People who haven't bought clothes for a decade • Hacker News Board

Re: People who haven't bought clothes for a decade

#41

Post by jniedrauer » Sun, Mar 15, 2020, 2:05 PM UTC

austincheney wrote: post #34

My underwear was a decade old. It was in shambles. The wife finally convinced me to buy new underwear recently. This is boxer briefs and undershirts. I prefer heavier undershirts, kind of like t-shirts. My everyday shoes are suede military boots. I don’t think they last a decade but they last a long time and can take quite a beating. They are certainly worth the expensive retail price though I typically get mine for…

> and that is about how long I hold onto my running shoes

I'm lucky if road running shoes last me 4 months. I wonder if you might be running on worn out running shoes..

Re: People who haven't bought clothes for a decade

#42

Post by HenryBemis » Sun, Mar 15, 2020, 2:09 PM UTC

rapnie wrote: post #28

chrisseaton wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes this little hole is very common. I'm sure it's the pin of the belt.

Different opinions on what is causing it. Who is first in filing a patent describing how to get rid of this nuisance, save people's money plus the environment, and becomes a multi-millionaire themselves :)

Isolate the problem, find the solution, run to Shark Tank/Dragon's Den!

I have found that my shirts were getting holes in the armpits area, and I discovered that the drying rack is causing this. Since then I use 2-3 racks/'lanes' per item, so the weight of a wet garment is spread out and also helps the garment dry faster since air can circulate. I also make sure the armpit regions of the t-shirts aren't right on the wire but a bit lower.

Re: People who haven't bought clothes for a decade

#43

Post by jotm » Sun, Mar 15, 2020, 2:10 PM UTC

londons_explore wrote: post #26

kasey_junk wrote: post #19

The biggest changes to my wardrobe and what require me to buy things most often are external factors. For instance I went from a business casual office environment to working form home, I lost a lot of weight, I took up a new sport, I have a new injury requiring different sorts of footwear. I’m not sure how to work around some of these issues without buying more clothes. My main rule is that if I buy a piece another…

The real solution is to buy 2nd hand clothes. Most people hate the idea of wearing someone else's clothes... Having visited a small town in south western Ukraine, no shops even sell new clothes - everywhere is selling 2nd hand clothes, and they sell it by weight. Underwear is one price per kilo, and everything else is a higher price per kilo. Even then, a kilo (2 lbs) of clothes (maybe 3 items) cost around $1.50, whi…

Interesting, Ukraine has some good clothes factories. The best winter coat I ever bought was Ukrainian, looks timeless and it's still in mint condition.

I'm still looking for something like it, I don't know what the synthetic material is called, it just looks great, really soft, silk-like, but not the same as what I see in stores nowadays. It just looks more natural, more expensive somehow.

Re: People who haven't bought clothes for a decade

#44

Post by austincheney » Sun, Mar 15, 2020, 2:10 PM UTC

jniedrauer wrote: post #41

austincheney wrote: post #34

My underwear was a decade old. It was in shambles. The wife finally convinced me to buy new underwear recently. This is boxer briefs and undershirts. I prefer heavier undershirts, kind of like t-shirts. My everyday shoes are suede military boots. I don’t think they last a decade but they last a long time and can take quite a beating. They are certainly worth the expensive retail price though I typically get mine for…

> and that is about how long I hold onto my running shoes I'm lucky if road running shoes last me 4 months. I wonder if you might be running on worn out running shoes..

Yes, I bet my shoes are well past their healthy limit. A concern there is increased potential for joint stress and I compensate for that with compression socks.

Re: People who haven't bought clothes for a decade

#45

Post by HenryBemis » Sun, Mar 15, 2020, 2:17 PM UTC

JeanMarcS wrote: post #6

Apart for the kids, who need clothes regularly as they grow, I agree there is no use in buying clothes every year too.

Depending your bf/gf, spouse, social/peer pressure and giving into them. I have broken up with a girlfriend because her hobby was shopping and mine was running. She couldn't understand what I needed ONE GOOD pair of running shoes, and the shoes didn't have to match the colour of my running shorts. I hope she is happy with someone else, but as far away from me as possible. Some other people would accept some "character adaptation" to be with a bf/gf and I wish them all the best!

Re: People who haven't bought clothes for a decade

#46

Post by leetcrew » Sun, Mar 15, 2020, 2:43 PM UTC

austincheney wrote: post #34

My underwear was a decade old. It was in shambles. The wife finally convinced me to buy new underwear recently. This is boxer briefs and undershirts. I prefer heavier undershirts, kind of like t-shirts. My everyday shoes are suede military boots. I don’t think they last a decade but they last a long time and can take quite a beating. They are certainly worth the expensive retail price though I typically get mine for…

do you mean random stains like coffee/juice or armpit stains? if the latter, you might consider switching to an aluminum-free deodorant. I switched a few years ago and I get much more use out of a tshirt now.

as for jeans, these can also last a long time if cared for properly. in my experience, jeans are pretty resilient to day-to-day life but take a real beating in the washing machine. I wear my regular pants one or two times before washing and jeans two to four times. I still have a pair from ten years ago that's a little too worn for going out, but is perfectly fine for yard work.

Re: People who haven't bought clothes for a decade

#47

Post by leetcrew » Sun, Mar 15, 2020, 2:54 PM UTC

HenryBemis wrote: post #45

JeanMarcS wrote: post #6

Apart for the kids, who need clothes regularly as they grow, I agree there is no use in buying clothes every year too.

Depending your bf/gf, spouse, social/peer pressure and giving into them. I have broken up with a girlfriend because her hobby was shopping and mine was running. She couldn't understand what I needed ONE GOOD pair of running shoes, and the shoes didn't have to match the colour of my running shorts. I hope she is happy with someone else, but as far away from me as possible. Some other people would accept some "characte…

was this a dealbreaker for her or for you? for me, I generally don't care how the other person spends their money as long as they can pay their share of fixed costs we have agreed on. this might be in part because I don't want to invite questions about my computer budget ;)

Re: People who haven't bought clothes for a decade

#48

Post by LeifCarrotson » Sun, Mar 15, 2020, 2:56 PM UTC

ghaff wrote: post #39

pletsch wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's actually incredibly easy to replace a watch battery on most watches (certainly Timex), you just need a tool to pull the back off ($10ish on Amazon right now) and a battery that fits, which you can pick up at any Wal-Mart for $4-$5.

By the time I need to replace a battery on my $30 Timex, the band is usually going and the watch face is all scratched up.

I wore Timex Ironman watches for about 10 years and had the same problems. I discovered that (1) the bands are easily replaced, and a band that isn't deteriorating makes the watch much more comfortable, and (2) all but the absolute deepest scratches in the acrylic watch face are easy to buff out to a like-new shine with a cotton buffing wheel on a Dremel and some graduated polishing media. This would have been more valuable to know when I was a high schooler being rather rough on my gear and going through a watch every year or two, but I figure it's worth sharing.

This was valuable to learn because I since replaced the Timex with a Garmin Forerunner 220 (now 5 years old) that's much more expensive. The rechargeable battery now only lasts for about 2 hours of GPS activity or 5 days of non-GPS use, about half what it did when I bought it originally, so I'm considering an upgrade again.

Re: People who haven't bought clothes for a decade

#49

Post by toolslive » Sun, Mar 15, 2020, 3:01 PM UTC

rapnie wrote: post #16

Something that is consistently reducing the lifetime of my t-shirts is that they tend to get small holes on the front side at the height of my trouser belt. I can't figure out what is causing this, as the both the belt as well as the trouser buttons do not have sharp edges.

various causes: https://www.cleverly.me/t-shirt-holes/

Re: People who haven't bought clothes for a decade

#50

Post by austincheney » Sun, Mar 15, 2020, 3:11 PM UTC

leetcrew wrote: post #46

austincheney wrote: post #34

My underwear was a decade old. It was in shambles. The wife finally convinced me to buy new underwear recently. This is boxer briefs and undershirts. I prefer heavier undershirts, kind of like t-shirts. My everyday shoes are suede military boots. I don’t think they last a decade but they last a long time and can take quite a beating. They are certainly worth the expensive retail price though I typically get mine for…

do you mean random stains like coffee/juice or armpit stains? if the latter, you might consider switching to an aluminum-free deodorant. I switched a few years ago and I get much more use out of a tshirt now. as for jeans, these can also last a long time if cared for properly. in my experience, jeans are pretty resilient to day-to-day life but take a real beating in the washing machine. I wear my regular pants one or…

Primarily food and drink stains. My undershirts would catch all the armpit related stains but that is helpful information.