I’ll tell you, you are an inspiration to me. Your skirts are so cute, and not in that “oh thanks, I bought it for $8,00000000 at Anthropologie” way, which is the best part. One day I will learn how to insert zippers and thus be able to jump on the handmade clothes bandwagon! I love sewing so much, but I seem to be stuck at the pillows-and-curtains level…

Great post, and the link to “A long lasting wardrobe” is great. I’m lucky in that I only work out of the house 2 days a week, and I wear the work-at-home comfy clothes multiple times before they go in the wash. I make a lot less laundry than my 9-5 BF. I don’t sew, although I know how to, because I don’t have a machine (I hope to inherit my mom’s old table-set, all-metal Singer at some point). I’ve just stopped buying new clothes, really. There are great resale shops and inexpensive tailoring in my area, so if we need or get the urge for something “new,” we buy secondhand (of course, there are exceptions, like underthings), and if something needs repairing, we spend a few bucks on that. I’m so happy to see others doing likewise.

i’m with you–i mostly sew my own clothes except for some basics/tees and then splurge on a few really nice things (the last thing i bought was a ridiculously priced sweater from anthropologie, but it was the only thing i’d purchased in months and a piece i’ll wear for years— and that’s the kind of purchase i want to be making). i even TRY to buy new clothes but they are all crap when i try them on so i end up putting them back and realizing i don’t need them. i think new york especially made me feel like i had to keep up with trends, but then once i did wardrobe refashion i realized no one cared but me. plus, i was able to make lasting garments that i like despite what is “trendy”….which you sometimes can’t even find in stores.

It’s funny, the house I grew up in was built in the 1920s and the closets are so small. They were built for a time when a man would have one suit and his wife one, maybe two dresses. I went through a phase where I was agonizing over whether to get more storage for clothes, then I realized that the problem was not lack of storgage capacity, rather, it was too much crap to store! I took an inventory and I realized that I had a month’s supply of undershirts, and about as much of a supply of skivvies - excluding zombie invasion, I can envision few scenarios where I would not be doing laundry for so long. As I replace stuff my rule is to toss two items in the goodwill or rag pile as appropriate for every one item I acquire. Sadly I’m not too good at the DIY part of DIY clothing.

Great post! I think about this a lot. I haven’t graduated to sewing my own clothing - but I’m knitting stuff from slippers to sweaters. The amount of time it takes to make a wearable garment really gives me pause - I look at a pattern and think, is this a classic style? Are my materials high-quality and long-lasting? How will I need to care for this to extend its life? Is it flattering? Can the size be adjusted?

I haven’t bought new clothes in ages. It might be over a year, except for dresses I am compelled to get for other people’s weddings. I just keep getting rid of more and more stuff, and it’s a lot easier to get dressed when I only have nice things I really like in my closet.

i made a pledge earlier this year to only buy secondhand, handmade, or fair trade items. i think that was back in april or may. anyway, i’ve only broken a couple times (but once was a huge back to school shopping spree at banana republic- i still feel guilty about that).

i am a horrible sewer, so i just leave the work to someone else.

This article put clothing on my brain! Fortunately I’ve slimmed down over the past year, but unfortunately it means that nothing fits. Tonight I stopped in at Macy’s and picked up a shirt and a sweater. I suppose it’s less hazardous for my financial health to do it in dribs and drabs than in one fell swoop. Typically I get 3 years out of most clothing, longer for more expensive items like suits and outerwear. Going forward my goal is to reduce the items in my closet which are not in regular use, and make sure I get mileage out of what I have.

i’m still trying to stay on my wardrobe refashion pledge even though it was over months ago. i would say that i have bought about four new pieces of clothing in the last year (and most of it when i am freelancing at anthro).
i really like the built by wendy patterns and i want to start trying some of the burdastyle patterns too!

[…] posted before that I don’t really like to shop for clothes. I try to make my own stuff because 1. I hate shopping, 2., I’m kind of a hard size to fit, […]

I can’t sew, too much measuring! But I have recently scaled back my wardrobe and am keeping only what I wear most often and those items that don’t see the outside world but are sooo comfy to wear in the house. Now my closet can hold many more things! I donated my clothes directly to people in need. Some weren’t worth donating so my daughter and I cut up the material and she’s having “sales” of fabric pieces (she’s 7, so cute). My mom taught my daughter to sew and some doll outfits have been made. I want to make pillows and quilts…can you do that w/o sewing? I won’t iron so don’t point me toward fuse tape ;-) ANYWAY, great article!