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It seems that for most of my life, I’ve been trying to either get rid of clothes or acquire them. Why most of us do this, and why both goals are so difficult, are questions that continue to elude me.

It seems to be getting harder to find just the right thing, even though malls have more clothing stores than every before. On the other hand, it’s a big step to donate clothes or give them away, because, after all, you never know when you might need them. Another irony is that those items you no longer love are the ones that last forever…they never seem to rip, shrink, stretch out or get permanent stains, so you don’t even have good reasons to discard them without guilt.

I once read a magazine article about the minimum clothes than any woman needs, which was far less than what the average American woman currently possesses. Similar lists tell us how we can comfortably go on a 10 day cruise with one large suitcase if we just plan properly. One of my favorite fictional characters owns exactly one dress and one pair of dressy shoes, and they take her everywhere. We hear about women in other countries who manage quite well with far less, and our great grandmothers probably made do with 7 complete outfits, one for each day of the week.

Why then, do we feel the need to see variety when we open our closet doors?

When house hunting years back, it seemed that every master bedroom closet we toured was practically filled to the brim with ladies’ attire, and the man of the house got only a small portion of the space. Yesterday I was browsing through a gossip magazine and noticed that a major celebrity wore a different coat almost daily during December. (Even though she can afford to do so, isn’t that wasteful?) I’d like to know what she does with them after wearing each one time…

I’m actually on the low side when it comes to clothes ownership because I tend to hang onto those things that give me pleasure, and there aren’t that many of them. If a person takes care of their clothes-and doesn’t change weight-the items really can last for years. Since I try to purchase clothes which are somewhat timeless, I don’t feel I’m too out of style, but it rankles me when I’m supposed to wear what’s “new” to be considered fashionable.

The way I see it, I don’t want my clothes to own me, and the more I have, the more I need to worry about. There’s more dry cleaning, more maintenance, more accessories, and more choices you need to make-and I’m busy enough already. However, the only way to keep buying clothes in check is to try to avoid the stores. This is often easier said than done.

We all have articles of clothing that were true purchase whims that ended up serving us very well, even if they weren’t something we ever imagined ourselves wearing. Then we have those items that we “should” have, the basics that go with everything. Add to the collection those clothes that are for special occasions, seasonal or event-specific and we’ve reached our closet’s capacity. Probably one of the most frustrating things is to find something that would look just perfect on us, but we know that we really don’t need it. It’s been my experience that we buy it anyway, because who knows when we’ll ever find something so good again? I think that’s how we end up with more clothes than we know what to do with.

Never is this more frustrating than when it comes to traveling. Figuring out what to take is not easy when space is limited. Do I take what travels the best in terms of adaptability, or what’s more fun? Is it worth taking my favorite white dress, when I know that I’ll also need to take a different set of underwear and accessories? Sometimes, having too many choices is as bad as not having enough from which to choose!

Obviously, the amount of clothing one prefers to own is very individualistic. As long as you feel you have options, you enjoy what you have, and you get wear out of your wardrobe, know that your clothes are adding to your life-instead of the other way around.