Anonymous wrote:I have never been able to tell looking at the people in my life, who is wearing a 10k a year wardrobe and who is wearing 1k a year... and I know how to sew and grew up with a seamstress, so I know the differences between quality fabrics, well-made clothes, etc. The only things I recognize are gaudy expensive handbags because they have logos all over them.

This is just naive. Seriously you can't tell the difference between a quality wool suit and a polyester one? Or between unlined pants and lined pants? As for the handbags most nice leather bags look it vs. pleather or worn totes or those dump Longchamp totes that are so popular.

I have never been able to tell looking at the people in my life, who is wearing a 10k a year wardrobe and who is wearing 1k a year... and I know how to sew and grew up with a seamstress, so I know the differences between quality fabrics, well-made clothes, etc. The only things I recognize are gaudy expensive handbags because they have logos all over them.

Anonymous wrote:Also if you wear medium can you hand down all "last years" clothes to me?

Love it!

I'm not at $10K but easily could be. I don't necessarily spend all that every year, but some of that has to do with how much time I have to deal with it.

No, I don't throw out everything in my closet every year. I add in the new things and get rid of some of the old things. For some reason I have the world's worst luck with lined pants. The ones I wear to work seem to rip after three or four years. EVen though you can't see it from the outside, wearing pants with a ripped up lining gets old after a while. (I have allergies to certain fabrics so going unlined isn't an option for me).

I usually have very limited time to shop, so I do use a personal shopper who knows exactly what I need and my various quirks (like the allergies). I tend to buy everything fro the same handful of designers, but also soemtimes stop by Bloomingdales to get a few extra things. I also replace my shoes when needed, but typically order thos eonline from a department store.

Most of my clothes are focused on work and dressier events. This is part of what drives the cost. In the lines I wear pants can run $200-300 and jackets can run $400-500. Skirts seem to run about the same as pants. Shirts run between $100 and $250. I do not have many polished casual clothes, which is what I hope to work on next.

In my line of work, I am expected to look pulled together and polished. The common theme I have noticed in my industry for women and "business casual" is that you are also supposed to look rich, which drives you to a certain level of clothes and accessories. What I consider slumming it for my office is something DH says would be considered fine or even nice for his, so where you work has a lot to do with it, too.

DH does not spend as much, but he gets a new custom suit ot two every couple of years and has his dress shirts made as well. I spend probably $2K per year per kid on clothes, and another $500 on shoes per kid. Some years I do better and some years worse. It depends how much time I have to shop around.

I probably spend about $3000 a year on myself. I bargain shop and only buy things on sale, btu I shop frequently and enjoy buying new things. But, I almost never get rid of things so my closet is swelling and swelling, and I don't have any more room. (and my style is pretty timeless, I rarely buy super trendy things, nor do I care about last year versus this year.)

I think the key is your last sentence - you could afford more, but don't see the need. I think it comes down to deciding what your style is, figuring out your basic "uniform," and filling in better pieces rather than super casual. If you want to - you can wear what you want, of course. You don't have to be more polished. But if you want to be more polished, it's gonig to take some targeted buying and a little more spent on yourself.

I probably spend 1000-2000 dollars on clothes per year. Some of it is stuff that gets worn out easily, like bras, tights, etc. Usually I spend maybe 150 every few months on a sale at Jcrew or Boden or Loft or something. But I also bought 2 new coats this year(on sale!) because the down in my old coat was falling out and I needed a better middle coat. I started a new job recently and bought a couple of suits on sale because I'll have to wear suits.

I don't spend $10K but I EASILY could.

I don't spend $10k, but I do spend significantly more than you. I recently had to do a budget and was surprised at what I spend. I spend just over $1k a year for my five year old and closer to $1,500 for each of my boys - 11 and 14. For me, I spend like $800 a year on pantyhose alone and I typically buy maybe $1k in clothes and shoes for fun because I love clothes. I only buy my kids good clothes if we have an event and I make my older kids wear jeans twice before washing them. But, when you add in things like coats, shoes, swimsuits, and accessories, the costs climb.

I'm a good shopper but could never keep your budget. Heck, a pair of shoes for my 14 year old is $70 on a good day and I'll be lucky if I find him a winter coat on sale for $100. Given that my kids are still growing, their wardrobes turn over each season. It's much easier to spend little money when your kids are small and when you work business casual. Also, if you can get hand me downs, that helps too, but that ended for me when the kids hit about five.

OP, here. Thanks for sharing ladies. Unfortunately, I don't have much reason to dress up. Work is business casual, as would be any event we attend. Maybe I'll look into a personal shopper - not so I can spend $10k, but so I can look a bit more... polished? On top of my lack of $10k to spend, I don't think I'm very good with fashion, which probably doesn't help.

I'd love to hear from more of you.

I spend about that some years. Dress pants and suits can be a few hundred a piece. Designer handbags and shoes are hundreds if not thousands. It really isn't a surprising amount of money to spend IMO. I consign/donate things I don't want anymore, but things also get worn out/out of style/don't fit/etc.

And what do you do with the clothes you own? Do you just get rid of them? Or are there more and more clothes in your closets etc? I'm serious.

Anonymous wrote:What do you buy? This is an honest question. I don't have $10k for clothing, but if I did, I think I would have trouble figuring out what to buy. Do you wear all high end name brand? Lots of suits? Do you get entire new wardrobes each year?

Somewhat related, how much does your significant other spend? What about your kids (ages)?

In my family, I'd say we spend a couple hundred a year on the kids (2 and 4) and a couple hundred on ourselves. We are business casual, so I know this keeps the cost down. We could afford more, but I don't see the need.

Do you dress up for church? for nights out? I'm the poster who said I spend about $7,000 a year, just for me. I spent $2,550 this spring on 11 pieces of clothing (two pairs of dressy social event pants, a leather sleeveless vest, a blouse for going out, a blouse for work, 3 work dresses, a skirt/blouse/jacket combo) and 4 accessories (earrings, a belt, a bracelet).

Good suits are really pricey, as are shoes and bags. I don't spend $10K but I can easily see how someone with a higher-end job would do it. I probably spend more like $1000-2000 a year on clothing, a mix of high-end consignment and mid-level retail like Anthropologie (casual) and Banana Republic (work).

DH works in a business casual environment and seriously hasn't bought himself anything new in like ten years. Every once in a while I buy him a new pair of shoes or a few sweaters or something when I notice his look worn out. Otherwise he'd never have anything new.

Also if you wear medium can you hand down all "last years" clothes to me?

What do you buy? This is an honest question. I don't have $10k for clothing, but if I did, I think I would have trouble figuring out what to buy. Do you wear all high end name brand? Lots of suits? Do you get entire new wardrobes each year?

Somewhat related, how much does your significant other spend? What about your kids (ages)?

In my family, I'd say we spend a couple hundred a year on the kids (2 and 4) and a couple hundred on ourselves. We are business casual, so I know this keeps the cost down. We could afford more, but I don't see the need.