Am I crazy? Yes.

Do I like to shop? Yes!

Do I have a lot of free time? I did, when I wrote this post!

Will I keep up with this inventory list? Probably not. Let’s see how lazy I can become, shall we?

Am I going to keep shopping even knowing all of this? Er… can I take the Fifth?

I had been planning on doing a true inventory for a while now, but I wanted to wait until I purged everything before trying to list everything.

I have owned about 30% of these pieces since high school/college years. Yes.. really.

If it still fits, and looks to be in a good condition, I’m keeping it.

It took me 2 hours, 2 full pages, 2 columns-wide, front and back to list almost, and I had to go into the columns a little bit (oops).

This is also a great exercise to make sure I have pictures of everything — I noticed I was missing quite a few pieces.

Hey it isn’t as bad as I thought!

Granted, I had purged 50% of my closet sometime in 2007-2008. I also started selling more stuff in 2011-2012.

Plus, I gave away at least 3-4 full bags of clothing and things.

After all that, I’m at the 136 mark for just clothes which… seems reasonable to me compared to shopaholics with walk-in closets. (Okay, I kid.. I kid!)

I guess I could cut it down to 100 clothing items, but that means cutting into my Dresses, which I am not really keen on.

For some reason, I was imagining my clothes to be around the 250+ mark.. so this is a bit of a relief.

What I have listed so far in the 136-item count:

• Tops = 45 — $1802
• Pants = 13 — $1010
• Skirts = 9 — $451
• Dresses = 45 — $3516
• Sweaters = 15 — $1069
• Blazers = 4 — $190
• Jackets = 5 — $2181

What these 136-items cost: $10,219!

So you want to know numbers? I had to guesstimate a few of these items, but my wardrobe comes up to around $10,219 before taxes, at retail.

With the taxes (13%) on top of that, we’re looking at $11,547.47.

Now if I were to SELL these items, I could probably get $5000 out of the resale value of what I own.

You will also have to keep in mind this doesn’t include my shoes, purses or jewellery.

What are in all the categories?

TOTAL WARDROBE RETAIL VALUE $ PIE CHART BY CATEGORY

• Percentages are based on the estimated $ cost of each category, not item count

TOTAL WARDROBE ITEM COUNT PIE CHART BY CATEGORY

• Percentages are based on the item count of each category, not $ value

Hmm you don’t say!

• Spent 34% of my money on 33% of my wardrobe — Dresses!!
• Spent 21% of my budget on 4% of my wardrobe (5 Jackets) because of a single Burberry trenchcoat
• Tops only cost 18% of my budget, but make up 33% of my wardrobe (bang for your buck category)
• Sweaters made it out to an even 11% for both item count and % of value
• Skirts, Pants and Blazers are fairly neglected, as they should be, as I am more of a Dress fiend

CATEGORY BREAKDOWN (VISUAL)

TOPS = 45 ITEMS @ $1802

(11 tops missing above)

I know this looks like a lot, but I am including everything in here.

Broken down, it looks more like this:

• Work-Appropriate & Fun Blouses = 24
• Tank Tops = 8
• Long-Sleeved Shirts = 5
• T-Shirts (doubles as sleepwear) = 4
• Collared Button-Up Shirts = 4

My biggest category is obviously Work-Appropriate Blouses, which I would like to say I also wear for fun.

PANTS = 13 ITEMS @ $1010

(3 pairs of pants missing from above)

Broken down it looks like this:

• Work Trousers = 8
• Jeans = 2
• Sweatpants = 3

I rarely wear sweatpants, but some occasions like bumming around the house, call for them.

SKIRTS = 9 ITEMS @ $451

Broken down it looks like this:

• Work Skirts = 6
• Fun Skirts = 3

The fun skirts are not miniskirts, but they are still in my eyes, too short to wear to work (few inches above the knee).

DRESSES = 45 ITEMS @ $3516.00

What can I say? I’m REALLY into wearing dresses. It’s like a whole outfit in one go, how can you go wrong?

The only thing I hate is that I can’t wear dresses as often in the winter (too damn cold, even when I double-up on tights), so a lot of my stuff is Summer-Appropriate.

(5 dresses missing from the photo above)

Broken down it looks like this:

• Work Dresses = 20
• Summer/Fun Dresses = 21
• Formal/Event Dresses = 4

If I feel like it, I do wear more dressier dresses out just to get groceries. I find it fun to dress up, and unless the style is really inappropriate (too formal or shiny, cocktail, or flouncy), anything goes in my world.

SWEATERS = 15 ITEMS @ $1069

Love me a good sweater! They’re great as a way to layer on top of lighter things, or to wear as-is.

(3 sweaters missing from the photo above)

Broken down it looks like this:

• Work Sweaters = 11
• Casual Sweaters = 4

What I consider “casual” versus “work” sweaters, are either the colour or the style — if it’s too sporty (Lululemon stuff), I don’t wear it to work.

Otherwise, they’re pretty much all work-appropriate sweaters!

BLAZERS = 4 ITEMS @ $190.00

I don’t have much in this department. I only have the basics to throw over top of my other more colourful items.

One of the blazers is part of a grey tweed 3-piece suit, the rest are in navy or black.

JACKETS = 5 ITEMS @ $2181.00

This includes Autumn and Winter jackets.

I have 2 winter jackets — one everyday, one dressy (BF bought it for me).

• Note: The 2nd black Burberry trench from the left is almost the entire amount at $1600.

I have 2 autumn jackets — one in a bold colour, the other is neutral.

My last jacket is a black biker-style cotton jacket that didn’t fit under “Blazer” or “Sweater”.

Phew!

What I have not yet listed:

• Bathing Suit — I just have one, so no big list there
• Underwear (Tights included)
• Sleepwear — I wear the T-Shirts above, and my 2 leggings
• Winter Gear (Scarves, Gloves, Other)
• Purses
• Shoes
• Jewellery — I think I’m at 100 pieces of jewellery right now

I am not entirely sure I want to really inventory underwear or sleepwear. For instance, I usually only have one pair of tights in each colour (navy, burgundy, black, brown).

I will however, want to inventory the rest — winter gear, purses, shoes, and jewellery.

I’ll post once I catch my breath and go through those items

How will this change my shopping in the future?

Would you kill me if I said it wouldn’t really?

Lately, I seem to be paying more, for fewer pieces. This goes in line with not wanting to buy quantity, but quality, although if I find a great shirt for $16 that isn’t a duplicate in my wardrobe, I’ll probably buy it.

For instance, I bought a cashmere travel wrap for $300. ONE WRAP. It’s considered ONE sweater. In the past, I never spent more than $30 – $50 on a sweater.

This is 6 sweaters in one pricetag… but far more heavenly.

Cost per use, right? Hello? Anyone?… ANYONE WITH ME?!!?!

*sigh*

Have you done something similar with your closet?