How much clothing is truly necessary?

wifeofadam · April 2014

I have been blessed with very generous family and friends that have passed on all of their girl clothes to me. I literally have so much hand-me-down clothing that I get to go through and only keep the stuff that is pristine and then donate the rest to charity. Even with just the pristine stuff, I have more clothing than my girls could ever need. Their closets are full. And the worst part of it is that half of it never really gets worn or only gets worn once out of obligation (because I hate to have it sitting in the closet and never use it). We homeschool, so half of the time my kids just live in play clothes or jammies. We only really need nice clothing for church, random family gatherings, and the few outings we have during the week.

In this moving process I'm hoping to simplify our lives and minimize our clutter. So I want to drastically cut the girls' closets down in size. I'd rather them have just a few items that are of really good quality and that they love to wear than an entire closet of clothing just sitting there.

My question to y'all - how much clothing do you think is truly necessary for a kid? How may pairs of pants? Shirts? Dresses? Jammies? Sweaters? What do you think a child truly NEEDS in their wardrobe?

wifeofadam · April 2014

My boys' closets are in good shape. Since no one gives hand-me-downs of boy clothes in their sizes (because boys usually wear stuff out and make it too gross to hand down), they only have the few items that are gifted by grandparents and that they need as they grow, so I buy at thrift stores.

My boys each probably have - 2 pairs of jeans, 2 pairs of church pants, 2 dress shirts, one pair of overalls, one nice sweater, 2 sweatshirts, 2 polo shirts, 3 pairs athletic pants, 3 pairs athletic shorts, 5-6 play t-shirts, and a few nicer t-shirts in their closets. They also each have about four sets of jammies, 5 undershirts, and swimwear. It's a good amount that allows me to only do their laundry once a week or so and we don't run out of stuff.

For some reason, girls are harder. Their clothes are cute and it's fun to dress them up, so I have a hard time letting stuff go.

Rynleigh · April 2014

For my boys, I have been trying to keep for each of them:

4 pairs of jeans

2 pairs of alternative pants

2 pairs of shorts

1 swimsuit

4 season-appropriate shirts

2 alternative season shirts

1 dressy outfit (we do not go to church, though - you would probably want more)

4 onesies

2 pairs of shoes

2 jackets

unlimited socks

The girls are more tricky because they're older and in school, and they don't want to wear the same outfits over and over... for them, we still keep the jeans at about 4 each and the jackets at 2 each, but they have at least 12 shirts each, a couple of skirts, a couple of dresses, boots/tennishoes/dress shoes/slip ons/etc...

DublinMama · April 2014

Don't ask me lol. I'm a clothes a holic for DS. I may single-handedly keep Carter's in business. But I would say that if you're initial thought is you're overflowing, you probably don't need to keep some of it.

light52 · April 2014

DublinMama said:

Don't ask me lol. I'm a clothes a holic for DS. I may single-handedly keep Carter's in business. But I would say that if you're initial thought is you're overflowing, you probably don't need to keep some of it.

My mom is helping keep Carter's in business too! I think she buys the entire line for each of my boys each year.

tamarar5 · April 2014

I'm another total clothes aholic who married into a family that has only one grandchild. Ds was grandson #2. Now dd2 will be their first grand daughter baby. So we have more clothes than I know what to do with. Even worse, their taste in clothes is nothing like what I would ever put my kids in so....

C has I think 5 pairs of pants (4 jeans 1cords). Waaaaay to many shirts because she continues to put the too small shirts I took out back in her wardrobe. Size appropriate? Maybe 10-15 mixed short and long. 3 sweatshirts and 2 nice sweaters. Them assorted dresses for play and church.

kleigh926 · April 2014

We have been given so many clothes for DD, it's crazy. I have hardly had to buy her anything since she was born and I probably won't have to buy anything through the summer at least. I'm very thankful for all the hand-me-downs we've been given but it can be pretty overwhelming going through and sorting it all.

If I hadn't been given any clothes and had to buy everything for her, she would have a much smaller wardrobe. They grow out of things so quickly that I wouldn't want to buy much stuff in one particular size. I don't really have numbers in mind, except I have decided to only have 3 pairs of shoes for her- one pair of sneakers, one pair of nicer/dress shoes for church, and one pair of either boots or sandals depending on the season.

lbonga1 · April 2014

We didn't have to get too much for DD up until a year old because we had so much clothing gifted at my baby shower. For 12-24 month sizes, I bought pretty much everything we'll need on Black Friday. I bought enough to do laundry once a week. DD basically lives in onesies and leggings,so I got one set for each day of the week plus a few extras for needing to change after messes during the day. She also has one set of pajamas for each day, two jackets, a dress and a tutu. She also has a couple rompers and pairs of shorts for hotter days, and one swimsuit. For shoes she has a pair of sandals, a pair of dress shoes, and a pair of tennis shoes. She has a pair of Toms, but she doesn't fit into them yet. She has some dressier clothes at her grandma's house for if she is watching her on a Sunday and takes her to church. We don't go to church if she's home with me.

Rosebean · April 2014

I do DS' laundry every Sunday. So we probably keep enough outfits for the week with some extra pairs of each to spare in case he needs a change. We have more pyjamas than we need right now. But I won't pack them up until we solve this soaked diaper issue.

How much clothing is truly necessary?

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