[HN Gopher] Tracking Everything I Wore For 1 Year
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Tracking Everything I Wore For 1 Year
        
       Author : 0x54MUR41
       Score  : 154 points
       Date   : 2022-07-02 08:18 UTC (14 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (andrenader.substack.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (andrenader.substack.com)
        
       | wcedmisten wrote:
       | This is awesome! Makes me wonder what else you could track with a
       | boatload of NFC tags like this.
       | 
       | Kitchen ingredients? Houseplant watering schedules?
       | 
       | I might have to try out a project like this.
        
         | andrenader wrote:
         | They make cheap sticker ones that I used for testing before
         | upgrading to the machine washable buttons. Combined with apple
         | shortcuts lots of interesting things you can automate.
        
           | wcedmisten wrote:
           | If you're looking to do more analysis on this data, it would
           | be cool to see a correlation matrix for different articles of
           | clothing in different categories. E.g. looking at how
           | frequently you wear certain tops/bottoms together, or
           | bottoms/shoes.
           | 
           | https://www.displayr.com/what-is-a-correlation-matrix/
           | 
           | Another example of this chart I saw recently was examining
           | compound curse words on reddit:
           | 
           | https://colinmorris.github.io/blog/compound-curse-
           | words#the-...
        
       | neogodless wrote:
       | I like the trick I learned to hang all your shirts with the
       | hanger the wrong way. Then when you wash them, hang them
       | normally.
       | 
       | Each spring, if a long-sleeve shirt is still the wrong way, it's
       | time to get rid of it. Then I hang all remaining the wrong way
       | for next fall/winter. Short sleeve get culled in late fall, with
       | the rest reversed for next spring/summer.
       | 
       | Like the author, there are a few I hang on to, for practical (or
       | sentimental) reasons. Sometimes I'll keep an disliked t-shirt
       | around because I'll probably use it for grimy yard work at some
       | point.
        
         | brk wrote:
         | That is a good system if you spend most of your time in the
         | same general area/climate.
         | 
         | I live in a warm climate and have managed to transition to
         | doing very little business travel anymore. But when I go
         | someplace where it's too cold to wear shorts and t-shirt (or
         | where I just want to wear something slightly more business
         | appropriate) I often have to pack things that I might not have
         | worn for a year or more.
        
         | IfOnlyYouKnew wrote:
         | I've sometimes had items of clothing I disliked for a decade,
         | then suddenly found extremely great.
         | 
         | But I do agree with the practice for short-sleeved shirts (not
         | t-shirts), except the time for culling is not late fall, but
         | rather, if applicable, early afternoon. Somehow it's an item
         | strictly reserved for middle-aged overweight bus drivers in my
         | neck of the woods.
        
       | yosito wrote:
       | This seems to me like a case of premature (or unnecessary)
       | optimization. If one really wants to optimize their wardrobe,
       | following a more Steve Jobs-like approach, and reducing the
       | number of garments owned is the way to go.
       | 
       | Due to my carry-on-only lifestyle I own ~ one week of warm
       | weather clothing, combined with a few warmer layers that I wear
       | in colder weather. I wear almost the same thing every week, and I
       | wear it until it's worn out, then replace it. I never own
       | anything I don't wear.
       | 
       | It's so simple, and I waste so little time and money on my
       | clothes. I _am_ fashion conscious though: the little clothing I
       | buy is usually designer or highly technical, and neutral colors
       | which can be combined in many different ways and still match.
        
         | laserlight wrote:
         | Can you expand on highly technical clothing? I don't know what
         | technologies are there in clothing, but I'm very interested in
         | trying them.
        
           | have_faith wrote:
           | Technical clothing just means materials that have a purpose
           | beyond looking good e.g. sweat/moisture wicking, light amount
           | of stretch while staying tear resistant, having better
           | ventilating material in certain places etc. It's sometimes
           | confused with urban technical streetware brands but really
           | it's any smart or casual clothes that take a lot of influence
           | from hiking gear without looking like you're going for a
           | hike.
        
         | andrenader wrote:
         | I love unnecessary optimization! This was a fun little project.
         | My end goal of to be more like you. I had just lost a lot of
         | weight and before buying the few higher quality items I wanted
         | to be more informed about which ones I personally would get the
         | most value from.
        
       | philips wrote:
       | Amazing that there are just off the shelf nfc tags shaped like
       | clothing buttons.
        
         | capableweb wrote:
         | Yeah, and for $0.28 apiece as well, so getting 500 of those for
         | just $140. I'm starting to want to glue one of those to
         | everything I own now, which is less than 500 items.
        
         | loonster wrote:
         | It makes me wonder how many of my clothes already have an nfc
         | tag permanently attached, but I don't know because I never
         | checked.
        
         | curiousgal wrote:
         | Wouldn't they trigger the detectors at stores?
        
           | Etheryte wrote:
           | You mean the security gates? Those don't use NFC, at least
           | I've never seen one that does. EAS systems are old technology
           | and that also means they're usually dirt cheap. Perhaps there
           | would be some niche use for NFC, but I can't think of one.
        
       | daedlanth wrote:
       | yay
        
       | heavyset_go wrote:
       | This is something Patrick Bateman would do if American Psycho was
       | set in 2022.
        
       | coip wrote:
       | This is awesome, well done!
        
       | at_a_remove wrote:
       | I am fortunate in that I have a uniform budget from my job and
       | unfortunate in that nice clothes are really a case of "polishing
       | a turd" due to my unattractiveness, so I just coast by on what my
       | job provides.
        
       | thanatos519 wrote:
       | Wow, that's a lot of clothes! I wear like 10
       | [t-shirts,socks,underwear] and 2 pairs of [pants,shorts,footwear]
       | and replace them at the thrift shop (except underwear and
       | footwear) when they wear out. Counting jackets and hats and
       | sportswear and more-formal-wear (i.e. shirts with buttons and
       | collars) it can't all be worth $500.
        
         | bstpierre wrote:
         | I had the same reaction, though for me I have a bunch more
         | tshirts, most of which I didn't pay for. I just keep two piles
         | of shirts on my shelf. In the morning I take the top shirt off
         | the "active" pile. Clean shirts from the laundry go on top of
         | the other pile. When they wear out they go into the garage as
         | rags.
         | 
         | Side note, I think cost per wear should factor in laundry
         | costs. I suppose you could consider that just part of overhead
         | if everything is just wash & wear, but it would come into play
         | if you had anything that needed special treatment (suits to dry
         | cleaners or something).
        
         | Jaruzel wrote:
         | I live in the following:                 - 2 pairs of jeans, on
         | rotate       - About 20 t-shirts       - 20-ish sets of
         | underwear + socks       - About 3-4 sweaters/jumpers/hoodies
         | - 1 pair of boots       - 1 pair of worn out trainers
         | 
         | That's basically it. Some of my t-shirts are over 15 years old,
         | in fact 99% of what I wear is over 3 years old. Spending over
         | $500 in a year on clothing is totally alien to me!
         | 
         | Einstein had it right:
         | 
         |  _" Albert Einstein reportedly bought several variations of the
         | same grey suit so that he wouldn't have to waste time deciding
         | what to wear each morning."_
         | 
         | The only clothing I actually care about are my t-shirts. They
         | all have graphic prints on them depicting things I care about.
         | Mostly Films or Metal Bands.
         | 
         | Oddly, the worn-out trainers I wear I bought new on eBay
         | several years ago, and it was only some time later that I
         | realised they were limited edition Nike Cortezs that have since
         | sky rocketed in price (for new-in-box) and now cost PS500+ . I
         | bought them because I liked the colour, and have practically
         | worn them to death. Trainer/sneaker collectors must hate me
         | now.
        
           | hhmc wrote:
           | > Spending over $500 in a year on clothing is totally alien
           | to me!
           | 
           | If you care about ethical production it's difficult to spend
           | less.
           | 
           | > "Albert Einstein reportedly bought several variations of
           | the same grey suit so that he wouldn't have to waste time
           | deciding what to wear each morning."
           | 
           | This sounds incredibly joyless -- the aesthetic equivalent of
           | eating huel for every meal.
        
             | ggktk wrote:
             | I prefer to find my joy in things that are not food or
             | clothes.
        
               | hhmc wrote:
               | Yes, HN does seem to skew heavily towards a sort of
               | performative rejection of simple pleasures.
               | 
               | Personally I don't think it's zero sum, enjoying your
               | meals won't make your immaterial pursuits less worthy,
               | for example.
        
             | causality0 wrote:
             | _This sounds incredibly joyless -- the aesthetic equivalent
             | of eating huel for every meal._
             | 
             | That depends on how you derive joy from it. My wardrobe is
             | fully interchangeable and I generally pick what I wear at
             | random. It's all carefully selected to be a reflection of
             | my personal taste. Having a personal uniform makes me quite
             | happy.
        
             | lotsofpulp wrote:
             | > This sounds incredibly joyless -- the aesthetic
             | equivalent of eating huel for every meal.
             | 
             | Joyless for some, bliss for others.
        
             | AnxietyJello wrote:
             | I think that's fair approach to something you don't care
             | too much about, like your clothes for example. Sounds like
             | he just wanted to look presentable. I think it only becomes
             | a problem if it's a pattern that you apply to multiple
             | things in your life.
        
             | naniwaduni wrote:
             | > If you care about ethical production it's difficult to
             | spend less.
             | 
             | Is it a requirement of ethical production that clothes
             | don't last and must be regularly replaced??
        
               | hhmc wrote:
               | Clearly not, that's such an uncharitable read of what I'm
               | saying that it doesn't feel worth responding to.
        
               | naniwaduni wrote:
               | I'm not sure what you're trying to write that implies
               | that ethical clothing production requires $500 annual
               | clothing spend, then.
        
               | yakak wrote:
               | It is highly ethical to buy used clothes, wear them for
               | multiple years and then return them to the flow as the OP
               | suggested. It is morally dubious to fund greenification
               | projects that pretend there is environmentally friendly
               | cotton that is very expensive, etc.
        
           | davidro80 wrote:
           | While I respect your frugality, I will respectfully ponder...
           | are you dressing fashionably? Not trying to be a wanker but
           | as I've gotten older I have become more enlightened to...
           | dressing for effect.
        
             | Jaruzel wrote:
             | Of course I don't dress 'fashionably'. I'm middle aged. My
             | 'fashion' is my personal style - I like it, and stick with
             | it.
             | 
             | The fashion industry exists to sell more clothes, and I
             | won't be part of it.
        
           | phasersout wrote:
           | I always own a fortnight's worth of underpants so I can go on
           | a two week vacation without having to worry about laundry...
        
         | oxplot wrote:
         | I'll join the minimalists here. For the past decade, I've only
         | had about 6 shirts, two pair of denim pants, one pair of boots,
         | 4 pairs of socks, a rain coat and a jacket. I go through one
         | pants every 2 years (as it gets riddled with holes I can't
         | patch up anymore). Most but a few are black and made out of
         | wool. Having worn wool clothing, it's hard to go back to
         | cotton, linen or synthetic. Not only wool dries super fast and
         | regulates body temperature better, it doesn't get smelly as
         | fast as the other fabrics. Black color hides hard to remove
         | stains that otherwise would require harsh chemicals to get rid
         | of, reducing the fabric's life.
         | 
         | The main reason for living this way is not to have to spend
         | brain cycles deciding what to wear every day.
        
         | blfr wrote:
         | _Wow, that 's a lot of clothes!_
         | 
         | Funny, I looked at his $3,907.65 total estimate and though that
         | it's quite low for an adult.
         | 
         | Consider though that OP used retail prices, not thrift shop.
        
           | ghaff wrote:
           | Even leaving out a lot of expensive business/formal clothing
           | --which is less common in most circles these days--specialty
           | outdoor activities clothing and footwear adds up in a hurry,
           | especially if you do stuff in cold/snowy winters. It wouldn't
           | surprise me if my winter outdoor gear added up to that by
           | itself. I admittedly have way too much old clothing I rarely
           | wear (and even more that I really wouldn't miss) but I'm sure
           | my inventory is still way more than that.
        
         | chrismeller wrote:
         | I found "more-formal-wear" to include "shirts with buttons" to
         | be quite funny. Just think, you could class up your entire
         | wardrobe by sewing NFC buttons to random shirts that don't need
         | them...
        
       | mwint wrote:
       | A tip: You can buy decent, unbranded t-shirts from places like
       | [0] for low single digit dollars. I finally got tired of every
       | shirt being subtly different, remembering which ones fit which
       | way, and just bought 15 t-shirts. Same model number, same size,
       | assortment of colors.
       | 
       | There's a weird thrill I get in the morning knowing that this is
       | one less decision.
       | 
       | [0]: https://www.t-shirtwholesaler.com/
        
         | neodymiumphish wrote:
         | The cartoon characters have been doing it right for decades!
        
         | Saint_Genet wrote:
         | Whenever I buy cheap clothes I end up regretting it. A quality
         | t-shirt will not only last 3 times as long as a cheap one,
         | it'll actually look good during its lifespan
        
         | id wrote:
         | The shirts might be under $3, but I wonder what is the human
         | cost?
        
           | mwint wrote:
           | The same as the shirts you'd buy at a normal box chain,
           | probably.
        
         | AH4oFVbPT4f8 wrote:
         | I've done this but from jiffyshirts.com. I usually would
         | purchase the Gildan brand but they would end up shrinking
         | overtime. Which is better, 3 shirts at $3 that shrink overtime
         | or 1 shirt at $15 ?
         | 
         | I think the key is to find something that is not 100% cotton
         | but rather 50% cotton/50% polyester. Looking at the material
         | difference between the shirts I've purchased, the Gildan
         | heather colors are 50/50 where as the the other colors are
         | either 100% cotton or 90/10. By comparison, the Dickies
         | heavyweight and Carhartt heavyweight are 50/50 and 60/40
         | material.
        
           | mwint wrote:
           | How much time are we talking about? I'm maybe 9 months into
           | my batch of Gildan shirts, and haven't noticed anything yet.
        
             | AH4oFVbPT4f8 wrote:
             | Depends on the material. 100% cotton lasts weeks to months
             | before it shrinks. The blended material shirts tend to last
             | longer in my experience.
        
       | VLM wrote:
       | The most interesting observation I made was color. Everything
       | worn was gray or darkest blue at the flashiest. I was surprised
       | to see no analysis of color. It would be interesting to quantify
       | if the author's "bottom half" was generally 5% darker than the
       | author's "top half" or maybe the opposite or maybe it averages
       | out exactly the same.
       | 
       | I live in a 4-season state and I would be pretty interested to
       | see if I, or people in general in my area, vary their average
       | clothing color by the season. I would theorize the people get
       | tanned in the summer, intentionally or not, varying by race quite
       | a bit of course, and that skin tone change would influence
       | average clothing color selections. Another theory is I notice I
       | wear slightly warmer-brighter clothes in the winter, in an
       | opposition to winter's dreariness, I almost feel compelled to
       | wear a bright Hawaiian shirt if its snowing. A third theory is
       | people would wear lighter colors around the peak of summer to
       | limit solar heating. A fourth theory I have is summer heat seems
       | most comfy in clothing that's tighter or looser than average for
       | cooling reasons and middle of the road size would the minimum of
       | comfort in the heat, whereas in the winter middle of the road
       | tightness would seem the best balance of warmth and comfort.
       | These theories could all be wrong, or right, of course.
       | 
       | A completely different side issue is over the years I accumulate
       | more self-created uniforms and I wonder if that would show up in
       | the data. I have a uniform of grungy old clothes resembling the
       | color of used motor oil for changing oil or similar greasy repair
       | jobs. I have exactly one set of grungy clothes I wear when I
       | paint that are all stained up so I don't care if I stain them
       | worse. I have exactly one set of clothes for lawnmowing/yardwork,
       | the specific type of synthetic seems to clean up well from tree
       | sap and the shoes are a grass-stained lost cause. I have a set of
       | clothes specifically for shoveling/snowblowing that "tech" stuff
       | that dries quickly because sweating and cold equals hypothermia,
       | or at least extreme discomfort. Most people already have that set
       | of clothes they wear to the gym or other exercise, of course.
        
         | andrenader wrote:
         | Thanks for reading! I do need a little more color in my life.
         | The one key observation I made was:
         | 
         | "Was fascinating to see how color played a big part in wear
         | rates as well. My theory here is simply that my household
         | doesn't own enough white clothing items so the "white load" of
         | laundry is bi-weekly vs weekly for everything else."
        
       | exceptione wrote:
       | This is peak HN; I am enjoying it. People boasting about how ones
       | garderobe is more shitty and cheaper than the others. Next topic:
       | why does no one wants to date me?
       | 
       | Clothing is not only functional, it can also help your
       | appearance. Looking good does wonders for your mood. Sex appeal
       | and all that. Unfortunately, aesthetics is positively correlated
       | with price. I wish it wasn't true. I can easily spot your outfit
       | was cheaply made. I am talking about casual wear.
       | 
       | Premium labels really go the extra mile. Fast, cheap fashion cuts
       | lots of corners.
        
         | iamacyborg wrote:
         | > Premium labels really go the extra mile.
         | 
         | Depends on the label, you generally have to go really premium
         | to genuinely get something either well made or particularly
         | interesting.
        
         | wooque wrote:
         | I dress like shit and I have gf. I will go out on a limb and
         | say that it even helped my dating (by weeding out undesirable
         | partners).
        
         | Kiro wrote:
         | Tired of this lifestyle and self-improvement nonsense on a
         | forum called Hacker News. Real hackers sit with a big Unix
         | beard in a dark basement filled with old pizza boxes and empty
         | Jolt Cola cans. The only time you should even meet another
         | person is on a demo party.
        
         | NicoJuicy wrote:
         | Looking good can make an impression that you don't want.
        
         | gernb wrote:
         | > Premium labels really go the extra mile. Fast, cheap fashion
         | cuts lots of corners.
         | 
         | I don't disagree that there's good fashion and shoddy fashion
         | but I disagree "premium labels" is how to find good fashion.
         | For me, And I know I'm in the minority here, I find any fashion
         | that shows the branding to be horrible. A plain t-shirt that
         | says nothing vs plain t-shirt with a tiny "Boss", "LV",
         | "Gucci", "Prada" branding on it for 5x to 10x the cost really
         | says "I hoping you'll like my because I'm wearing expensive
         | clothing". It does not say "I have good fashion sense".
         | 
         | Taken to an extreme you get people covered in labels. This is
         | not "good fashion"
         | 
         | https://img.5milesapp.com/image/upload/f_auto,t_i800/v150598...
         | 
         | But it is "premium labels"
         | 
         | I certainly agree that dressing well (different definitions of
         | well) generally has positive outcomes. Much of my family is
         | fine wearing dirty old soiled t-shirts with holes in them and
         | it bugs me. Especially when I want to take them somewhere and
         | they're clearly out of place in those clothes relative to the
         | rest of the people around. At the same time they're all doing
         | fine and no care.
        
         | ollifi wrote:
         | I dapple in the clothes industry and sometimes it feels like
         | people get really turned off if their clothes are not made by
         | literal slaves. Not all expensive brands are ethical but the
         | few dollar t-shirts etc are never. Drift it or pay for the real
         | costs involved. If we don't fix the idea about what basic
         | necessities like clothes should cost the planet and people
         | living on it are toast.
        
           | treis wrote:
           | The problem with this is that there's not necessarily a
           | relationship between price paid and lack of slave labor. At
           | least, you can't guarantee non slave labor by paying more.
        
         | comboy wrote:
         | > aesthetics is positively correlated with price. I wish it
         | wasn't true.
         | 
         | I guess it depends on the taste. I would say the opposite is
         | true (perhaps excluding the most cheap things you can find, but
         | not necessarily).
         | 
         | Of course more expensive stuff will likely last longer and in
         | many cases will be more practical.
        
         | puppymaster wrote:
         | Diminishing returns after a certain price threshold but true
         | still.
        
         | teh_klev wrote:
         | > Next topic: why does no one wants to date me?
         | 
         | > Sex appeal and all that
         | 
         | That's just nonsense. My wardrobe value has never exceeded
         | ~GBP250. I buy new clothing probably once every 2-3 years and
         | even then the average spend is around GBP40-60, usually when
         | stuff has completely worn out. I've only owned one or two items
         | of clothing that had a "label" and they were from TKMax.
         | 
         | As a bloke, despite cheaping out on my sartorial choices I've
         | never had a problem with dates/sex/relationships. It's all
         | about personality, not being a dick and maintaining some
         | semblance of basic personal hygiene.
        
           | [deleted]
        
           | lament76 wrote:
           | It's mainly about being in a social group that facilitates
           | romantic relationships and marriage, and/or putting personal
           | effort into dating. People with no hygiene mate a lot.
        
         | laserlight wrote:
         | > Looking good does wonders for your mood.
         | 
         | For _your_ mood perhaps. I find "good looking" clothing
         | uncomfortable, which makes me feel like shit.
        
           | hardwaregeek wrote:
           | What exactly do you find uncomfortable about them? Genuinely
           | asking. Good looking clothes isn't necessarily a button up
           | and slacks. You can look great in sweatpants and a t shirt.
           | It's more about fit, color and general aesthetic.
        
             | laserlight wrote:
             | I agree. That's why I put scare quotes around good looking.
             | Sweatpants and a t-shirt are not stereotypically considered
             | good looking. Button up and slacks do.
        
           | NikolaNovak wrote:
           | That's interesting; care to elaborate, out of genuine
           | curiosity?
           | 
           | I don't care about fashion, even a little bit. I don't agree
           | with grand-parent post that you need fancy clothes to attract
           | a mate. I'm happy to buy 5 copies of exact same thing that
           | fits me. But in terms of sheer physical comfort, I'm
           | endlessly perplexed by casual fridays and even more so by
           | e.g. people who change out of business casual clothes and
           | into jeans the millisecond they're home (which is basically
           | everyone I know, so I admit I'm clearly the exception:)
           | 
           | A tall lanky male, I find basic business-casual pants the
           | most light weight, practical, not-in-my-way comfortable, well
           | breathing, perfect temperature pants. Jeans are way too
           | constraining and hard and inflexible! In 90% of the weather
           | they put too much heat and pressure on my nether regions. In
           | both cut and material, they were designed to be hard-wearing,
           | not comfortable, so I assume it's psychology that has people
           | prefer them. And most sweat pants don't breathe as well as my
           | lightweight casual business dress pants either, and don't fit
           | me around hips/waist - they either fall off, or are too
           | tight.
           | 
           | The business-casual pants are "inappropriate" to wear at
           | home, so I don't, but I put them on anytime we really go
           | anywhere. People make fun that I'm "way over dressed", and
           | fair enough, but for the life of me I don't understand what
           | is "uncomfortable" about lightweight business casual pants
           | and loose, not-tucked-in polo shirt.
           | 
           | (not to mention that "looking good" is not necessarily a
           | button down shirt and dress pants to begin with, but that's
           | another relevant conversation:)
        
             | exceptione wrote:
             | To be sure, I didn't mean one needs a suit or dress pants.
             | I don't like them even, but I can imagine you like the
             | weight if that is important for you. The downside is that
             | they are more prone to wear then denim.
             | 
             | Personally I prefer some good premium jeans. Nudie and
             | g-star are excellent choices. If you are in your twenties,
             | definitely combine it with a button down shirt or a good
             | hoodie. I didn't mean people should show up in a suit, on
             | the contrary. But, as a general comment to the other
             | commentators, if you buy your jeans for 20 euro and your
             | t-shirt for 5 euro at your convenience store, I bet you are
             | not going to look well like you could. At least in The
             | Netherlands, in my experience, it is hard to get a sweater
             | for 50 euro with a premium look, at least outside of the
             | sale cycle. Shopping during sale might help to get the
             | better stuff.
        
           | owlninja wrote:
           | It is really more about fit and quality of materials (to a
           | certain price point).
        
             | laserlight wrote:
             | In my experience, highest quality and best fitting button
             | down shirt is a comfort nightmare compared to a good
             | fitting t-shirt. Same for dress shoes vs casual wear shoes.
        
               | adamisom wrote:
               | I recently bought two linen shirts for the first time and
               | they're heaven in both looks and feel.
        
         | walrus01 wrote:
         | > This is peak HN; I am enjoying it. People boasting about how
         | ones garderobe is more shitty and cheaper than the others. Next
         | topic: why does no one wants to date me?
         | 
         | > Clothing is not only functional, it can also help your
         | appearance. Looking good does wonders for your mood. Sex appeal
         | and all that.
         | 
         | I would bet good money this was written by a straight man, but
         | have you ever considered there's also butch lesbians working in
         | blue collar jobs that have wardrobes which are primarily
         | composed of functional, rugged clothing, often in dark colors
         | that don't meet your requirement of getting dates and having
         | sex appeal?
         | 
         | not just one segment of society (straight cis male HN reading
         | six figure job guys who don't put effort into dressing
         | themselves) wears something other than what your societal
         | expecations think they should to not be "shitty" and "cheap".
         | 
         | your comment itself is peak HN...
        
           | haalia wrote:
           | I don't associate functional, rugged workwear with "shitty
           | and cheap" myself. Having gone through a workwear phase, I
           | know exactly how expensive quality functional clothing can
           | be.
        
         | rmk wrote:
         | Fast fashion is also very harsh on the environment. There is a
         | lot of waste in fast fashion. Much better to buy a smaller
         | number of well-made articles of clothing and take care of them.
         | If you have clothing tailored to fit you well, you will look
         | and feel like a million bucks. It doesn't hurt that you may
         | also become more attractive to the opposite sex. It's the same
         | with personal hygiene and good grooming: it is first and
         | foremost an aid to better health, both physical and mental, and
         | second, a simple way of conveying to the outside world that you
         | are a dependable, social and happy person. However, based on my
         | observations of men, particularly younger men, in software, I
         | have to say they are very poor at taking good care of
         | themselves, physically or mentally, despite a lot of talk about
         | mental health.
         | 
         | Most of the folks in tech, and commenting on this article are
         | likely men in their twenties, and men in that age group do not
         | care very much about their outfits. They also do not have good
         | grooming habits, probably because no one thought to drill it
         | into them at a young age. I have also noticed that if a person
         | in engineering dresses well, he begins to stand out and attract
         | negative attention and comments from his peers, which can
         | discourage even tentative attempts at improving himself in this
         | department (most men in the engineering side of this profession
         | are somewhat shy and reserved to begin with).
        
       | andrenader wrote:
       | Hey HN, this is my original content. Happy to answer any
       | questions. Turned out to be a fun little project.
        
         | martinsmit wrote:
         | Hey, thanks for the writeup, I thought this was very
         | interesting. Were there any items that surprised you in how
         | long or short they hold up for?
        
           | andrenader wrote:
           | Since I only talked for a year I didn't get into the full
           | life of items. Some of my clothes I've owned for 10 years
           | too!
           | 
           | One good realization was recognizing the type of items I
           | would immediately come to wherever they were clean. As well
           | as the awesome potentially low cost per wear of items that
           | can be worn multiple times per week (obvious in retrospect
           | but nice to know that spending a little more for quality on
           | shoes, pants, and jackets can be worth it).
        
       | JoeAltmaier wrote:
       | Can't relate. No Ren-Fair costumes? No gardening boots, gloves or
       | shirts? What about hiking clothes?
       | 
       | I own about 4 mundane shirts, 3 pairs of pants. That's it. Not
       | much to track for me.
        
         | chrismeller wrote:
         | Sometimes I wonder if people notice that I wear the same 4-5
         | shirts over and over every week. All of my long sleeve shirts
         | were bought I think from Sears back before their fall, so my
         | cost-per-wear has to be astronomically low by now.
        
           | deebosong wrote:
           | I was dating this one person who works in fashion. All my
           | clothes are neutral basics, so I can just wear whatever on
           | any given day and look similar but vaguely different. Said
           | person picked up on my entire wardrobe once noticing I
           | started recycling items, probably on date 6 or 7, and let me
           | know hahah.
           | 
           | I guess some people have a knack for detail about such
           | things.
        
           | SapporoChris wrote:
           | I was wondering about my costs too, but since I didn't
           | obsessively track how many times I wear a single item a more
           | simple analysis is annual cost divided by the year. $150
           | spent annually on shoes. $150/365 = $0.41 daily.
           | 
           | Guesstimating your costs: 5 shirts $20 to $40 each (guessing
           | Sears costs) $100 to $200 annual cost or $0.27 to $0.55 daily
           | costs for shirts.
        
           | bowsamic wrote:
           | Anyone who is bothered by that is not someone you should care
           | about
        
             | WHA8m wrote:
             | 'noticing something' is neutral. 'bothered' is indeed not
             | the way.
        
               | bowsamic wrote:
               | If someone notices it in a neutral way then why does it
               | matter? I've noticed colleagues wearing the same t Shirt
               | repeatedly and not put any more thought to it
        
               | WHA8m wrote:
               | it doesn't. that's the point. the comment I was replying
               | to was down-voted and I suspected people misread exactly
               | that.
        
           | lab14 wrote:
           | Unless clothes are dirty or you smell bad, people really
           | don't care about your clothes, you're not the center of the
           | world.
        
             | FullStackAda wrote:
             | Agree when we are talking about random people on the
             | streets and fleeting encounters. But, for example, I would
             | not go to an interview in sweatpants and flip-flops. There
             | are also social situations where I expect my counterparts
             | to be dressed with more care. It is not necessarily the
             | right way to treat people but I've witnessed several times
             | someone being judged in professional situations for very
             | wrinkled, old threadbare t-shirts, as an example.
             | 
             | Mine is a European perspective.
        
               | shadowofneptune wrote:
               | This is absolutely true. Even then, if you only need it
               | for those occasions then that takes up a very small part
               | of the wardrobe. A single outfit of formal wear and a
               | small selection of normal wear is what my closet looks
               | like, would imagine most people in the world have
               | wardrobes like that due to the expense of clothing. I do
               | like wearing it when I have the chance, though.
        
       | petecooper wrote:
       | For anyone in the UK, I swear by my army desert socks. Very
       | comfy, very hard-wearing, very tolerant to any kind of laundry
       | cycle. eBay is a good place to start:
       | 
       | https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=army+desert+socks
        
       | peanut_worm wrote:
       | If I saw the cost per wear on some of my shoes I think i'd lock
       | my credit card in a safe.
        
       | DeltaCoast wrote:
       | Thanks for sharing! I think it's pretty interesting to look at
       | cost per wear. Wish I could get the same insights from my
       | wardrobe without all of the effort.
        
       | simonebrunozzi wrote:
       | A fashion brand could take inspiration from this, and offer a
       | clothes-as-a-service.
        
         | altdataseller wrote:
         | Stitch Fix offers that
        
           | ghaff wrote:
           | That seems to be picking out clothes for you to buy?
           | 
           | Rental expensive formal clothes for special occasions is
           | obviously a thing. But as with many other things, the
           | overhead of renting stuff for day to day use just doesn't
           | work for most cases.
        
             | maccard wrote:
             | It is. Other sites do exist for renting clothing like hurr
             | and by rotation.
        
         | rmk wrote:
         | I think there's something called Rent the Runway that offers
         | this, for women. Then there's Stitch Fix, which is basically a
         | kinda-sorta personal shopper who will pick things out for you
         | (but within a very restricted set of vendors and price points).
        
       | grepfru_it wrote:
       | LOL this is awesome! I ran choosemyboxers.com in college back in
       | 2001 and had people rate and pick my underwear. I told all my
       | friends and no one found it interesting because my boxers were
       | "lame". One month it randomly blew up and I got enough ad revenue
       | to replace my entire boxer collection. However it never went
       | anywhere so I let it stagnate and eventually the shell I was
       | hosting it on moved on to new ventures
        
       | TedDoesntTalk wrote:
       | It looks like he wore about 64 unique items in a year. Excluding
       | two pairs of shoes. That seems like a lot?
        
         | ghaff wrote:
         | It's been less the last couple of years because of limited
         | travel and business gathering but counting outdoor activity
         | gear--not really.
        
       | casion wrote:
       | > Current Wardrobe Value: $3,907.65
       | 
       | I don't have any friends (and I'm happy with this), so I have no
       | reference: do people normally really spend this much on
       | clothing!?
       | 
       | My entire wardrobe is worth around $150, and that's 70% socks.
        
         | vasco wrote:
         | Amount of money spent on clothes probably correlates strongly
         | to number of social events, no friends probably means you just
         | care about warm feet.
        
           | casion wrote:
           | That's understandable, however is near this value usual for
           | people who are frequently social with overlapping attendees?
        
             | sushid wrote:
             | I mean a decent pair of pants is at least $100 and a shirt
             | is $15-20. Throw in a few shoes and jackets and $4k is very
             | reasonable, depending on the weather.
        
         | iamacyborg wrote:
         | I probably have more than that in shoes alone.
        
         | andrenader wrote:
         | OP here. The value here is really the price it was when new.
         | Most of the clothes was purchased over the past 10+ years. I
         | didn't buy any new clothes the year prior to this project at
         | all. I spent more in clothes during the project than I had in
         | the prior few years. But I also had lost nearly 50 pounds and
         | my old clothes wasn't really fitting.
        
           | casion wrote:
           | I want to make it clear that I'm not criticizing, but
           | genuinely curious. I don't care if people spend their money
           | on clothing. More power to anyone who does and derives joy
           | from it.
           | 
           | Thank you for more clarification, but I'm still curious if
           | you feel this is about average for your social circle or
           | area?
        
             | PuppyTailWags wrote:
             | IMO it would be pretty normal for a collection of clothing
             | over 10+ years for someone with a pretty robust social
             | life. I immediately am thinking of weddings, formal events,
             | party events, family events, exercising, dates (both formal
             | and informal), interviews, and work (I assume this person
             | may have worked in workplaces of various formality).
        
         | rmk wrote:
         | Let me get this straight: You own $150 worth of clothes, and
         | $105 of it comprises socks (I'm gonna go out on a limb and
         | guess that they are the white, crew kind?). With $45 worth of
         | 'clothes', I'm assuming you have boxers and such, which
         | probably take up another $30. Do you even wear anything other
         | than boxer, undershirt, and socks? I mean, unless your comment
         | is pure hyperbole, I am having a difficult time visualizing
         | your wardrobe! In fact, no matter the distribution, I am still
         | having a hard time understanding how you make do with a $150
         | wardrobe. Do you wash your entire wardrobe literally every day?
         | If so, does it last longer than a year?
        
         | jaqalopes wrote:
         | Judging by the name of the blog (FAANG FIRE) I suspect this
         | person is plenty well compensated in some sort of prestigious
         | tech job, and if that's the case, then this number doesn't
         | surprise me at all. There are lots of trendy athleisure and
         | technical wear companies that will sell you the equivalent of a
         | sweatshirt for $80, that can add up quick.
        
         | spaetzleesser wrote:
         | "My entire wardrobe is worth around $150, and that's 70%
         | socks."
         | 
         | that doesn't seem possible. If you get a pair of pants, a shirt
         | and shoes it's very likely you are already above $150. Never
         | mind jackets, underwear and other stuff.
        
           | rufus_foreman wrote:
           | >> If you get a pair of pants, a shirt and shoes it's very
           | likely you are already above $150
           | 
           | That's like $10 at a thrift shop or garage sale. Used to live
           | like that back when I was poor. Now that I'm rich I wear a
           | white T-shirt and sweatpants 99.9% of the time since I have
           | barely left the house in the last 2 and a half years.
        
           | casion wrote:
           | I get my clothing secondhand/cheap. I suppose we can
           | differentiate "worth" and "paid for", but even the clothing I
           | have is mid-level/cheap brands (except socks).
           | 
           | - $105 - 5 pairs of socks (purchased because of lifetime
           | warranty and comfort)
           | 
           | - $15 - 5 boxers, purchased new
           | 
           | - $8 - 7 shirts (new on ebay)
           | 
           | - $10 - 1 pair of shoes (very lucky to find these in my
           | size!)
           | 
           | - $5 - 2 pairs of shorts
           | 
           | - $5 - 2 pairs of pants
           | 
           | I do laundry about every 3-5 days.
        
             | quickthrowman wrote:
             | At least you put your money where it matters most: socks! I
             | wear the same kind of socks and they're definitely worth
             | the ~$20/pair.
        
         | FullStackAda wrote:
         | If there is a proper winter where someone lives, $150 would
         | barely be enough for a proper winter jacket, no shoes.
        
         | indentit wrote:
         | In my experience, socks are pretty expensive (at least here in
         | Lithuania) and wear out pretty fast, so for me its reasonable
         | to spend most of the clothing budget on socks...
        
         | prvit wrote:
         | I have many individual pieces of clothing worth more than that.
         | Nice cashmere is expensive, but soooo soft.
         | 
         | A basic sweater from Loro Piana can easily run a few k, but is
         | absolutely worth the price.
         | 
         | Sky is the limit when it comes to outerwear, I've paid around
         | $15k for a nice fur-lined coat. Worth it? Depends on the
         | weather, sometimes I have doubts, but then the winter comes.
        
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