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People who haven't bought clothes for a decade

theguardian.com

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

#151

Post by KozmoNau7 »

gentleman11 wrote: post #98

I buy pants from Costco but they always wear out after 2 years with big holes in the seat. Where do you even buy something that lasts 10 years?

If you're like me, it's probably because your thighs rub together when you walk. Tight-fitting pants will wear out quickly from this.

Wearing longer boxer shorts can lessen it, but the best thing is to find pants with a roomier fits, ie. old-fashioned straigh-legged jeans or chinos with pleats, that sort of thing. The looser fit lets the fabric move around, instead of rubbing in the same places all the time.

I've been very happy with reproduction Bundeswehr "moleskin" pants in black, they're like the dressy version of cargo pants, made from thick cotton fabric. You can take out the threads that hold the cargo pockets on, and then you have a comfortable and durable set of pants that don't look like you're some kind of security guard.

I don't know if you can get them in the states, they're widely available in Europe.

Otherwise look for slightly-old-fashioned menswear in thick cotton or wool fabrics. Good Tweed lasts for decades, if you don't mind the style. Don't go to big box stores, look for the dedicated niche menswear stores.

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

#152

Post by nradov »

pauljurczak wrote: post #147
nradov wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That doesn't work for athletes. Clothes just wear out in less than a year of hard training. The only way you can go a year without buying new clothes is if you already have more than you need stored away.

True, but you can extend their life by reducing washing frequency and accepting less than perfect appearance.

Gross. It's the smell, not the appearance.

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

#153

Post by JeanMarcS »

frosted-flakes wrote: post #120
leetcrew wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 ;)

If you're married to someone, you still separate your finances? That boggles my mind.

Can’t speak for others, but in France, you are partially responsible of the loss of your company (for example).

My wife and I are married with a full separation of goods and possessions contract. Not because we don’t want to make financial choices together, but more to protect her for the possibility of me being ruined if my company fells.

When she was working, we agreed on the money we each put in the family budget for groceries, kids stuff, etc...

Never been a problem.

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

#154

Post by blaser-waffle »

nradov wrote: post #142
spodek wrote: post #33

A guest on my podcast -- Lorna Davis, the key leader behind the largest B Corp to date, Danone USA, and a c-suite executive from Danone and other multinationals -- committed not to buy clothes for a year. Within a few weeks she started getting rid of clothes she didn't wear and even relationships that were distracting her from more meaningful ones. Within months she was sending me contacts of other high-powered execu…

That doesn't work for athletes. Clothes just wear out in less than a year of hard training. The only way you can go a year without buying new clothes is if you already have more than you need stored away.

Most people aren't athletes. A handful of workout clothes is enough for even the hardiest gym rat.

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

#155

Post by blaser-waffle »

protomyth wrote: post #12
flurdy wrote: post #2

I thought this might be about people that mostly only use clothes they got as swag. Like me. I am a walking billboard for companies of which only a few I know what they do.

During my early government grant years, I did not buy new t-shirts nor jackets. It's almost a requirement for every conference or new grant program to order shirts. I even got one heck of a winter jacket because someone in DC decided we needed winter jackets. I guess it all constituted acceptable publicity.

Same. I was able to snag at least 1-2 work shirts or other swag from vendors, conferences, etc.

Puppet (the server software) seemed to go hard on this and I think I ended up with 5-6 shirts even through we never rolled it out into production. I mostly wear em to the gym or use em for sleeping.

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

#156

Post by dominotw »

KMnO4 wrote: post #132
dominotw wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I now have 5 t-shirts, 4 sweaters, 2 jeans, 10 pairs of socks, 2 pairs of shoes I take it you don't live in place with cold winters?

I wear a similar minimalist wardrobe in a place with -40° winters. My winter outfit is the same as summer, plus thermal undergarments and a good coat/gloves/hat. It’s surprising how well layering works.

> and a good coat

I guess if your coat is good enough at -40 with just base layer and a tshirt wouldn't it be too hot( and ineffective) when it isn't that cold?

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

#157

Post by dominotw »

HenryBemis wrote: post #100
dominotw wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I now have 5 t-shirts, 4 sweaters, 2 jeans, 10 pairs of socks, 2 pairs of shoes I take it you don't live in place with cold winters?

I now live in northern (mainland) Europe (just left England) in temperatures of as low as -25 C in the winter. I have a jacket that can make you sweat in -10, and I now go running at 0 C with shorts&tshirt (temperatures 5 C and above make me sweat after the first 5 minutes). My latest long distance run was in Italy and I ended up walking half the race because of the heat (+10).

> I have a jacket that can make you sweat in -10

Isn't sweating the worst thing that happen to you when you are cold ? What do you do when its slightly warmer?

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

#158

Post by germinalphrase »

zxcvbn4038 wrote: post #71

I hate shopping for clothes. Hate it. When I was growing up my parents made sure that buying clothes was as painful as possible and I never got over it. I still year the same members only jacket my father bought in the 80s and gave to me in the 90s - the lining could use some work but otherwise completely functional. I’ve had the same umbrella for almost twenty years - was a niche brand that built heavy duty frames a…

It may not be your style or price, but Russell Moccasin in Wisconsin will make made to measure shoes based on tracings/measurements of your feet.

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

#159

Post by LeifCarrotson »

robocat wrote: post #97
LeifCarrotson wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 v…

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=garmin+forerunn... Worth trying to fix perhaps? Likely not a “good” use of your time, but fixing stuff is strangely satisfying. You seem skilled, but if you are just learning, then try to fix stuff that you would otherwise throw out and that doesn’t need expensive parts. It does “waste” time, but many people get a lot out of it.

I suppose I should be honest with myself and admit it's as much about the excuse of getting the Fenix as it is lack of utility in the Forerunner.

I am confident I could replace the battery, less so that I could do so non-destructively and make it waterproof when I reinstall everything - it's not designed to be particularly repairable, you can see they had to cut the plastic to get into the strap in that video. It would be fun to try to write new firmware for the watch and add some of the Fenix features to the Forerunner.

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

#160

Post by clairity »

spodek wrote: post #130
clairity wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

does she talk at all about how to patch/mend jeans? because that's a skill that'd be super-useful to learn, given how fast jeans wear out (between the thinness and the added stretchy but less durable fibers nowadays).

She doesn't cover that in particular, but: 1. Here are videos on how to mend jeans: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=patch+jeans&oq=... 2. The bigger picture is that when you force yourself to live by a value, you learn all these things. When I first challenged myself to avoid buying packaged food for a week, I had no idea I'd go from emptying my garbage weekly to less than once per year. Looking back, it…

thanks, i may need to stop opining and start actually mending one of these days!
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