Did you have trouble getting rid of your suits?

[jon-nyc]

So I've been FIREd for two months now.

Shortly before FIRE, I purged a bunch of older dress shirts, but they were ones I wasn't really wearing so I still have a full compliment. I also have a bunch of suits still hanging in my closet.

The logical thing to do would be keep one or two and donate the others. But for some reason I can't get myself to do that just yet.

Did anyone else have this experience?

 

[Alan]

I had no problem in keeping 2 suits and donating the rest, similarly with long sleeved shirts and ties, kept a few and donated the rest. I've used a suit to attend 4 funerals since retiring so it has been very nice this year to use a suit for a wedding and various dinners on board cruise liners.

 

[Walt34]

I haven't thrown them out either, although I will when we do a "stuff purge" in a few months. Most are no longer suitable for donation (think Colombo) and the few that are I'll keep for the occasional formal occasion.

 

[mpeirce]

Suits?

OK, I was in software development so wearing a suit just wasn't something that was ever going to happen.

I did own a "going to funeral/wedding" suit and I upgraded that just before I retired. Should last me another 10 years or so.

 

[JoeWras]

SW development. Yep, wearing shorts today.

I just realized I haven't bought a suit in 17 years. It may be time...

 

[Brat]

My DH has about 2 nice pair of slacks and a blazer. No need for suits.

He has set aside about 4 long sleeved dress shirts to wear with the above, the rest he intends to use when gardening.

As we age not only does our physique change but our skin gets thinner. It is as important to protect an aging skin from sun burn as a child's.

 

[Rambler]

I kept 6 suits. Got rid of 6 or 8. Kept the ones that were in near new condition. I traveled constantly, so I had enough suits to drop several at home for the cleaners, and repack my suitcase and go again. I also got rid of about 20-25 shirts, 50 ties, and several pairs of shoes. At about $600-800 a pop incl alterations, I just had too much trouble getting rid of the "still good" suits. Kept the 10 best suit shirts, and about 100 ties. I havent really been looking yet, but when I retired, I had kind od thought I would look for a Board role for a small to mid sized public company, which is another reason I kept so much. Now, I'm not so sure I want to do even that...i really enjoy being free to do what I want, with no schedule. In a year or so, if I still have not begun to look for a very part time role like that, I'll purge again and see what happens.

R

 

[Meadbh]

I didn't need to wear suits most of the time and most of my business clothing in recent years was coordinated separates. The closer I got to ER, the more wasteful it seemed to buy another suit. There are a couple of suits in the closet but they haven't seen the light of day since I ERed.

 

[Midpack]

I still need them for weddings (last Sat) and such, so I kept 4 and gave the rest to Goodwill. Easy peasy...

 

[RockyMtn]

Try and sell them at a consignment store. If they don't sell then donate to goodwill, etc. Consignment stores love ties as well.

 

[Brat]

Consignment stores in our area won't accept suits more than 2 years old. Details, such as collar shape, are fashion driven.

 

[Midpack]

Try and sell them at a consignment store. If they don't sell then donate to goodwill, etc. Consignment stores love ties as well.

I threw away a bunch of ties, but I still have so many it's crazy - I should thin the ranks.

Wonder if I will ever forget how to tie a half/full Windsor knot?

 

[eytonxav]

This is probably my biggest waster of closet space. Heck, I even have about 4-5 suites from 30 years ago that I held onto in the event I got skinny again

 

[David1961]

I still have my dress shirts and suits that I had when I w*rked. Periodically wear them - at some point, I may donate or sell some of them, but I have the closet space for them so it's not a big deal. And I still have my ties - mainly because they do not take up much room.

 

[Snowcat]

It has been over five years for me and I still can't part with my suits. Even though I am still working, I know I will never work somewhere requiring formal attire. I can wear jeans now. DH gives me a had time for having more jeans than him.
In addition to suits, I still have boxes of materials from prior employment. Have not needed anything-just can't part with thing. I need a support group.

 

[LoneAspen]

I used to work for EDS (Electronic Data Systems) in the early 90's, where a suit was required. We couldn't even take our jackets off unless we were in our own cubes (no joke - anytime you left your cube, you had to put your jacket on). I remember running cable underneath a data center floor wearing a suit, tie, and jacket. It was nuts.

I always felt they cared more about how you looked than the quality of work you did. That's also the place I developed my distaste...no, hatred...for suits.

After I left EDS for much more casual workplaces, I gave away all my suits and have never worn another one, and have no plans to. Business casual is as close as I'll get. God help me, I will never put on another suit and jacket ever again.

 

[scrabbler1]

My former company got rid of its formal dress code back in 1998, so I had not work much formalwear in the last 10 years of work. Some of the shirts wore out over the years while I put on some weight so most of the pants did not fit any more (and I donated them to charity). I wear a sport jacket once in a while to a wedding or funeral, as one jacket is coincidentally the exact same shade of dark blue as one of my formal pants which still fit LOL! Most of the dress shirts still fit, if not, I donated them.

 

[sailor]

Speaking about suits - I noticed that more and more what used to be "suit" events, like funerals or weddings are getting more relaxed dress code - guys are just wearing a shirt and a tie, but not a suit.
Maybe because I'm in the South and the weather is warmer here?
Some guys (I'm guilty here) don't even wear a tie.

 

[braumeister]

Dropped off a dozen dress shirts and 65 good neckties at Goodwill a couple of months ago. That was a nice feeling.

Got rid of all but three suits a dozen years ago, and since they still fit me, I'll never buy another.

 

[W2R]

OK, I'm not a guy, but I had some very nice pants suits as well as dresses for formal work meetings and work occasions. Then there was my long, beige and brown mother-of-the-bride dress and jacket which I liked, but knew I would never wear again.

I wasn't able to bring myself to just donate all of this clothing right away, because I kept thinking that maybe I would need it for something someday. However I find that I tend to prefer casual clothing when I can get away with it, especially in the New Orleans heat.

I think maybe it took about a year (?). Then I saved one simple little black dress to use for funerals or whatever, and put the rest in trash bags and dropped them off at Good Will. Hopefully they will be helpful to someone.

Sailor, in New Orleans guys still always wear expensive, nice, formal suits to funerals and weddings and not just a shirt and tie. But then it might be different in other parts of the South, or in different social circles I guess.

 

[Sarah in SC]

I've pretty much stopped at the point where Rambler said he gave away 50 ties and still has 100!
Holy smokes, I bet if I went into the closets of 20 of my male friends, I couldn't find 150 ties TOTAL! Wow, what a huge difference in lifestyle we have around here. I bet you folks who have had to dress up all the time must LOVE retired life!

DH wore a Spanis style Guyabera shirt to the last wedding we went to. Yes, there were dudes in ties, but he's going for the eccentric friend look. I think it is working. He has one suit that fits, and one that doesn't.

 

[jollystomper]

I plan on keeping my suits and will likely to continue to purchase them after FIRE. I find that I tend to get better treatment by strangers in many social situations when wearing a suit/jacket and tie. Also, my DW and I still have frequent "date nights" and we find it more fun to dress up for them. I have gotten a lot of compliments from women on how I look in a suit, so my vain side says I better keep them.

 

[Semiretired2008]

I had not given this a thought yet, maybe I should. It would be about half of my closet space. Hmmm, then maybe I could find what I am looking for!!!

 

[travelover]

I got rid of most of my suits at the Salvation Army, but have kept too many. I really only need one blue suit for weddings and funerals. I used to have 50 dress shirts, I'm down to 25.

 

[freebird5825]

I wore mostly dress slacks and blazers with a nice top underneath for w*rk. If I knew ahead of time that I would be installing laboratory or computer equipment or making optical connectors, I wore black stretch jeans and wore a Tshirt. I could always throw on a knee length lab coat if I had unexpected visitors on a tour.
I did own 2 "power suits" for briefings and out of town conferences.

After I FIREd, I think I did the full closet cleanout during the 2nd year. I gave everything to my housecleaner, who picked out what she wanted and took the rest to her graduating class of brand new LPNs. I kept 2 blazers and 3 dress slacks for myself.

Now that I no longer have to prove myself in the w*rkplace, I bought and frequently wear girly sundresses and miniskirts in nice weather, something I would never have worn as a female Engineer. I even wear makeup these days.