I've always been a bit of a clothes hoarder, and coats are no exception. I often found myself staring into my closet, wondering if I owned too many. The question, "How many coats do you really need?" plagued me for a while. It felt like I had a coat for every possible weather event and social occasion. So, I embarked on a journey to declutter and find the perfect number of coats for my lifestyle. Here's what I learned.
It all started when I took a hard look at my coat collection. I had a smart, long winter coat that wasn't waterproof (which seemed counterintuitive for winter!). Then there was a warmer version of the same coat for particularly frigid days. And let’s not forget the casual, warmer short jacket (corduroy, of course!) for those in-between temperatures. I started to wonder if I was going overboard.
I even remembered a conversation I had with a friend about the topic. He mentioned he only had one warm coat for winter, which he rarely wore, and one light jacket for everything else. I was floored! How could anyone survive with so few options? But it got me thinking...
I decided to get serious about my coat situation. I started by categorizing my coats based on their purpose. This is what I came up with:
This exercise helped me realize that I was essentially a "three-coat-man" (or woman, in my case!). But then I remembered the other coats lurking in the back of my closet. The semi-formal coat, the sunny day jacket (yes, apparently, that's a thing!), and the various in-between options. It was clear I needed a system.
I started asking myself some tough questions. Did I actually use all these coats? Or were they just taking up space? I came across a piece of advice that resonated with me: "If you use them all, you don’t own too many." But the storage issue was still a concern. Where was I going to put all these coats?
One friend confessed to owning around 25 coats for various occasions, from rainy days to formal events. While I admired their dedication to outerwear, I knew that wasn't realistic for my lifestyle or my closet space. Another friend, however, had a different approach. They admitted to having four coats, each representing a different size they had been over the years. They kept them all because they yo-yo with their weight. While I don't have the same size fluctuations, I appreciated their practical approach to wardrobe management.
After much deliberation, I realized that the "perfect" number of coats is subjective. It depends on your climate, your lifestyle, and your personal style. For me, it boiled down to these essentials: