My Wardrobe, Myself

A commenter on one of my recent essays inquired about how old the items in my closet are, which got me thinking about that topic. Way back in 2015, I wrote a post showing the items I owned that had been around the longest and what some of the common features were among those pieces. I think it’s high time for me to revisit this subject, but rather than publishing another marathon-length post, I’m going to split it out into three parts (with the potential addition of a “wrap-up” essay as well).

I’m starting today with the very oldest clothes and accessories in my wardrobe, items that have been with me for ten years or longer. I show pictures of all of them and discuss why they’ve stood the test of time, how often they get worn, their common features, and what I see as their future in my closet. In parts two and three, we’ll look at other “oldies but goodies” that haven’t been around quite as long but have still been with me since 2018 or earlier.

The Oldest “Oldies but Goodies”

Based on the wardrobe tracking that I’ve done, the twelve items shown below have been in my closet for over ten years.

It’s possible that some of my jewelry pieces are even older than the items above, but I didn’t start tracking jewelry purchases until the beginning of Recovering Shopaholic in 2013. I didn’t do much wardrobe tracking at all until the inception of that blog, but I’ve been able to compile data on the origin of most of my clothing via my accounting software program.

I’ll delve into the individual pieces later in this post, but here’s how the items break down by category:

• 2 cardigans
• 1 dress
• 2 sleeveless tops
• 4 long-sleeved tops
• 3 purses

Brand Information

Almost all my longtime items were purchased new, but the black sequined tank was bought at a local consignment store back in 2012.

Here are the brands for the members of my “decade club”:

• Eddie Bauer (all four of the long-sleeved waffle tops)
• Brighton (all three of the purses)
• Kische (the two cardigans, purchased at Nordstrom)
• Eileen Fisher (the dress, purchased at Nordstrom)
• Halogen (Nordstrom brand)
• Kenar (the sequined tank purchased at a consignment store)

I feel these are all quality brands, or at least they were at the time. I own several other Eddie Bauer waffle tops that were purchased more recently, but they haven’t held up quite as well. Likewise, I feel that the Nordstrom in-house brands, such as Halogen and Caslon (I wrote about tees from that brand last year), have declined in quality. Sadly, I feel that if I do a post like this one ten years from now (assuming I’m even still blogging!), I may not own even one item that’s over a decade old. Because clothing doesn’t seem to be made as well as it once was, I plan to hold on to – and “baby” – my older items that I still love and wear for as long as possible.

Cost Per Wear Information

I counted clothing wears from 2011 through 2018 and maintained a spreadsheet of all the items in my wardrobe. That spreadsheet also referenced whether a piece had been altered, the number times I wore it each year, and its cost per wear (CPW) over time. I didn’t include purses in my tracking, but I know that all three of my Brighton purses from ten or more years ago have been at least a hundred times (and probably much more for at least one of them) and have a very low cost per wear number.

As for the other nine items, here are my stats for the years when I was tracking (listed from left to right, top to bottom as shown in the above photo):

1. Black Kische Cardigan (purchased in 2010) – Worn 71 times, $0.56 CPW
2. Black Kenar Sequined Tank (purchased in 2012) – Worn 16 times, $0.75 CPW
3. Blue Print Eddie Bauer Waffle Top (purchased in 2013) – Worn 31 times, $0.90 CPW
4. Burgundy Kische Cardigan (purchased in 2011) – Worn 71 times, $0.62 CPW
5. Burgundy Print Eddie Bauer Waffle Top (purchased in 2013) – Worn 30 times, $0.93 CPW
6. Cobalt Eileen Fisher Dress (purchased in 2013) – Worn 14 times, $12.86 CPW
7. Green Eddie Bauer Graphic Waffle Top (purchased in 2010) – Worn 60 times, $0.50 CPW
8. Gray Print Halogen Tank (purchased in 2010) – Worn 16 times, $2.75 CPW
9. Purple and Gray Striped Eddie Bauer Waffle Top (purchased in 2009) – Worn 45 times, $0.78 CPW

Since I stopped tracking wears at the end of 2018 and have worn most of the above items many times since then, their CPW is likely much lower than the figures stated above. But even my end of 2018 CPW numbers were mostly under a dollar, which I feel is very reasonable and respectable.

The two outliers in the group in regards to CPW are the Eileen Fisher dress and the Halogen tank. I believe that the tank is probably down in the dollar CPW range by now, but that’s definitely not the case for the dress. The dress was relatively expensive from the outset ($180), which makes it more difficult to reach a low CPW number. Additionally, it didn’t fit me for several years due to menopausal weight gain, so it was rarely worn (if at all) in the years following 2018 (and only once per year in 2017 and 2018). It was never something that I wore often, but I felt attractive and confident in it each time I had it on. While I’m not thrilled with its high CPW, I think it’s okay for us to own some “specialty items” that aren’t worn as regularly as our wardrobe staples. I’ll share my thoughts on the potential future for the dress in the next section.

The Current State of My Oldest Items

Now I’m going to go through the twelve oldest items in my closet individually to let you know their 2023 status and how I see myself wearing – or not wearing – them in the future. I’ll review these items in several sections, with pictures appearing above those reviews so you don’t have to scroll way back to the photo of all the items at the top of this post.

The Waffle Tops

We’ll start with the four long-sleeved waffle tops from Eddie Bauer. These tops have mostly been downgraded to at-home wear, but I did wear two of them during my trip to the Tahoe area last November. They’re all still in fairly good condition, but the green and purple ones are noticeably less pristine now (they’re a few years older).

I like to wear these waffle-weave tops at home during the cooler months, as they’re sufficiently warm and pair well with the many pairs of joggers that I own. I don’t wear them quite as often as my Tommy John Lounge Henley tops (that I wrote about in this post), but they still see a decent amount of wear. I see myself hanging on to all four of these tops for the foreseeable future and only plan to purge them when they become so worn out that they look “shabby.” I prefer not to wear shabby-looking garments, even when I’m at home, especially when I have plenty of other things to wear.

The Cardigans

Like the waffle tops covered above, these two cardigans are still in great shape. While they’re no longer among my absolute favorite toppers, they’re extremely lightweight and are a good topper for the summer months when a very light layer is sufficient. The length is also good with the cropped pants that I like to wear that time of year.

I would say that I wear each cardigan five to ten times per year, if that, but that’s enough wears for me to keep them around for now. I mostly prefer cardigans that are a bit longer these days (mid-thigh to knee length rather than low-hip length), but these Kische toppers come in handy often enough that I feel they still serve a valuable purpose in my closet.

The Sleeveless Tops

The black sequined tank is still a summer favorite, especially after I had it taken in last year so that it fits me better. It’s comfortable and casual, but the front sequined panel and trim around the neckline makes it a step above an ordinary tank top. It’s still in excellent condition considering how long I’ve owned it, but that’s a testament to the quality of the brand (a lesser-known designer brand called Kenar that was probably fairly pricey to buy new). I see myself keeping this top for at least a few more years.

The gray print tank used to be full-length, but I had it altered to pair with skirts four or five years ago when it was too snug in the hip area. That alteration extended the top’s lifespan, but since I went off wearing skirts for a few years, it mostly hung in my closet gathering dust during that time. My interest in skirts returned last year with the introduction of more styles and silhouettes that I felt I could embrace. I like to pair this tank with a black midi or maxi skirt and then wear a brightly-colored tie-waist cardigan as my third piece. I still love the watercolor print in the tank that coordinates nicely with most colors, so I don’t seem myself passing it on anytime soon.

The Dress

I feel more uncertain about this Eileen Fisher dress (pictured with times I wore it in 2015 and 2017) than most of the other items shown in today’s post. I loved it when I bought it in 2013, enjoyed wearing it for the next five or so years, and then kept it in my holding zone bin for about five more years because it didn’t fit me well. I was happy to discover that it fit me once again last year following my weight loss, but my silhouette preferences had shifted and I felt it was too “flared at the bottom (which isn’t as obvious in the photos as in real life). At this point, I’m trying to decide whether to have it taken in a few inches or to sell/donate it.

The “pros” for the dress are that I love the color and the asymmetrical design, plus it’s a great weight for summer. The one major “con” is that I don’t love it “as is” and alterations can sometimes be risky. One reader mentioned that Eileen Fisher pieces have a good resale value, so I could potentially make a bit of money by selling it online.

I’ll probably try the dress on again once the weather warms up and make my determination then. I might also take the dress in to my tailor to see how easy or difficult it might be to do an alteration. Because I’m one of her “pickiest” customers (perfectionist to a fault -sigh…), she’s now a lot more honest with me about whether she thinks I’ll be happy with a potential alteration.

The Purses

The middle purse above (pewter and black combo) is still a major favorite of mine and is one of the two handbags that I carry most often. The purse on the left was actually brown at one time, but I had it dyed black when brown went out of favor and I decided that I no longer liked it. My mom had this purse for a few years, but she gave it back to me during one of my recent visits. I still like the design, but the purse doesn’t have as much structure as I usually prefer. I don’t tend to reach for it as often as my two favorites, but I’m going to switch over to it shortly so I can decide if I want to keep it or not.

The pewter bag isn’t used all that often, but it comes in handy sometimes during the summer when I’m walking around and want to carry a smaller and lighter bag. If it were black or had more black in it (there’s some in the handle) like the purse in the center, I’m sure I would use it more often, as I wear black most days. However, it’s good to have for when I’m wearing lighter colors, as well as when I don’t want to carry a heavy bag.

I know that I’ll hold on to the pewter and black bag for many years to come. In fact, I had it refurbished last year via the free service that Brighton offers for all their handbags. I’m not as sure about the other two bags, but I’ll see how much I use them throughout the rest of this year. I’ve pared down my handbags considerably in recent years, such that I now only have a very small collection. This is part of the reason why adding one or two new purses to my closet is one of my wardrobe “bucket list” items for this year. I didn’t realize my purses were as old as they are, but I’m happy that they’re still in good shape and some of them are still in line with my style preferences.

Conclusion – and Your Thoughts?

Well, I guess this post still ended up being fairly long, but fortunately not a marathon! I probably won’t go into as much detail about each individual item in parts two and three, especially since I’ll be covering more items in those essays. I hope you’ve found this exploration of my oldest wardrobe items interesting, and perhaps it prompted you to examine your own closet to see which pieces have been hanging around the longest.

I’d love for you to share what some of your “oldies but goodies” are and how long you’ve owned them. Any details you’d like to provide are welcome (I wish you could post photos in comments here!), and I also welcome anything else you’d like to share about this post, including any questions you have for me.

I’ll be back soon with part two of this series, which will cover all the items that have been in my closet for seven to nine years. Since there are a larger number of pieces in that collection, there will be more opportunity to analyze what they have in common and why they’ve stood the test of time so well. Thank you for reading and have a wonderful weekend!