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Comment by thanatos519 | Hacker News Reader

Wow, that's a lot of clothes! I wear like 10 [t-shirts,socks,underwear] and 2 pairs of [pants,shorts,footwear] and replace them at the thrift shop (except underwear and footwear) when they wear out. Counting jackets and hats and sportswear and more-formal-wear (i.e. shirts with buttons and collars) it can't all be worth $500.

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I live in the following:

  - 2 pairs of jeans, on rotate
  - About 20 t-shirts
  - 20-ish sets of underwear + socks
  - About 3-4 sweaters/jumpers/hoodies
  - 1 pair of boots
  - 1 pair of worn out trainers

That's basically it. Some of my t-shirts are over 15 years old, in fact 99% of what I wear is over 3 years old. Spending over $500 in a year on clothing is totally alien to me!

Einstein had it right:

"Albert Einstein reportedly bought several variations of the same grey suit so that he wouldn't have to waste time deciding what to wear each morning."

The only clothing I actually care about are my t-shirts. They all have graphic prints on them depicting things I care about. Mostly Films or Metal Bands.

Oddly, the worn-out trainers I wear I bought new on eBay several years ago, and it was only some time later that I realised they were limited edition Nike Cortezs that have since sky rocketed in price (for new-in-box) and now cost £500+ . I bought them because I liked the colour, and have practically worn them to death. Trainer/sneaker collectors must hate me now.

While I respect your frugality, I will respectfully ponder… are you dressing fashionably? Not trying to be a wanker but as I’ve gotten older I have become more enlightened to… dressing for effect.

Of course I don't dress 'fashionably'. I'm middle aged. My 'fashion' is my personal style - I like it, and stick with it.

The fashion industry exists to sell more clothes, and I won't be part of it.

> Spending over $500 in a year on clothing is totally alien to me!

If you care about ethical production it's difficult to spend less.

> "Albert Einstein reportedly bought several variations of the same grey suit so that he wouldn't have to waste time deciding what to wear each morning."

This sounds incredibly joyless -- the aesthetic equivalent of eating huel for every meal.

> This sounds incredibly joyless -- the aesthetic equivalent of eating huel for every meal.

Joyless for some, bliss for others.

I think that's fair approach to something you don't care too much about, like your clothes for example. Sounds like he just wanted to look presentable. I think it only becomes a problem if it's a pattern that you apply to multiple things in your life.

I prefer to find my joy in things that are not food or clothes.

Yes, HN does seem to skew heavily towards a sort of performative rejection of simple pleasures.

Personally I don't think it's zero sum, enjoying your meals won't make your immaterial pursuits less worthy, for example.

This sounds incredibly joyless -- the aesthetic equivalent of eating huel for every meal.

That depends on how you derive joy from it. My wardrobe is fully interchangeable and I generally pick what I wear at random. It's all carefully selected to be a reflection of my personal taste. Having a personal uniform makes me quite happy.

> If you care about ethical production it's difficult to spend less.

Is it a requirement of ethical production that clothes don't last and must be regularly replaced??

Clearly not, that's such an uncharitable read of what I'm saying that it doesn't feel worth responding to.

I'm not sure what you're trying to write that implies that ethical clothing production requires $500 annual clothing spend, then.

It is highly ethical to buy used clothes, wear them for multiple years and then return them to the flow as the OP suggested. It is morally dubious to fund greenification projects that pretend there is environmentally friendly cotton that is very expensive, etc.

One of the only things I used to love about having to wear a uniform was the lack of attention needed to spend deciding what to wear each day.

You may like clothing, playing with what you wear may give you joy, but for some having to find clothes they feel comfortable wearing, then having each day to select something to wear, ensuring that they meet some criteria that will avoid negative perception from their community is nothing short of hell.

When I find something that fits well, is comfortable and reasonably inexpensive, I purchase a bunch of them and wear them daily for the next couple of years.

I always own a fortnight's worth of underpants so I can go on a two week vacation without having to worry about laundry...

Wow, that's a lot of clothes!

Funny, I looked at his $3,907.65 total estimate and though that it's quite low for an adult.

Consider though that OP used retail prices, not thrift shop.

Even leaving out a lot of expensive business/formal clothing--which is less common in most circles these days--specialty outdoor activities clothing and footwear adds up in a hurry, especially if you do stuff in cold/snowy winters. It wouldn't surprise me if my winter outdoor gear added up to that by itself. I admittedly have way too much old clothing I rarely wear (and even more that I really wouldn't miss) but I'm sure my inventory is still way more than that.

I found "more-formal-wear" to include "shirts with buttons" to be quite funny. Just think, you could class up your entire wardrobe by sewing NFC buttons to random shirts that don't need them...

I'll join the minimalists here. For the past decade, I've only had about 6 shirts, two pair of denim pants, one pair of boots, 4 pairs of socks, a rain coat and a jacket. I go through one pants every 2 years (as it gets riddled with holes I can't patch up anymore). Most but a few are black and made out of wool. Having worn wool clothing, it's hard to go back to cotton, linen or synthetic. Not only wool dries super fast and regulates body temperature better, it doesn't get smelly as fast as the other fabrics. Black color hides hard to remove stains that otherwise would require harsh chemicals to get rid of, reducing the fabric's life.

The main reason for living this way is not to have to spend brain cycles deciding what to wear every day.

I had the same reaction, though for me I have a bunch more tshirts, most of which I didn’t pay for. I just keep two piles of shirts on my shelf. In the morning I take the top shirt off the “active” pile. Clean shirts from the laundry go on top of the other pile. When they wear out they go into the garage as rags.

Side note, I think cost per wear should factor in laundry costs. I suppose you could consider that just part of overhead if everything is just wash & wear, but it would come into play if you had anything that needed special treatment (suits to dry cleaners or something).

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