Fashion & Beauty

Men - how many dress shirts/pants do you have?

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Deal Addict
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Jan 7, 2008
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Men - how many dress shirts/pants do you have?

My closet is quite cluttered and I've come to the conclusion that I have too many clothes. I'm a bit of a pack rat. I've decided to start cleaning house and getting rid of some stuff.

I'm wondering how many dress shirts and pairs of pants I should have in my wardrobe. What do you have, or what do you think is ideal?

For background: I wear dress shirts and pants to work at least 4 days a week. Fridays I will sometimes wear jeans, a polo, or a sweater. I'm just focusing on my workwear for now - i have jeans and Tshirts to deal with later. I do own a couple suits for special occasions (and too many ties), but I'm focusing on the shirts and pants for now.
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Aug 25, 2004
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I think you should have enough to not make others notice that you are wearing the same clothes every other day lol.

Here's my closet summary for work clothes:
2-3 suits (all different color/style)
8-9 different dress shirts
6-7 different dress pants
2 pairs of work shoes

I think that would be a good number. :-0
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Deal Fanatic
Jan 15, 2004
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I work in an office too so here are what I have:

Suit (jackets and pants): 10
Dress pants: 8-10
Shirts: 40-50 (at peak I had around 60)
Dress shoes: 4-5
Coats (fall and winter): 6-7

I probably have too much as well.
Sr. Member
Jul 31, 2008
778 posts
2 upvotes
I work in a business casual office with casual fridays. I have 10 dress shirts, 4 pairs of dress pants, 2 suits (+1 that doesn't fit anymore :( ), 2 pairs of dress shoes, and 1 pair of dress boots.

I'm addicted to shoes, so I'm looking for another pair of dress shoes and another pair of dress boots. I wouldn't mind having another 5 or so dress shirts made either. :o
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Oct 6, 2007
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Montreal
let's see

4 suits (2 navy)
6-7 pants
too many dress shirts to count
about 5 pair of shoes
about 4 coats for fall/winter

all i know is i need more :lol:
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Dec 14, 2009
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Brampton
I have quite a few dress shirts, probably 11-13. However, I only have 2 pairs of dress pants. One of them doesn't even fit me...so technically only 1 pair.
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Nov 30, 2006
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My hubby works in an office, but has an option to dress cas-bus if he wants to. Anywho, the last time I de-cluttered my hubby's walk in, secondary closet and jacket/coat & shoe closet that's work related, it consisted of ( this was done 3 weeks ago):

Walk in closet (business/work):

- Golf/ Casual Polos (LS & SS): 62
- Golf sweaters/vests: 7
- Sweaters (crew, V-necks, 1/4 zip, full zips: 23
- Khakis: 9
- Casual pants/Dress pants: 30 ish?
- Casual buttoned shirts: 7


Secondary closet (business/work):

- Suits (2pc): 9
- Suits ( 3 pc: vest): 2
- Sports Jackets/Blazers: 5
- Dress Shirts: 21
- Cufflinks: 6 pairs.
- Socks: He can go for the next 45-50 days without repeating... lol ( yes it's ridunkulous)
- Ties: 34
- Bow: 1
- Ascots & handkerchiefs: 6
- Belts: 7
- Messenger bags/briefcases: 10


Coats/Jackets & Footwear closet:

- Typical Business single breasted wool Coats: 3 (black, navy, grey)
- Trench Coat: 1
- Toggle/Duffle/Pea-coat: 2
- Casual Spring/Fall jacket: too many.
- Casual winter jackets: 5?
- Dress shoes: 5
- Casual/business shoes (loafers/slip ons): 9, casual boots: 3

.. and I think that's it.. ( The non-fitted shirts/pants aren't included ofcrouse, so they were boxed away. This is not including his at home/gym-ish/ weekend wear lol)
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Jan 7, 2008
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Thanks folks, glad to see I'm not the only one with a few too many ;)
Newbie
Nov 10, 2008
20 posts
Toronto
If you wear dress shirts and dress pants 4 times a week, you should have:

Minimum: about 8-10 dress shirts and about 4 dress pants

This is just the minimum amount of shirts to avoid lack of variety. You can go more wears without drycleaning pants, but never wear a dress shirt twice before laundering.

Ideal: about 15 dress shirts and about 6 dress pants

The minimum will give you variety, but you may tend to still get bored and want to mix it up more often. Still, dress pants get greater wear before cleaning. But you may want more variety too since the minimum may only allow for a couple greys, a navy, maybe brown or tan or another colour. But, preferably, you want a more flexible and versatile wardrobe.

Nothing wrong with expanding your wardrobe as much as your budget will allow. However, when you start getting past 3 weeks worth of wear then you should definitely only be buying new shirts because you love them. Not simply to continue to grow and already well stocked wardrobe.

Gotta add shoes... I've become a big fan of high quality leather soled shoes and want to continue to add to the rotation. But for the average guy, I'd say 3 pairs of dress shoes at a minimum for the 4 days (then something casual on the Friday), but don't necessarily think that you need to lean towards black over brown. Brown goes very well with grey and navy pants. Just have a belt to match.
Jr. Member
Jul 14, 2010
179 posts
10 upvotes
I have:
2-piece suits: 4
Shirts: 5
Pants: 3
Laundry once a week.
Member
Dec 25, 2009
408 posts
19 upvotes
Interesting topic. I am some times embarassed at how much clothing I have. My wife actually jokes to her friends about all the clothing I have accumulated over the years. I work in a bus-cas environment, so 4 dress days, and 1 casual.

Office attire:

55 dress shirts
26 dress pants
10 suits (stripe, black, dark blue, grey...etc)
14 dress shoes
5 dressy belts
4 blazers
25 ties
5 wool dress coats
2 sheepskin coats
2 rain jackets

Casual:

20 shirts
45 polo shirts
15 sweaters
18 sweatshirts
38 denim jeans
12 khakis
15 casual shoes (loafers...)
7 running shoes
8 parkas (North Face, Canada Goose..etc)

Probably missing a bunch of stuff, but don't want to run and count them.
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Sep 30, 2003
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Toronto
hrm,
4 suits
probably 20 (likely more) shirts
6 proper dress pants
7 pairs of dress shoes

When it comes to "too much", I usually rotate out the clothes that are patently too old or worn, or I simply don't like. Pretty easy because if I go a season without wearing an item, I know I won't wear it again.
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Deal Guru
Dec 31, 2005
13306 posts
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2 suits
2 dress pants
10 dress shirts or so...

But then again, I replace all my shirts pretty much on an annual basis...same too for the pants. Suits might go two years at most.
Member
May 25, 2006
301 posts
24 upvotes
I work business casual with a casual friday so I have

4 suits although only 2 are really business suits
20 Dress shirts
4 pairs of real dress pants
about 10 pairs of dockers (although I wear those outside of work)
one pair of office shoes and one pair of nice dress shoes
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Oct 23, 2003
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RedFlagRobot wrote: My closet is quite cluttered and I've come to the conclusion that I have too many clothes. I'm a bit of a pack rat. I've decided to start cleaning house and getting rid of some stuff.

I'm wondering how many dress shirts and pairs of pants I should have in my wardrobe. What do you have, or what do you think is ideal?

For background: I wear dress shirts and pants to work at least 4 days a week. Fridays I will sometimes wear jeans, a polo, or a sweater. I'm just focusing on my workwear for now - i have jeans and Tshirts to deal with later. I do own a couple suits for special occasions (and too many ties), but I'm focusing on the shirts and pants for now.

2 full suits (carbon gray and black)
3-4 very very cheap shirts which i dont wear at all but have 3-4 yrs ago
3-5 "party" formal shirts, good for going out, clubbing, nothing snazzy like guess shirts but with stripes and so forth
3-4 formal business type shirts of good quality (plain white, black or indigo blue, a mild green)
3-4 formal pairs of pants of mediocre quality that i rarely wear anymore because im too fat now. god knows i could use 20 pounds less to save money.
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Jun 28, 2012
5562 posts
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Calgary
Great thread, didnt want to create a new one on the same thing.

9-10 dress shirts
4 dress pants
2 jeans
1 shorts
2 suits
6 ties
5 t-shirts
5 sweaters
3 hoodies
2 track zip ups
1 track pants
2 runners
1 work boots
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Aug 13, 2012
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wow lol I thought my brother was an addict, looks like he is pretty average
Member
Oct 25, 2012
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Markham
14 Dress shirts
3-4 dress pants
2 dress shoes (I will be purchasing one more this summer)
I can't remember how many sweaters but a few.
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Jul 8, 2012
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VANCOUVER
When I used to have to wear them, 3 week rotation for dress shirts and 2 week rotation for pants.
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Jun 19, 2009
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Scarborough
I have around 6 dress shirts and 2 dress pants. Will expand wardrobe when I get more money lol

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