Nor should we conclude that if we never wash our clothes, they will last forever.

I’ve also noticed that my pants depreciate faster when I weigh more because my thighs rub together more. Also, I’m trying to get out of the habit of putting an elbow on my desk so I can prop my head up because that causes the elbows to wear faster, and surely I can hold my own head up by now anyway.

P.S. You said “$180 a month” when you meant “$180 a year.”

I love calculations like these! In my experience, it varies a LOT by the type of clothes. My jeans wear through on the thighs fairly quickly, and thin (“dressy”) t-shirts don’t last too long. Standard men’s-type t-shirts, though, seem almost immortal–I have some from 10 years ago that despite frequent washings I still wouldn’t be embarrassed to wear outside the house.

The worst depreciation clothing wise for me was having to buy maternity clothes. I could have saved some money if I was pregnant during the same seasons but I needed summer maternity clothes for one baby and winter maternity for my two others.

Yes, T-shirts last a long time. I still wear my Windows 95 T-shirt on the weekends, so you know how long that’s been hanging around in my closet! Shirts usually die at the hems on the collars or sleeves.

Denim wears well provided it fits properly. I’m a 29″ inseam (an in-between size) and when forced to wear 30″ inseam, end up with jeans that die an untimely death. Weak areas for pants are the crotch (split seam on slacks) or wearing through on the seams.

I’m hard on socks due to a bony heel. Jackets have mostly been dying at the zipper (the modern plastic zippers SUCK).

Sweaters, the normal button-up kind or the pullover kind, seem to last a long time provided they aren’t spilled on. I think it’s because the material is heavier than shirts and there’s no zipper like in most jackets.

In the jeans arena, I have noticed that you can buy jeans that are already quite tattered and ready for the rag bag, and some of these cost around $100 to $150. I imagine this promotes some kind of savings, because there is no need to do all that washing prior to their wear out.
A few years ago, I began to notice people wearing jeans with the knee areas open as if they had been torn out. This must have been done to relieve pressure on the seams of the jeans to promote longer life? I assume accepting the horrid look of torn out knees was a price paid for frugality. I buy most of my jeans at an outlet store, brands are Wrangler or Lee, and I get about 10 years wear out them before they begin to look like the $150.00 ones, above. I never pay more than $25.00 a pair.

hehe, right!
today you can just wear 50year old jeans and people think you are trendy.

it’s a fabrics and tailoring concern. a thicker jeans, a thicker cotton shirt, those things will last way longer than thin ones.
as a bonus those thick fabrics have to be stitched “stronger” as well.

Great idea bout the dates, Mo.

My work clothes seem to last 4-5 years or more, and they are usually Gap or Banana Republic (outlet store). I usually pay no more than $25 for pants and $20 for shirts. I think that’s good ROI – about 1.5 cents/day on the pants, 1 cent/day for shirts assuming 5 year life.

I notice most of my shirts usually start wearing on the collar fold (all my shirts are button down collar). I’ve started to unbutton the collar when I wash to see if that changes anything.

What timing. I was just walking thru Target today, and the ads I’ve been getting in the mail for clothes lately have been getting more appealing – must be time to update some pieces.

Many items I’ve had for a long time like most posters. Like Jacob, I have an odd size and have all my life. Since making the switch to more frugal clothing options (where applicable) I’ve found good Jeans @ Savers in San Jose (specifically aimed @ Jacob here). I also have had a good time with Jeans from Costco as well as a pair of Jeans from Express for Men that I got on sale and with my brothers discount (so cost was much lower). My favorite pair lasted for about 4 years and wore out in the knees and then met their end against my moms dogs on a camping trip (ripped up from behind). I still wear them for chores, so they still maintain a utility.

What I’ve tried to narrow down to is the Suitcase method+. I’ve mainly tried to stick to a couple dress shirts (cotton only), one white collared shirt and several leisure shirts (hawaiin I guess would be best example). Thankfully work provides me clothes for a uniform and I wore the same shirt and pants week in and week out for 2 years before finally ripping the shirt beyond repair and busting the side pockets beyond repair (multiple stitching efforts.) Work gave me 5 pairs, so theoretically I have clothes for awhile.

My current problem exists with the need for new sandals (destroyed by new dog recently), and a new pair of cargo shorts and swim trunks. Cargo shorts are nearing 10 year mark amazingly, but I’d like another.

All this requires a closet audit b4 purchases, and also to meet the suitcase challenge better.

I read this yesterday and as I was getting dressed today I realized that I have 2 pairs of dress pants from Old Navy and a suit from Target that I bought 8 years ago and have worn just about once a week every week ever since that are still going strong. In fact the Target suit gets me regular compliments. I also have a Nordstrom suit of the same vintage that cost twice as much, but it’s actually not as comfortable or stylish. And I don’t have anyplace to hang a clothesline, so that’s machine wash and tumble dry on the pants (the suits of course have to be dry cleaned, but I probably only do it once every couple months). The only caveat is that I’m not a wash-every-time-you-wear sort; they get washed when they are actually dirty which is probably 2 – 4 wears between washes. Also, amazingly, because of the cut of these clothes, I have managed to continue to wear them and look presentable through 20+ lbs of weight gain and loss.

This topic is of particular importance to me because I still work where it is necessary for me to dress up most days and wear a suit once or twice a week and I’m always looking for durable clothes that offer good value. Dress clothes often need to be dry cleaned, which makes them much more expensive, and I suck at ironing, so anything that can be thrown in the machine and looks dressy is very attractive to me. It’s strange to me that my pants would have lasted so long as most of my other Old Navy purchases have been ill advised and in the recycling (unfit for donation even) in less than a year.

This does illustrate to me that quality these days (especially in clothing but also in other things) is not predictable by price or source, and is increasingly hard to come by anywhere. Globalization means that the $3000 designer bags are probably coming off of an assembly line in China right next to the line the $20 Walmart bags are coming off of (or the same line even).

That’s why I agree with Jacob’s “buy classics” mantra in theory but find it hard to reliably practice especially in regard to clothes. Through experience you can get a little better at predicting quality. Still, traditional indicators like heavy fabric are no guarantee that the item is durable. Thin t-shirts sometimes last forever and thick t-shirts sometimes develop holes after just a couple uses.