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 executives from big corporations who were following her lead. She sent me pictures of clothing she repaired that she would have thrown out before.
When she was invited to give a TED talk that year, she told me she felt liberated from wondering what to buy to wear, instead getting to feel like herself and focusing on her message.
For women: it may be worth your while checking out Project333. I have searched for a respective project for men, but haven't found something similar/worthy.
When I finished listening to the Minimalists podcast (first 120 episodes) for the second time I was already immersed in minimalism. I donated 90% of my clothes, I now have 5 t-shirts, 4 sweaters, 2 jeans, 10 pairs of socks, 2 pairs of shoes, and some snow/skiing related accessories (hoods, etc.)
I also have "office clothes" which I don't count as clothes, I treat them as a uniform, when not in the office, they don't exist for me (and Coronavirus-->remote working was a great 'gift' for me on this area)(I hope the deaths stop and we continue the WFH).
I see fashion as a "subscription" scheme. You spend £€¥$, you get clothes and after X seasons you need to spend another load of £€¥$ to renew your "trendy-ness".
I can never forget that in the term "fashion VICTIM" the word that sticks with YOU is the word "victim".
Having extra clothing beyond the minimum allows me to put off doing laundry (or going to the dry cleaner). It's a significant time saver, a "life hack" if you will.
I follow the same minamalist lifestyle. I have a bin with my summer clothes. I'll switch them out soon for the winter ones. Even still it's very few items overall. I used to have 100s of pieces of clothing.
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.
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).
One thing I really don't like about minimalists is they boast too much about the numbers of different items they own. Not all wears are made by the fast fashion industry as a result of consumerism. I have bike wear, climbing wear and running wears but I use them interchangeably and try to buy less because I'm relatively poor. IMO minimalists should expand their hobbies (which are rarely low-cost so they will try to optimize their spendings) rather than confine themselves in the established social norms.
In my opinion it shouldn't be about the absolute number, but rather about having relatively few but long-lasting items. Obviously individual needs vary, because of hobby activities, weather and such.
So I have 8 pairs of shoes, but I still consider it relatively minimal, because each serves a distinct purpose, such as my safety boots.
I also have multiple pairs of leather boots (military surplus), because leather boots/shoes really should be aired out for a day after you wear them, especially if you've been doing anything strenous. By having a couple of pairs, each pair will last significantly longer than if I just wore the same pair every day.
Minimalism can easily go way too far and become counterproductive.
I got 1x Nike for lounging/running that I just bought (the previous one was 'retired'), and 1x Salomon for hiking/snow/outdoors activities (bought in 2009). I spend one month per year in the very northern parts of Scandinavian countries usually Dec-Jan.
My "office gear" includes two pairs of "office shoes" that I absolutely never wear when not in the clients' offices/meetings/interviews. I hate those clothes :)
I've the same single pair of 20€ shoes since 5 years. Some holes, but they still work well, probably for another 5 years.
The only drawback is when it rains, I need to dry them with newspaper.
I do a lot of sports (mostly bike (I've no car) for all my commuting, hiking/trail, ..
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).
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 seems inevitable, but when I started 5 years ago, I barely knew about farmers markets, CSAs, fermenting vegetables, etc.
I take my jeans to the nearest clothes repair booth, they stitch on a patch from inside. Here doing one patch costs $4, that's much better that >$100 for a new pair of Levi's.
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.
I didn't know that the normal way I live my life is anything worth commenting on. I still wear clothes from when I was in college 25 years ago. But this is more from laziness and a generally dislike of shopping, combined with zero fashion sense, than from any altruistic values.
I try to only buy good quality clothes that are made to last, then I wear them until they develop holes. I repair them and wear them again until they don't really look presentable anymore. At that point they become home/work/workout/concert clothes. When they can no longer be repaired, they become cleaning rags.
I did not know that this was something to be applauded for.
I had some Levi's 501s that I got at a farm supply store for $12 when I was in college (early 80s). I wore them regularly for about 15 years then occasionally until a few years ago. They had no holes when I donated them. Newer 501s don't last anywhere near that long.
Carhartts are more functional for me now, but they wear out after 5-8 years depending on the style (model?). I haven't noticed any change in durability since I started wearing them 18 years ago.
I have several pairs of Injinji socks that are close to 10 years old, and still in great shape. I have also worn out two pairs of those socks after about 5 years, and the newer ones are softer so I suspect they'll be less durable.
Carhartts, Blåkläder - probably other brands that still actually sell work clothes - tend to have separate "fashion" models that sell through typical fashion stores. They're generally higher price and less durable in my experience.
In the US it's not hard to find regular carhartts work wear - in Norway I've only seen the fashion stuff. On the other hand, Blåkläder operate a few outlets that are aimed at the business market - and there it's possible to buy their "actual" work clothes.
Ed: in addition to such work wear, military surplus & second hand is also a good bet.
I've found my 5.11 pants to last a lot longer than Carhart did. I was really disappointed in the later. Another brand that suppressed me was undrarmor. I avoided them because they were expensive and popular. Then I got a deal on a hoodie and it outlasted many other goodies. Since then I've picked up a few more on eBay and have been just as happy. I want quality that will last for a decade (or more).
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 and it’s taken punishment that would have broken a lesser umbrella dozens of times over - but aside from some thin spots in the canopy it’s perfectly fine. I wrote the company that made it but only got a form letter in response so guess they weren’t impressed with my long lived umbrella that’s been to every continent except Antarctica.
I do have to say that buying clothes from amazon is a pleasure. They remember your orders forever so if I’m not sure of size or brand I can always look at order history. If the style or color I want is no longer available the purchase recommendations are good at finding me something similar. Best of all I don’t have to buy what’s available and get it tailored, I can buy clothes made for my exact size. I used to spend as much getting pants legs shortened as I did on the pants because I have an odd size that the stores don’t carry and can’t get for weeks. I still have to typically buy shoes two sizes larger to accommodate the width of my feet - Allen Edmonds is about the only places that makes affordable shoes in my exact size, but those soft leather soles get torn up quickly by NYC streets.
I’m sure that in another ten years I’ll just give Amazon my measurements and tailored clothing will magically appear whenever I order it.
> I've heard complaints from people who've re-ordered things this way that the fit changed between orders.
When you start ordering clothes online you discover in a real hurry that sizing is agonizingly approximate on the best of days. The same size can be significantly differently sized between batches. I figure it's due to fabric being tricky to work with in a factory setting. One worker might sew the seam allowances a smidge tighter than another which can easily add up in a garment.
That said, there's nothing quite like knowing exactly which size of which model of which brand shoe to buy without having to go shopping. It has changed buying shoes from a weekend-long hunt to a 10-minute online order which gets me exactly the same shoes as the old pair. I've been looking for a good brand of socks to do the same trick with, If I can just find a single model of nice wool socks I can order online I'll be so happy -- cold feet and ill-fitting socks are no fun.
> I do have to say that buying clothes from amazon is a pleasure
I wish it was that simple. I tore a big hole in Columbia ski pants I got 2 years ago. I bought two replacement of the same size, but different color since the original one wasn't available. Both of them had up to 2" difference in waist or length from the original. I've sent them back. This has been my experience with many clothing items. 95% of items I try don't fit. I hate shopping for clothes!
I know AE offers different types of soles, including some very weather resistant ones. You probably know this, but just in case; and you might have more options for different soles if you buy online.
That said, I've heard their QA and service have gone downhill dramatically over the past year or two since their aquisition.
More then ten years ago my fiance have converted three bedrooms into additional wardrobes (or more like storage rooms). All expensive designer stuff that she has been rarely using (if at all) just purchasing and storing for later.
Since then I wear mostly Uniqlo, $1 t-shirts from a heap or almost new re-sold stuff.
Clothes and especially cotton are killing the planet.
> About 5 % of household expenditure in the EU is spent on clothing and footwear, of which about 80 % is spent on clothes and 20 % on footwear. It has been estimated that in 2015 EU citizens bought 6.4 million tonnes of new clothing (12.66 kg per person). According to European Environment
Agency (EEA) estimates, between 1996 and 2012, the amount of clothes bought per person in the EU increased by 40 %. At the same time, more than 30 % of clothes in Europeans' wardrobes have not been used for at least a year. Once discarded, over half the garments are not recycled, but end
up in mixed household waste and are subsequently sent to incinerators or landfill.
> the global textiles and clothing industry was responsible for the consumption of 79 billion cubic metres of water, 1 715 million tons of CO2 emissions and 92 million
tons of waste. It also estimated that by 2030, under a business-as-usual scenario, these numbers
would increase by at least 50 %.
Quite a lot of things will last a decade. Probably half of my wardrobe is at least that old and I don't spend a lot of time searching out the best stuff. However, you've got to be realistic about it. T-shirts will stretch all out of shape and the collar will fray, because they are essentially disposable clothes. I go through trousers fairly quickly (like I need to buy a pair every 3-4 years), but until recently I only had 2 pairs of trousers. I'm up to 5 now because I found these amazing winter trousers at Uniqlo that are ridiculously well made and also very warm (they are 3 layers).
Although I say I only had 2 pairs of trousers, I actually have a wardrobe for winter, summer, and spring/fall. In the summer, I often wear a jinbei which are... kind of like pajamas. But they are loose and cool and don't really wear out. In the winter it is trousers and shirts, but with a high quality undershirt. Generally I go for "outdoors" wear because it is usually of much better quality and also performs dramatically better (warmer, breathable, lighter). I wear exactly 1 fleece jacket (although I keep getting more as gifts... not sure what to do with them) and I don't dare to even imagine when I first got it -- probably over 20 years ago.
Leather and denim are probably your best bet. Higher quality leather jackets can last for 10-20 years if you take care of them.
Personally I recommend Schott in NYC. A bit pricey but my jacket still looks great 5 years later. I imagine it will be wearable for at least another decade.
Denim, specifically jeans, is getting ridiculously thin. I used to be able to count on jeans lasting well over 5 years, but now they’ll wear holes (particularly around seams or pockets) in a year, tops. And these are Carhart branded work jeans; not exactly a brand I associate with low quality clothing.
A personal pet peeve of mine is this newfangled stretch denim that more and more jeans seem to use. At the start of the day the fit is fine but before the end of the day the elastic has relaxed enough to where you need a belt to even keep them on at all. Add to that the magically shrinking pockets and I haven't been able to find reasonable jeans in a few years now.
LL Bean used to have a "lifetime" guarantee but like others (e.g. REI) have backed off considerably. I'm not sure how much of that is because quality has in fact decreased as so many of these brands have shifted manufacturing to the Far East--and how much is because people in general are probably more willing to abuse things like return policies. I suspect it's a bit of each.
I wonder if it has to do with the spread of e-commerce more generally. L. L. Bean is a mail-order company. Returns are one way to reassure customers who can't even look at the clothes before buying them. (And Amazon has a pretty generous return policy on clothes now for that reason.)
But people are used to buying things sight unseen now; maybe the ironclad return policy doesn't have the value -- to the company -- that it once did.
The policies were always abused. I've heard people boast about taking in a well-used rain jacket every five years and swapping it for a new one although most didn't do this of course. I certainly don't have the data to support this sort of thing being more common; it's just a general impression that there are fewer social norms against gaming the system to your personal advantage so long as you can get away with it.
My instinct is that as many people were willing in the past, but with modern social media use, everyone who is willing is made aware of all the best return policies to abuse.
All of my Darn Tough socks have lasted 5 years so far. Cheap retail store brands (Hanes, Fruit, etc.) have always been awful after about 6 months. They're expensive to lose though. I've yet to find the equivalent for T-shirts.
I've had the opposite experience. Darn Tough has replaced a half dozen pairs of socks for me because I end up with big holes in them in about nine months. Which is a shame because they're quite comfortable.
For pants, I was using lululemon for a while and just accepting that their build quality made them last about 18 months to 2 years, while the warranty was five years, so I would just have the company swap them out for new ones on a regular basis. I'm trying some pants from prana and arcteryx now that offer equal freedom of motion but hopefully will be a little more robust.
Arcteryx is the way to go, in my experience. The only prana pants I’ve liked are the continuum, which are bulletproof and fantastic even though they’re just cotton canvas. I’ve shredded them against granite and you can barely tell that there’s some wear.
The heavy duty cotton Hanes ones seem pretty good. Although, to be honest, even without seeking them out I end up with more tech swag than I can use and I end up donating a lot of it. So I basically never buy cotton T-shirts. The heavier pre-shrunk cotton Hanes ones seem solid though.
Probably depends how much you walk on them and on what surfaces. I wear slippers 95% of the time indoors and none of my socks have ever developed holes. (They lose elasticity and unravel first.)
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.
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.
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.
I don't know why you were downvoted. I'm the same; I still wear the clothes I got as swags when I was in college a decade ago. I've maybe bought a pair jeans since then, when my older ones didn't fit anymore.
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.
There's a clothes donation bin by my office where I immediately toss any swag I get.
I try very hard to to wear any clothes with logos. For some technical clothes it can't really be avoided, so much of my winter/snowboarding/climbing/other sporting gear has logos, sadly.
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 piece has to get donated. This keeps the size of the collection in check but wouldn’t put a brake on new purchases in and of itself.
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, which was pretty expensive compared to other prices.
For me I have no problem wearing used clothes and grew up effectively always shopping second hand. My issue is _time_. I hate shopping for clothes. Finding something that fits, is in good condition and meets my needs involves searching for hours at second hand shops.
(Not promoting/affiliated to eBay)
When I made the decision to buy second hand clothes, I only though of eBay (have been buying stuff since 2001(?). I always seem to find a nice sweater etc, I don't mind if the size is a bit off, I can always resell. I would love it if anyone can suggest any other online stores that sell 2nd hand clothes at the volume/options that eBay (it's sellers) can provide.
A consistent sizing code system would dramatically simplify online shopping for both new and 2nd hand clothes.
Imagine a system where say 10 critical dimensions of a bit of clothing could be embedded onto a QR code on the label. Then you could scan the code with some app which has your measurements (or potentially just take an average of the existing clothes in your wardrobe). It could tell you "Yes, this fits quite well but will be slightly baggy round the waist."
The dimensions could also include "stretchability" figures, so the software could know which dimensions are critical to be correct, and which are "fits all sizes".
The QR code could also include a manufacturer code, and blacklists could be made of manufacturers who mis-measure clothing.
I’m on board. I’m a small male, and buying clothes that fit is difficult in the US. Buying online is always a such a crapshoot, but at least smaller sizes are available.
As part of a fitness program, last year I had a 3D scan made of my body. The website where I downloaded the model data had optional questions almost all about clothing brands and sizing. Sounded like they were planning to work with clothes manufacturers to create clothes custom tailored to your body. The scan cost $60 but you could get a free scan once a month for a year afterwards. Since this was for a fitness program, the main goal was to track body shape changes over time but the process was easy enough that it seems like a viable way of custom sizing clothes to the wearer.
1) find your sizing in a few quality brands that fit you well, 2) only buy those brands; use eBay, go to thrift stores that sort by size and then skip everything that’s not one of “your” brands, shop sales online (when they’re actually sales and not bullshit)
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.
When I was in college I bought clothes from thrift stores. The initial hesitation I might have had in wearing someone else's clothes disappeared after the first wash/wear cycle of my own. Suddenly after that they were my clothes.
Between business getting more casual in general, no longer regularly going into an office, and doing a lot of (lightweight) travel, I have piles of dressier clothing and what at least used to be stereotypical business casual (cotton chinos, button down shirt) that I wear on a pretty occasional basis. I have a good stack of "daily wear" clothing, often picked up at holiday sales, that are still in their original packaging from literally years ago.
Stuff doesn't really wear out/get ratty very quickly when you hardly ever wear it.
If your logo wasn't a "scary skull" I would be showing this to my kid in our "where clothes come from" lesson (we do everything ranging from pottery to NASA space missions)(buy scary skulls are a no-no)(let them figure it out when they discover my Iron Maiden albums - many years from now!)
So most men then? Black tshirts from Marshalls, dark levi jeans, darn tough wool socks, smartwool underwear have served me well in 99% of situations for a decade without much replacement.
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 free. I will ultimately end up replacing the laces 2 to 3 times before replacing the boots.
Many of my shirts last well over a decade. I prefer business casual long sleeve button up shirts. They wear less quickly because I only wear them over undershirts. I have one shirt I still wear that was from my first year in college more than 20 years ago. The thing that kills my shirts are stains. Stripes and plaids show less stains than flat colors and thus last much longer.
What doesn’t last: running shoes, jeans, and watches. The battery on my Timex watch is only good for 3 to 5 years and that is about how long I hold onto my running shoes. My jeans are good for about 4 years and then they see to completely fall apart. I don’t even care if they get minor stains.
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.
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.
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.
My issue with my Timex Ironman is that the pushers go mushy after a year or two. I would pay 4x for a quartz watch that was built with the pusher quality of a higher end mechanical. All the functionality I need is in the Timex, but modern tech button feel has ruined me.
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.
I heard once the ceo of Levi doesn’t wash his jeans. I decided not to as well (unless they get stained from kids) and they’ve been great. Just hang them up to air outside.
maybe he only wears them for public appearances? I like my levis, but tbh I would probably buy more expensive jeans if I were worth millions of dollars.
Different poster, but I run with minimalist shoes, so there's really no concept of "worn out" - there's no cushioning to wear out, so the shoes are essentially good until there's an actual hole through the sole.
I've heard that the Vibram shoes wear out really fast, as in, they get actual holes in them. The minimalist thing never really made sense to me though, so I can't speak from experience. At least with maximalist shoes, you can still use them with worn out midsoles.
I tried the Vibram FiveFingers once and didn't like them, so can't speak to them, but my understanding is that they tend to be of lowish durability because there's so much more stitching to go wrong and potential rubbing with individual toes.
I wear minimalist shoes from Vivobarefoot and Merrell. I had one casual pair with a thinner/softer sole that wore through in a couple years, but my active pairs' soles have all lasted 5+ years.
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.
I buy new clothes only when my old ones are visibly faded or start getting ripped (or when I spill something that can't be washed). May be the influence of video games, but I've got standard outfits for different situations and travel distance, so I buy 2-3 of the same clothes (wear one set - wash the others). I see other people try to wear something different/new every other day...
This feels like 'light news day" item. I have w number of things that are 10+ years old. I buy new pants when they too worn out to leave the house. I buy shirts when I don't have enough industry handouts without holes. I can't imagine ever needing another jacket because I have plenty. I buy lots of things but clothes seem like a necessity and I get new ones only when I need to.
From my experience all of the clothes I buy, whether they were expensive clothes from a place with a stellar reputation for longevity, or cheap clothes from Walmart, nothing lasts more than a few years.
I buy a $20-40 dress shirt. After about 2 years the cuff splits or an elbow spontaneously explodes. I could patch it, but the surrounding fabric is still threadbare and it will just rip again.
I buy a $100+ dress shirt, it wears out just as fast, it just looks nicer until it does.
I bought some $450 Allen Edmonds shoes based on numerous people talking about how they had a pair for decades and it looked brand new. I got them for far less than that, but the quality wasn't even close to worth it.
The first time a single drop of water gets on the leather for longer than 2 seconds, that part of the surface is permanently damaged and puffs up, ruining your ability to even shine them again properly.
After about 6 months of only wearing them to walk from a parking lot to my office job and then back into my house when I got home, the heels started falling off of the shoe. I thought surely something must be wrong and I contacted Allen Edmonds. They wanted me to send my shoes back for an extensive investigation before giving me a refund or a new pair. So much for their reputation for amazing quality and customer service. They also recommend I wear them only once or twice a week instead of 4-5 days. So presumably I'm supposed to have $1300 of shoes on rotation even though I'm not even putting a mile on them a day.
Probably the only thing I have had last longer than a couple years would be some cheap underwear that lasted probably 7 or 8, and some cheap T-shirts most likely from walmart or kmart.
Anyone got a source for high quality clothes that actually last?
You really shouldn't wear the same pair of leather shoes two days in a row. Keep several pairs in rotation and let each dry out properly. They'll last much longer, whether they're Allen Edmonds or any other brand.
This is one reason why minimalism taken to extremes is counterproductive.
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!
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 ;)
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...
Surprised there is no mention of Goodwill. It's fairly good for donating clothes as well as getting used clothes. Some of the shops are very un-orderly so be sure to checkout atleast 2-3 stores before making a judgement.
There is a healthy balance here that seems lost on a lot of people here.
There's not a binary distinction between fashion victim and enlightened minimalist.
Yes, reduce your purchases.
Yes, prefer high quality products.
Yes, reuse your clothes instead of throwing it away.
No, don't spent your life constantly worrying about what you need to repair before it falls apart.
No, don't put people through enduring the summer smell of your only t-shirt.
No, don't look awful because appearance matters on a basic level.
Above all, don't virtue signal so hard because it makes you look ignorant to people with more complicated lives.
I'm 39 and still to this day the primary way I get clothes is at Christmas time from my mom or wife. Or random conference t-shirts :) I have rarely bought clothes for myself.
I rarely if ever buy new clothes (maybe a few times per decade). And, even on those rare occassions when I do, for jeans, its usually a used clothing store for less than 10$. As for t-shirts, I think I have a lifetime supply already (20 or so), so I won't need to buy those for a while. Those t-shirts last a long long time. I still have some cheap ones from 20 years that are still going strong.
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.
I had a pair of Levi's jeans, my weight is pretty stable, so they were good on me for a decade. Someone else above also mentioned having Levi's for a decade. Treat them well and they tend to last a long time.
I graduated 12 years ago and I still have clothes from college that I wear. The only new clothes I purchased after college was a few more dress shirt and pants for work, heavier jackets when I moved further north...I don't understand people who purchase clothes for the 'new season' every year.
25 years ago I put a cotton cloth in my compost heap thinking "it'll break down".
Every 5 years or so, I discover it at the bottom of the heap and chuck it back in again hoping that next time it will for sure break down... It hasn't yet.
Different strokes for different folks, I guess. Life is short enough, I might as well refresh the wardrobe every now and then. Plus I'm helping the economy! A winning strategy all around.
Most of my clothes are that old, especially clothes I wear at home. Why would I buy new ones for that? The only reason is if the old ones are too broken/worn.
Researchers find that there are people who have not bought any clothes in a decade. Then attribute it to "Greta effect" which is, what less than a year old? We would have been so lost without Greta.
Within months she was sending me contacts of other high-powered executives from big corporations who were following her lead. She sent me pictures of clothing she repaired that she would have thrown out before.
When she was invited to give a TED talk that year, she told me she felt liberated from wondering what to buy to wear, instead getting to feel like herself and focusing on her message.
Hear for yourself. Our conversations, before and after: https://joshuaspodek.com/guests/lorna-davis (also a great primer on B corps, given her significant role)
Her TED talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/lorna_davis_a_guide_to_collaborati...