How many clothes does your dd have?

[cin]

I have 2 girls, 8 & 11. They cannot seem to get their clothes put away, to save their life, so when we switch over for winter, I going to severely minimalize (which isn't a word, according to Bill Gates) their clothing. Hopefully without having to do laundry every day.

 

Right now, I'm thinking 5 pair of jeans, 3 leggings outfits and 3 dresses. Dresses will match the black flats, and they will also have brown boots, gym shoes and a brown waterproof loafer/hiker.

 

They will get 5 long sleeved shirts, and dd11 will get 5 sweaters/sweater turtleneck sets. DD 8 will get maybe 3 cardigans (She's always too hot in a full sweater).

 

Underwear and socks, and <gasp> bras?

 

They do gymnastics also. that is limited to 2 outfits. And jammies are limited to 3 sets. (I have lived through the stomach bugs that don't stop)

 

Typing this out, itl sounds like a lot of clothes. DH sees it as a reflection on him, as a provider, if the kids look 'like crap' as he so delicately puts it. But they don't wear half of what they have, so we usually meet in the middle. The kids look great, and I've bought it all second hand. :D

 

Please advise. I'm really trying to make things doable for all parties here.

[tabrizia]

That sounds like a reasonable amount to me. Then again the number of clothes DD has is kind of embarrassing I think she has more clothes then the other 4 of us combined. She can go a month without repeating an outfit, maybe longer :blush:.

[Slartibartfast]

It never seems like dd has enough clothes. She is always saying things feel "weird" or are "uncomfortable."

[TrixieB]

Dd11 has:

 

8 short-sleeve t-shirts she wears regularly, plus a couple of extras

a few long-sleeve t-shirts she rarely wears

3 pairs of shorts

3 pairs of jeans

4 sweatshirts/fleecies

undies, socks, & bras

 

shoes: 1 pair sneakers, 1 pair hiking boots, 1 pair water sandals

 

She won't wear dressy clothes. However, she has a white buttondown shirt, a pair of black pants, and a pair of black maryjanes for band concerts. I don't count them as part of her wardrobe because she wears them only 2-3 times a year.

 

My teen dd, well, her wardrobe is a different and extensive story. :D

 

Your dds' wardrobes sound like a normal quantity to me.

 

ETA: you know, this all depends on how often you do laundry. I do laundry once a week, so my kids need enough clean shirts/socks/undies to last that timeframe.

Edited August 1, 2012 by TrixieB

[Jeannie in NJ]

that is actually more than my 17 year old dd has. She has 2 pairs of jeans, one pair of jeggings, one pair of yoga pants, 2 shorts, about 3 tank tops, one long sleeve shirt, 2 hoodies, no dresses or skirts, a pair of sneakers, one pair of uggs and another pair of casual shoes and that is it. She decluttered her closet and only kept what she wants and will wear. She does her laundry about every 3 day

 

oh I forgot, she also has 1 or 2 pairs of sweatpants. Also the reason her shirts are pretty much tank tops is that she says they are the only comfortable thing to wear under hoodies.

Edited August 1, 2012 by Jeannie in NJ

[2_girls_mommy]

My kids are in the camp that yours are in: they can't close their drawers. We get so many very nice things handed down to us from a couple of different friends. I try to go through it and pass on, but we still always get way too many. Add to that what they get for their bdays and Christmas from relatives and what I buy when they need it and then the drawers can't close again. I clean it all out and downsize at least twice a year, but we always end up with so much.

[Katiebug_1976]

If you already have a bunch of clothes for the next season, pick out the number of outfits that you are comfortable with them having, then put the rest up in the attic (or garage or wherever). If they start getting faded, stained or ripped then you can replace them with "new" clothes but maintain a limited amount. I started limiting my younger kids clothes for the same reason (they had way too much and couldn't keep it all put away) and things are going much better now (doing laundry is not near the chore that it used to be). I just try to keep a couple extras stored away in case something needs replaced.

[dbmamaz]

I dont buy clothes until my kids dont have anything that fits and its not laundry day yet . . . but even my daughter was never very picky about clothes

[A.Balaban]

I JUST made a list of clothing for my daughters wardrobe. Mind you, I am still working the kinks out of this:

 

Basics

 

 

• 14 pr underwear
  
• 10 pr socks (cause if I only buy 7 they will go missing >.>)
  
• 7 pr pajamas
  
• 7-10 onesies
  

 

Shoes

 

 

• 1 pr sneakers
  
• 1 pr sandal
  
• 1 pr casual shoe
  
• 1 pr dress shoe
  
• 1 pr boots
  

 

Outerwear

 

 

• 1 winter coat
  
• 1-2 spring/fall jackets
  
• 2 sweatshirts
  
• 3 cardigans
  
• 2 hoodies
  

 

Everyday Clothing

 

 

• 3 pr jeans
  
• 5 pr leggings
  
• 5 pr shorts
  
• 1-2 pr athletic shorts
  
• 5 pr skirts/shorts
  
• 7 t-shirts
  
• 7 long-sleeve shirts
  
• 4-7 casual dresses
  
• 2 formal dresses
  

 

Extras

 

 

• 2 belts
  
• 2 swim suits
  
• 1 swim cover up
  
• 1 sun hat
  
• 1 hat/glove set
  
• 1 snow pants
  

 

My mom bought my DD too many clothes so I am going through and paring down her wardrobe. I am using this list as my guide. Case in point: My daughter has over 20 pairs of pajamas. TWENTY! It's ridiculous. We don't have a washer/dryer at home so we only do laundry once a week. If you can do laundry every couple days than I would cut the amount of clothing you need further. Also, my children are toddlers, and tend to get everything dirty the moment you put it on so extras are needed. :tongue_smilie:

 

 

 

If anyone is interested, I have four forms (like this) one for girls, boys, adult woman and adult male. PM me an email address and I will email them to you! They are in .doc format so you can customize them with your family. :)

[Lucy the Valiant]

I did this with my twin DD8's clothing, and it helped a TON!

 

I was hesitant to get rid of things we might need later in the season, so I stored extras in a bin in the basement, but if they took something out of there, something else had to go back in.

 

I prefer to do laundry every day or two, so they were allowed 4 pants, 5 tops, 2 sweatshirts, 3 pajamas.

 

It was a HUGE improvement, both for me (not having to struggle w/their room being a mess) and for them (easier job finding / choosing clothes).

 

I need to do it again.

[NASDAQ]

As long as everything fits in one drawer, except for her sweater and a couple dresses, then we're all good.

[Tap]

DD13 has (off the top of my head)

6 thin long sleeve

8 thin short sleeve

10 tanks (she layers them)

4 jeans (she is hard to fit and picky or she would have more)

3 denim shorts (same as above)

3 cotton casual at home only shorts (shorter than I allow outside)

2 yoga pants

3-4 pj bottoms (different temperatures- from fuzzy thick to shorts)

5 micro fleece NorthFace jackets

3 cotton hoodies

2 dresses

Ski jacket

2 waterproof light/mid weight jacket

shoes-flats, running, Ugg boot, rain boot, 2 snow boot, flip flop, hiking

Dozen or so undies and socks

8 bras

 

This is really pretty minimal compared to her friends. DD doesn't really keep much in her closet that she isn't going to wear. She layers tanks with t-shirts with fleece/hoodie so on a typical day she will wear 3 tops.

 

 

She is hot blooded and wears mostly thin clothing. She could probably wash all of her clothes in 2 washer loads and still have room left over. LOL

Edited August 1, 2012 by Tap, tap, tap

[Loudwater School]

For a very long time now, I have limited each of my children to seven everyday outfits (clean but not fancy), one dressy outfit, one messy outfit, one pair of thermals (necessary even in summer because it gets cold at night and we go camping), and two pajamas. Each has his own type of underwear so we end up with seven pairs of boxers, seven pairs of briefs, and seven pairs of boxer briefs. In winter they each have seven undershirts. They all share a big bin of identical socks. In summer they have water shoes and sneakers, and a zip up hooded sweatshirt. In winter they have waterproof boots and sneakers and of course snowpants and a giant coat. (Can you tell we never go any place where semi-formal wear is required?)

 

So your plan sounds abundant to me!

 

I do laundry more frequently than most, I think. I also believe I end up shopping and replacing clothes more frequently. Very rarely does a shirt make it through a whole season and get handed down because they wear the same things over and over and they get worn out fast. Shopping at places that offer guarantees helps, like LL Bean.

 

Now the boys have gotten really into Doctor Who, they want to wear suits and blazers all the time. I don't know to adapt my uptight wardrobe control to that but it's totally worth figuring out to see my six-year-old in a bowtie and my twelve-year-old in a cord blazer every day!

Edited August 1, 2012 by Loudwater School

[J-rap]

That sounds like a good amount to me. It always amazed me how my girls in particular accumulated excess clothing so easily, even with my good intentions of that not happening. T-shirts are handed out free at special events, grandparents will buy an outfit for a birthday, aunt will get a cute shirt that's on sale, and don't forget hand-me-downs (which we used to get from cousins, neighbors, and of course within the family). Every season we would usually sort through everything again and bring clothes to the consignment store or donate. My youngest one still gets hand-me-downs -- way more than she can use.

[Tarreymere]

The amount of clothes you listed seems very reasonable to me. You can use the 'spare' clothes to swap out anything that starts to look worn. I limit my kids to what will fit easily in a single dresser, and my lightbulb idea was to keep the kid's dressers in MY bedroom. I have enough room to do this, and I can put away and monitor their clothes very closely. Of course, my decision to do this was only partly influenced by my kids never putting away clothes and partly influenced by having grandkids over who thought it was a great idea to open drawers and throw clothes around the room :glare:

[cin]

The amount of clothes you listed seems very reasonable to me. You can use the 'spare' clothes to swap out anything that starts to look worn. I limit my kids to what will fit easily in a single dresser, and my lightbulb idea was to keep the kid's dressers in MY bedroom. I have enough room to do this, and I can put away and monitor their clothes very closely. Of course, my decision to do this was only partly influenced by my kids never putting away clothes and partly influenced by having grandkids over who thought it was a great idea to open drawers and throw clothes around the room :glare:

 

Great idea! I may do this in our next home.