Soldato
To be fair, I probably only have 5 t shirts on rotation at any given time. Older, more worn ones get relegated to around the house clothes and then to the tip.
Clothes - how old is too old?
- Thread starter FoxEye
- Start date
To be fair, I probably only have 5 t shirts on rotation at any given time. Older, more worn ones get relegated to around the house clothes and then to the tip.
Soldato
- Joined
- 16 Aug 2009
- Posts
- 7,740
Unril they fall apart! That being said I've got some new(er) clothes on at the moment and they do look a lot smarter I can understand why people like new clothes it definitely gives you a buzz that "new clothes" feel/smartness
Too old is if the clothing tears with age, or no longer fits. (both not necessarily due to age).
Could also be argued if the colour fades if that sort of thing bothers you.
Clothing with elastic where the elastic wears out.
Usually much longer than a year.
Could also be argued if the colour fades if that sort of thing bothers you.
Clothing with elastic where the elastic wears out.
Usually much longer than a year.
It depends heavily on your social group, sexuality and gender.
A middle age middle class straight man with similar friends can generally replace clothes on a "as needed due to wear" basis.
A 18-20 something gay man/straight woman in a creative field in London may be required to update wardrobe with the season, or be especially skilled in leading a trend.
Man of Honour
Tell them you're doing it for environmental reasons. Problem solved because that is a genuine (and very good) reason to stop routinely discarding clothing in perfectly good condition solely because it's more than a few months old. A habit that harms the environment and wastes your money...so why is anyone doing it? Anyone who wants to give free money to clothing companies should just donate to those companies.
My oldest item of clothing is a jumper that IIRC is ~30 years old. It's faded quite a bit after who knows how many hundreds of washings, but it's in perfectly good condition and fully functional. Very well made from good quality materials.
Soldato
Other than a couple of sports shorts & t-shirts and some technical 'outdoor' gear I've not bought any clothes in years tbh. Covid means I don't even have to worry about work clothes getting worn out / scruffy.
Tbf part of the reason I've been able to do that is that I've built up lots of clothes over the years and don't throw much out. I had a massive number of socks and underpants so despite throwing a few undies out and getting rid of socks when they get holes in I've still got a drawer full.
A lot of my wardrobe is getting a bit worn now, but honestly I just don't like spending money on clothes and can use the environmental excuse too
. I'm not particularly fashionable and my friends and gf aren't too image focused so Ivve not really got any external pressure to get me clothes either.
Eventually stuff gets old enough that it's too scruffy even for me and it goes in the bin / charity bag (even if it's too scruffy for them to actually sell on they can make rags from it for wiping stuff down in workshops etc I am told).
Tbf part of the reason I've been able to do that is that I've built up lots of clothes over the years and don't throw much out. I had a massive number of socks and underpants so despite throwing a few undies out and getting rid of socks when they get holes in I've still got a drawer full.
A lot of my wardrobe is getting a bit worn now, but honestly I just don't like spending money on clothes and can use the environmental excuse too
. I'm not particularly fashionable and my friends and gf aren't too image focused so Ivve not really got any external pressure to get me clothes either.Eventually stuff gets old enough that it's too scruffy even for me and it goes in the bin / charity bag (even if it's too scruffy for them to actually sell on they can make rags from it for wiping stuff down in workshops etc I am told).
Not sure about that! The charity shops round here say they only want clothing in as-new condition, and don't bring us anything old or tatty. Which is fair enough, they're trying to resell it.
Where did you hear they turn old clothes into dusters? I'd be very surprised if they did anything other than throw it out.
Soldato
Maybe some of them do just throw it, but gf's dad used to be a mechanic and he said that's where they got loads of rags from. Maybe not true any more I suppose.
Edit: I guess delivering it to actual charity shops I can see that they might only want saleable stuff but seems like the big clothes bins in supermarket car parks and door to door bags (which is where my old stuff goes) must go to a big central sorting place.
Soldato
The tumble dryer has likely wrecked them by then.
That's not going to happen here, I've never owned a tumble dryer in my life. That's probably why I still have loads of band t-shirts I bought back in the 90s that are still good to go.
Soldato
I only use the tumble dryer for towels as they keep their fluffiness. Some people use TDs until their clothes are bone dry which probably ruins clothes. Think those who drape clothes over radiators to dry are probably ruining their clothes too.The tumble dryer has likely wrecked them by then.
Soldato
I wear my clothes until they wear out and are no good for going out, then they're demoted to DIY clothes and sometimes cut up for rags. Rags are so handy, they last longer than tissue or those blue cloths, I have a big bag of rags in the loft of my garage and I use it to top up a small box of rags on a garage shelf.
Soldato
Not nice to call his mum an idiot
Soldato
I remember a former friend and I purchased the same t-shirt, on separate occasions. She tumble dries her clothes to they are to a crisp. I put mine on an airer inside. Last time I saw her which I fell out with her, she was wearing this t-shirt and it looked tatty looking and mine (which I took to a charity shop) looked pristine.
I still wear the cloths I wore around 10+ years ago (just jeans, plain tshirt/hoodie).
I have 2 pairs of shoes actually wear, both are hi-top converse from when I was in college (12+ years ago).
Still in perfectly good nick apart from 1 of the shoes had been repaired a few times!
The only thing I've bought in the last little while is underware/socks and a hoodie or two.
I have 2 pairs of shoes actually wear, both are hi-top converse from when I was in college (12+ years ago).
Still in perfectly good nick apart from 1 of the shoes had been repaired a few times!
The only thing I've bought in the last little while is underware/socks and a hoodie or two.
Context is key here.
If you only have about 3 cheap t-shirts and you wear them constantly then you'll probably need to replace them fairly soon else you'll quickly look borderline homeless.
If you have 3 wardrobes full of top quality t-shirts where you'd struggle to even wear them all once during the year, they'll probably last longer than you.
If you only have about 3 cheap t-shirts and you wear them constantly then you'll probably need to replace them fairly soon else you'll quickly look borderline homeless.
If you have 3 wardrobes full of top quality t-shirts where you'd struggle to even wear them all once during the year, they'll probably last longer than you.
Associate
- Joined
- 7 Mar 2015
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- 1,044
I am a cheap-skate with clothes and have no sense of fashion. So my ex used to give me clothes as birthday present. I replace things in 2-3 years when they are worn out.
yeah you can buy ‘bags of rags’ so they must come from somewhere!