There are a number of different types of “style blocks“, and one of mine is the fact that wardrobe items wear out. “Replace it? Didn’t I just get it sussed out? I’ve moved on to the next thing!”, is a phrase you would hear on repeat if you broke into my brain. (I don’t just feel this way about clothes – and yes, this is why I’m terrible about maintenance. I’ve moved on!)

Nevertheless, it’s true. And we can make it work to our benefit. How?

The Thing does not have to be perfect. It’s a wardrobe item, and it will wear out. Thus, The Thing will have to be replaced. This does not excuse treating it poorly – but it does give the opportunity for improvement.

You want to get as close to perfect with The Thing as you can get. One does, after all, wish to move on to Other Things. And the more time and money you must invest in The Thing, the better you wish to do. (If you have one winter coat and you live in a place that holds winter on a regular basis, experimenting with an outre shape and chartreuse lining in a magenta coat may be a choice you regret). But if you live in that sensible coat, it will wear out in a few years – and you upgrade. That great pair of shoes? If you wear them, they wear out. If you don’t wear them, what’s the point of owning them?

This is the value of something that has completely disappeared from modern wardrobe discussions – the annual clothing replacement budget. There used to be guides, giving you some idea about how long a piece of clothing lasted, when used in heavy rotation. If you expected that winter coat to last you three years (or five, or ten), you’d know that “this is a year I’m going to need to replace that”. You might even start looking a year in advance for those expensive, rarely replaced items.

We think of older clothes as higher quality (they were) that lasted much longer than current clothes (also true). So, if even our foremothers replaced their bras every year, we probably have to do the same. Wardrobe items wear out. That perfect, interesting blouse that you loved? Enjoy it. Enjoy its moment. But eventually you will say goodbye.

And that means that you get to say hello to a new blouse! Has your style changed? Your tastes? Your occupation? Well, your wardrobe can be perfect for your 2023 self and not be perfect for your 2025 self – and that’s okay, because you have to replace it, bit by bit, forever.

This is great news for those of us whose figures are not perfect. “But what if I lose weight?” Well. If you lose a bit of weight and it fit you very well and was expensive to begin with, alter it. If your figure changes so radically that you can’t wear it? Simply understand that it was never meant to be “forever” anyway. Release it, and release yourself.

Wardrobe items wear out. This year I’ll be throwing out a very large pile of shoes, as I desperately need a update in my footwear. My shoes are expensive (I don’t have a choice about that) and it stings. But they’re worn out. They weren’t meant to be forever, and neither will the next thing be. I’m about to start sewing a wool blazer … and I plan to lose weight. Sure, I’ll alter the blazer (once) but after that? The future.

Our wardrobes aren’t something we can “one and done” – they are an ever-changing, ever-evolving living communication device. It’s time to blow up this style block and move on.