Just Hanging Around

Earlier this week in Skincare Routine & Link-Up post, I shared that it had been a few months since I’d put out a reader survey. What I didn’t mention was that I’d also fallen behind on publishing the results for the last two surveys.

With a need to get caught up on that, today’s post shares the results gathered in the “What’s In Your Wardrobe?” survey from last October. In the questions asked, I’d hoped to get an idea of how my readers manage their wardrobes and closets. It wasn’t an in-depth survey as there were only 6 questions asked. Those questions were;

• • • Do you do a seasonal/regular rotation with your wardrobe?
    • Have you ever inventoried/counted the items in your wardrobe?
    • Which items would someone say you have more of than the average person?
    • How do you organize your closet(s)?
    • Are there items in your wardrobe that don’t currently fit you? If so, how much?
    • When was the last time you did a closet clean out?

Participation in this survey was a bit limited as there were only 38 submissions. But, considering the number of views that the post generated while the survey was active, the participation rate was about 22% which isn’t bad when you consider it that way. While my readership is small, it’s steady and consistent. I am thankful to all who participated. Now, let’s get to the results.

On the first question about seasonal/regular rotation of wardrobe, over 60% (23) responded with “yes, at least twice a year” and 34% (13) picked the “no, not really my thing” response. The remaining 2 responders selected “other” as their answer with one explaining that they live in Florida (no real seasonal changes?) and the second one said “rotate based on the weather” which is probably more like a yes. As for me, I do a regular seasonal rotation for some of my wardrobe due to space limitations.

It was kind of a split bag on the responses to the next question related to inventorying/counting items in one’s wardrobe. It seems like this is not much of a thing for the survey participants. The no’s (39.5%) and rarely’s (21.1%) added up to over 60% of the responses. While about 1/3 (34.2%) said that they kept track of a few things, only 2 respondents said that they do so repeatedly. As for me, so far I only track my shoes as I’ve shared in Footwear Review: What’s Out, What’s In and Last Week, This Week: The Ol’ Closet Switcheroo. It’s getting close to the time for a Spring rotation and inventory update.

Respondents could select as many choices as they wanted for the question “which items would someone say you have more of than the average person?”. The bar chart to the right shows those results. A majority indicated that they have an abundance of scarves and shoes (🙋‍♀️ same) with purses, jackets, and coats coming in with the next highest counts. For the three that responded with “other”, the fill-in answers were jewelry, none, and T-shirts.

Outfit details: Jacket, Old Navy (Spr ’07, thrifted August 2021); Cardigan, Merona (Q1/13, March Style Remix Collection); Pants, H&M (bought July 2022); Shoes, Com+Sens (bought Feb 2018)

Over 2/3 (26) of the survey respondents said that when organizing their closet(s), they do so by item type and then by use/occasion/color. I suspected that this answer would be the top choice since, to me at least, it’s the most logical. Even when I was still working, there were many items that I wore as part of my office attire as well as weekend wear that I didn’t find it necessary to first organize by use/occasion and then type. Although, there were 5 survey participants that did respond with that choice. 4 selected the “it’s all random” response and 3 wrote in answers that described their personal method. One of those was quite specific; by color, sleeve length, print, fabric.

The responses to the question as to whether there are items in your wardrobe that don’t currently fit you surprised me a little and have given me pause to consider my own situation. There was an add-on to the question of “how much?” if the response was yes. Far more than I expected (21 or 55.3%) answered with “none, I can wear everything” and 13 persons (34.2%) answered with “yes, but it’s less than 10%”. Nearly 90% of those responding can wear just about everything in their wardrobe. 3 survey participants responded that “10% to 25% doesn’t fit” and one admitted that over 50% doesn’t fit. Shamefully, that’s the category that I fall into. I’m fully aware that some of my wardrobe space challenges are due to hanging onto clothing that is too small but that’s a topic for another time.

The final question on the survey asked “when was the last time you did a closet cleanout?”. This seems to be something nearly everyone does regularly with some variation in frequency. 14 of the survey participants had done one within the past month and when you consider that this survey was published in October, the timing coincided with the transition from Summer to Fall. 6 said that had done one within the past 1 to 6 months and another 6 selected the 6 to 12 months ago response. There was only one person who said that it had been over a year since their last closet cleanout.

One down and one to go in getting caught up on publishing the results from two previous surveys. Did any of the outcomes on the survey about wardrobes surprise you? How would your answers compare if you took that survey today? And if I’ve whetted your appetite to participate in a reader survey, why not give the latest one on skincare and beauty routines a go?

Stay well and let’s keep in touch! Subscribe, tweet, follow, friend, pin … all options are available. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

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Note: This is an unsponsored post; however, some or all of the links to clothing items are associated with an affiliate program where I earned a few cents for each click.

Photo credit: MMPerez