Project Wardrobe: The Three R's

This is part two of my Project Wardrobe post, this time focusing on the results of my clear out.
The three R's are removals, refashions, and remaining, and there will be some pie charts and graphs folks, I just can't help myself!

First up, the removals. This is two sub categories because some items will be donated to charity, and others will be dumped in the rag bag. I will post at some point about what I do with my rag bag(s) in case anyone is looking for a good way to use up those scraps.

How many items went to the rag bag or to charity

So the pie chart above shows that 31 items were evicted from my wardrobe, and this includes an underwear clear out too. The primary reason the rag bag got so lucky is that I have a work uniform I no longer need, and it has the company logo on it so I can't donate any of it (which makes me sad!). So 7 items in the "other" category are old work polo shirts, trousers, and a jumper. This is not a typical event so I will try and not be too bothered about it! I have had it all for over 3 1/2 years so it has had a lot of usage. One pair of trousers had worn through at the thighs so are counted in the bad condition category. The other three are knickers that were wadders. Not really cool with giving my undies to charity even if they are unworn. They aren't anything special, just scrap jersey so were probably originally pulled out of the rag bag.

The bad condition speaks for itself, 5 were pairs of past it panties, I will remove zips, buttons, and any other reusable part from the rest of these items.

The charity shop stuff is self explanatory too. Most of it is the wrong colour rather than it being crappy. I tried to inject a bit more colour in with some lighter blues but just made me feel a bit uncomfortable. One of the items is a dress I made to go to an event that was WW2 themed, it just made me feel like a nurse! Looked better when I was a bottle blonde too.

Next up, the remaining items.

Below is a chart detailing what is left by category. I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the amount of hand made, refashions, and RTW items for each category. Considering I have only purchased one dress, one pair of shorts, and one coat from the charity shop over the past year, and then one dress (that isn't included below as it fell into the refashion pile), one nightie I refashioned as a petticoat, and one pair of trousers from the charity shop the previous year, the rest of the stuff is really old! Most of the RTW is at least 4 years old, and of that lot, over half of it falls into the category of at least 6 years old.
I did make some leggings but since I do not consider leggings to be pants, they are not included here and are considered underwear like tights are. If you rock your leggings as pants, good for you, just do be sure they aren't see through - I cannot even begin to count how many butt cracks and knicker patterns I have witnessed through leggings whilst I have been out and about in public.

Remaining wardrobe items.

And because I wanted to see how much of my wardrobe is in regular rotation, I made another bar chart. Just 'cause I can.
So what does this tell me? First of all I should clarify that worn regularly is considered to be something that when averaged out across the whole year, is worn at least fortnightly. Obviously summer items like shorts are not going to be worn in winter, I am not quite that insane (yet).

The other point to note, is the reason why something is unworn. It could be because it is something that is occasion wear, like a party dress, or a suit jacket. It could also be because I may not need to wear it all the time, such as a slip/petticoat. Or perhaps it is just a bit too small. Finally it might just not be loved enough to be my first choice when getting dressed.

Worn regularly Vs Mostly unworn

I can tell you off the top of my head that 4/6 dresses unworn are party dresses, one other was made for a specific occasion. 2/6 skirts are petticoats/slips, and 2/6 skirts are formal attire. Both trousers are a little bit snug. The tops unworn are half formal ones, half not preferable over others. The cardis are a 50/50 split of too small and not preferable. Lastly the one coat is too small, the other is a suit jacket.

I don't know about you, but I think that having 50% of your wardrobe in regular rotation is pretty good! I may give away some of the too small/ not preferable items in my next clear out, especially if they are replaced by items more preferable.

The one burning question I have is: Is 60 items of clothing (not including pjs and undies here) a lot, or not a lot? I look in my wardrobe and think it looks pretty empty, but the number 60 sounds like a lot!

Last but not least the refashions. There are only three, all dresses. One is a grey kimono sleeved jersey dress. Shapeless. Sack like. Hippo costume. I am going to see if I can get a vest top out of this, or a very short sleeved tee. I did wear it periodically through the year but I felt a bit self conscious in it. The neckline was also too large and slipped off my shoulders all the time. I also don't like the kimono sleeves. They suck for my shape. I do not need extra shapelessness at my armpit/boob merging area! I would give it to charity but the jersey is very slinky and nice to touch so I would rather re use it.
Another one is a black ponte dress. The only RTW item of the three. I have worn it a fair bit over the past two years but it isn't the most flattering cut. So I'm going to do a quick and dirty chop and elasticate for a skirt. Which will get significantly more use, especially as it has pockets!
The final one is a gingham dress. It is super twee, with heart shaped buttons and everything. I don't dislike it, but I also don't wear it. Except one time, that is all. I will try to use the fabric to make a blouse from. Aaaand I will probably re use the buttons, so twee, so many fucks not given!


After going through all this (congrats if you didn't go into a coma before reaching the end) I now have a clear picture of what I will be sewing in the coming months. I don't think I have a problem with too many generally un preferable items, and I will be trying to replace some of the more holey items I have been hanging on to.

Anyone else have similar wardrobe maintenance? And do you find you throw out more handmade or RTW?