Context: I noticed I have some clothes from 10 years ago that are still good to wear, and some newer things I have barely worn yet. I wondered if I reached a point where all the clothes I own would be enough to last for the rest of my life. There is a dresser and a closet worth of things.
For the sake of this question, let’s say you can’t buy, borrow, steal, receive as a gift, find, or make anything new to wear. All you get is what you have now. Is it enough?
Hard to say for sure.
I have jeans that are still wearable from the 90s. Maybe need some patching here and there, but the important parts are solid. New jeans, however, have turned shitty. The fabric new is thinner than the heavily worn stuff that’s decades old.
Shirts are too variable to begin with. But, I tend to wear mostly tees and tanks day-to-day, so my nicer shirts last ages. I still have a shirt my barometer grandmother bought me in 1994 that’s in great shape, though too tight nowadays. In fairness, there was about five years I couldn’t wear it because it wouldn’t fit my shoulders or chest at all. But I then stopped lifting big and dropped mass.
Thing is, I have a fubu tee that’s from the late nineties or early naughties that I wore the hell out of, and still do. That sucker has zero holes in it, and almost mo stretching in the collar. The only problem with it is some stains and the thicker printing on it is crackly.
I have tees and tanks I bought in the last three years that are in worse shape despite being worn less.
So, the stuff that’s made well, I could probably be buried in in 20 years and it would still be presentable.
Other stuff, particularly the newer jeans, I don’t see lasting five years.
But it’s also true that the more clothes you have, the longer each piece will last. And I have amassed several boxes of clothing that I don’t wear regularly because I don’t like the fit, or they aren’t comfy material, or whatever. So, rough guesstimate, I could go months without recycling outerwear. It’s undies that take a beating in comparison because they get worn at a faster rotation.
Socks, I’d be screwed. I have massive fucking feet, and while I’m barefoot at home, they wear out fast. I can’t keep even hard wear socks more than maybe two years or so.