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I've tracked every piece of clothing I've worn for three years (2021)

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Re: I've tracked every piece of clothing I've worn for three years (2021)

#61
post #58
post #4

I did a double-take at the 3.5k Euro spend per year on clothing. My own spending is probably 2-3 orders of magnitude smaller. But then I saw how many shoes they own, and the fact that they have a summer house where at least one pair resides. This person lives differently to me.

> I did a double-take at the 3.5k Euro spend per year on clothing. My own spending is probably 2-3 orders of magnitude smaller. One order of magnitude would be €350; two orders of magnitude would be €35; three orders of magnitude would be €3.50 I sincerely doubt that you spend €3.50–35/year on clothing!

There have certainly been years when I bought almost or actually no clothing.

For people who buy clothing frequently, this might be unimaginable, but I assure you that there are people who are happy with the clothing they own and do not buy more except to replace things that wear out or develop holes. And I do this by choice!

Re: I've tracked every piece of clothing I've worn for three years (2021)

#62
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I did a double-take at the 3.5k Euro spend per year on clothing. My own spending is probably 2-3 orders of magnitude smaller. One order of magnitude would be €350; two orders of magnitude would be €35; three orders of magnitude would be €3.50 I sincerely doubt that you spend €3.50–35/year on clothing!

There have certainly been years when I bought almost or actually no clothing. For people who buy clothing frequently, this might be unimaginable, but I assure you that there are people who are happy with the clothing they own and do not buy more except to replace things that wear out or develop holes. And I do this by choice!

I doubt anyone is spending 3 bucks per year on average on clothing.

Unless you're in Bangladesh or something.

Re: I've tracked every piece of clothing I've worn for three years (2021)

#64
post #18
post #16

Interesting data tracking. I have to say for my jeans - I never put them in the dryer, always hung dry. All my jeans are now 10-20 years old now and except for some wear on the back cuff from wearing them around the house without shoes on they look and feel brand new. I can't find author mention "dryer" anywhere in the article. Hung dry clothes last a long time. it's the machine dryer that slowly destroys them IMO. A…

> Another thing Im doing is switching to 100% cotton (or just no plastic fibers). I love the breathability and light feel of cotton shirts. I've been wanting to do the same; it's kind of amazing how at some point everything started to be made with plastics, even jeans. If I had the time, space, and equipment, I'd make my own clothes from patterns. Because I have none, I guess I'll be carefully inspecting tags while s…

As far as I can tell, the plastics generally aren't even better at being clothes. They just cost less than cotton, which is why they generally blend cotton and polyester to create something that feels good enough while reducing the expensive cotton usage.

Re: I've tracked every piece of clothing I've worn for three years (2021)

#65
post #8

I found the turnover rate of tee shirts surprising. I imagine that my tee shirts get 40 or 45 wears per year, and I very rarely replace them.

I wear them until they have holes and then use them as shop rags, etc.

Similar, but I keep old clothes to use as test fabric for machine embroidery.

Re: I've tracked every piece of clothing I've worn for three years (2021)

#66
post #16

Interesting data tracking. I have to say for my jeans - I never put them in the dryer, always hung dry. All my jeans are now 10-20 years old now and except for some wear on the back cuff from wearing them around the house without shoes on they look and feel brand new. I can't find author mention "dryer" anywhere in the article. Hung dry clothes last a long time. it's the machine dryer that slowly destroys them IMO. A…

I’m switching over to merino wool whenever it goes on sale. Socks first and it’s been a huge change in quality for me. My feet are much happier.

Re: I've tracked every piece of clothing I've worn for three years (2021)

#67
post #25
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Another thing Im doing is switching to 100% cotton (or just no plastic fibers). I love the breathability and light feel of cotton shirts. I've been wanting to do the same; it's kind of amazing how at some point everything started to be made with plastics, even jeans. If I had the time, space, and equipment, I'd make my own clothes from patterns. Because I have none, I guess I'll be carefully inspecting tags while s…

Ive honestly considered the same thing. Wouldnt it be nice to make a few tailored "masters" and then just make your own shirts off those. Perfect fit everytime time. It's just the senseless waste of the modern world. Like dry laundry soap, why cant i just bring my glass jar to the grocery store, tar it, refill from a bulk bin. Why do we have to make millions of plastic containers, so pointless. Ive only been to one g…

I'd think that most ingested plastic comes from food packaging.

Re: I've tracked every piece of clothing I've worn for three years (2021)

#68
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Another thing Im doing is switching to 100% cotton (or just no plastic fibers). I love the breathability and light feel of cotton shirts. I've been wanting to do the same; it's kind of amazing how at some point everything started to be made with plastics, even jeans. If I had the time, space, and equipment, I'd make my own clothes from patterns. Because I have none, I guess I'll be carefully inspecting tags while s…

As far as I can tell, the plastics generally aren't even better at being clothes. They just cost less than cotton, which is why they generally blend cotton and polyester to create something that feels good enough while reducing the expensive cotton usage.

Synthetics often dry much faster than cotton and are more useable when wet.

Re: I've tracked every piece of clothing I've worn for three years (2021)

#69

Oh, thank you for the validation! For three years I've been measuring, weighing, logging all my nails and hair and poop, and I thought I was alone!

Um, I don’t know if that’s the same sort of thing, but if it makes you feel better…
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