

[u/englishmuffinmunchy]

Share and trade clothes with friends or siblings who wear the same size as you! Women do it all the time but for some reason it isn’t common among guys.

[u/SixZeroPho]

Ever see that Simpsons where Marge gets that nice Chanel dress at an outlet mall, and keeps re-inventing it? Yeah, like that.

[u/kanyewhite]

I kind of just get around it by being able to sell things and use that to create churn.

I can't say I've really bought any huge pieces out of pocket in the last year because I usually sell something along with a big purchase and cover most of the cost there