An Analysis of My Past Summer Purchases (2014-2019)
Back in the spring, I got the idea to analyze all of the items that I purchased since I’ve started keeping track of my clothing budget. Every season, I look at all of my past budget posts from that season, make a note of everything I still own, and then analyze the types of items I tend to purchase the most vs. the least and the types of items I’ve held onto the most over all these years.
The goal is to make note of the items that have had longevity versus the items that have not…and hopefully it’ll give me some insight into how long I keep certain items in my wardrobe and help guide my future purchases. Almost every item that I purchased in summers past and still own is pictured above (I left out the jewelry, small accessories, swimsuit, items I received from brand collaborations, and the random items I added in my 2014 budget for no reason). As you can see, I ran out of room on my clothing rack and had to get creative! (Do you see the two jackets hiding in the back?)
I’ve been tracking my purchases for almost as long as I’ve been blogging, so there’s a lot to look through! Hope you enjoy the flashback to old posts (and if you click on any of the collages below, you’ll be taken to the original budget post!).
SUMMER 2014
For some reason, when I first started my budgeting posts in 2014, in addition to including items that I ended up returning after the posts went live, I also included some items that were what I considered “basics” and weren’t part of my regular wardrobe (see the leggings and camisole I purchased in July in the middle image). Way to make things super confusing, past self! (I’m also not sure if I still own those items...)
Out of the 30 items I purchased in summer 2014, I still own 10 items:
Both jackets (June and August)
Both Loft shirts: chambray and red floral (June)—the chambray I plan to upcycle
Grey crop tee (July)
Stripe wave top (July)—I plan to upcycle this, too
Gold initial necklace (July)
Black sandals (August)
Grey crop sweater (August)
Black crossbody bag (August)
Note: There are a few things shown here and in future years that I technically still own, but they’re currently listed on Poshmark so I am pretending that I don’t own them anymore since I don’t have plans to re-introduce them to my wardrobe.
SUMMER 2015
Out of the 18 items I purchased in summer 2015, I still own 11 items:
Both J.Crew/Factory shirts (July)
Both pairs of shorts (June and July)
Navy swing top (June)
White skirt (June)
Geometric necklace (June)
Black bikini (July)
Burgundy hat (August)
Green earrings (August)
SUMMER 2016
Out of the 14 items I purchased in summer 2016, I still own 10 items:
Both pairs of shoes (June and August)
Both navy skirts (July)
Tropical print shirt (July)
Black tank (July)
Green plaid flannel shirt (July)
Burgundy striped crop tee (July)
Brown hat (August)
Chambray shirt (August)
SUMMER 2017
Out of the 11 items I purchased in summer 2017, I still own 8 items:
Both jackets (June and August)
Both blazers (June and July)
Straw crossbody bag (June)
Linen sweater (July)
Midi skirt (August)
Black boots (August)
SUMMER 2018 & 2019
2018 marked the first year that I started blogging my budget every quarter instead of every month. It just made sense to do so because I have a quarterly budget! Plus, blogging my budget every quarter allows time for returns if necessary.
Out of the 12 items I added to my wardrobe in summer 2018 (one of which was gifted as part of a brand collaboration), I still own 11 items…everything except for the denim shorts!
And out of the 16 items I added to my wardrobe in summer 2019 (two of which were gifted as part of a brand collaboration), I still own…everything!
Similar to what I found when I analyzed my past spring purchases, I purchased nearly double the number of items in summer 2014 than I did in any other summer season. Really glad I mellowed out after that first year of tracking my purchases, haha. I guess holding myself accountable to not only myself but to a community of other budgeting bloggers helped me rein in it!
Here’s a breakdown of what I still own by item type:
Tops and tees: 19 out of 34 total (56%)
Sweaters and cardigans: 7 out of 10 total (70%)
Shorts: 3 out of 5 total (60%)
Skirts: 5 out of 9 total (56%)
Pants: 2 out of 3 total (67%)
Jeans: 1 out of 1 total (100%)
Dresses: 1 out of 4 total (25%)
Blazers and outerwear: 7 out of 8 total (88%)
Shoes: 7 out of 9 total (78%)
Bags: 4 out of 4 total (100%)
Jewelry: 3 out of 5 total (60%)
Accessories: 5 out of 5 total (100%)
My best summer purchases appear to be bags, accessories, and the one pair of jeans I’ve purchased (not surprisingly, I don’t tend to buy jeans in the summer months!). I still own all of those items. I don’t buy a whole lot of bags or accessories, so what I do purchase tends to stick around for a while. Other good summer purchases were my blazers and outerwear, which would be at 100% except for the one vest I owned and then sold. I added a few blazers to my wardrobe when I started my job, and even though I’m not wearing them now, they’re great for the office. My summer shoe purchases haven’t been terrible, either! I only added nine new pairs of shoes in summer months compared to spring at 21 pairs (though the spring number is skewed by my longstanding partnership with Earth).
The only category that took a large hit was the dress category. I’m a little surprised that I’ve only purchased four dresses over six summers, but even more surprising is that I only have one of those dresses as of now. I used to wear dresses all of the time back when I first started blogging (at least, that’s what I remember…but maybe I didn’t?), so it’s a little bit of a shock to see how much I really prefer separates now! Once again, tops were the top-purchased category.
Two of the dresses I no longer own were sold when they shrunk in the wash. Why are things still shrinking in the wash?! (This is also how I learned that I don’t like rayon…because it shrinks in the wash and I can’t be bothered to dry clean a simple dress, haha.) I also had a pair of shoes literally fall apart while I was wearing them for only the second time (note to everyone: avoid the shoes that are less than $20 on Nordstrom Rack/Hautelook…). Other than those, everything has held up!
I hope this post got you thinking about the items in your closet with longevity and how you might focus your purchases in the future. See you again in three months when I analyze my fall purchases!