How long before you tossed your work clothes?

Boose

Boose

Recycles dryer sheets
Joined
Apr 19, 2011
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214
Location
New Hampshire
Did you gleefully fill garbage bags for Goodwill at the first opportunity? Or did you wait a while for your retirement pursuits to settle? I'm weeding my closet in anticipation of moving and am finding that I'm no longer wearing the work clothes that are a) loud and whimsical or b)commodious (I was a public librarian). Spending a lot of time hiking, doing yoga, and cooking and no longer trying to look approachable (yet not too approachable) to library patrons. Guess I'll save one librarian-ish blazer for funerals, though.
 
Well, I retired 12 years ago so it's hard to remember. I got rid of most of the clothes that I wore to formal meetings pretty quickly, though, except for one black dress which I kept for funerals. I donated a lot of them to Good Will, and the rest I tossed.

My every day work clothes were "business casual" (long pants and polo shirts) and I thought I'd want to wear them in retirement. But I didn't! I got rid of them more gradually as I bought my new "retiree casual" clothing (shorts and ladies' t-shirts). I think they are nearly all gone by now.

It's probably a really good idea to get rid of some/most of them before you move, seems to me! Imagine unpacking at your new home and pulling out all those work clothes. :sick:
 
My office was casual (startup tech company) so there was really nothing to throw out.
 
Got rid of most of my suits, blazers, dress pants & shirts right away. Kept a suit that I’ve not worn in 3 years of retirement, so that’s next to go. Got a couple blazer slack combinations that I’ve probably worn less than three times - literally funerals and weddings, so I’ll pare those down soon. I’ve also lost weight so I’m about to just toss everything and get a new blazer and slacks and that will be it. Thankfully, I also have a couple outfits that are appropriate for golf that are also respectable for casual dining at a bit nicer restaurants where I don’t want to wear a jacket. No doubt, my closet has more room and my dresser has less since retirement.
 
Montecfo said:
My office was casual (startup tech company) so there was really nothing to throw out.
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Ditto... So I have not really thrown anything out because it was work related. Still donated about 40 shirts and pants as I have hundreds.
In my defense some of my hundreds are 30 yrs old, which is a sign of my cheapness .. :facepalm:
 
I waited about six months and then recycled or donated many work shirts, suits, etc. I kept my collection of ties, but put them high in my closet, thus requiring a stepstool to get to them. I told my wife I wanted to force myself to think carefully about wearing one again. As it turns out in the six years since FIRE, I only needed to wear a tie once to a somewhat formal holiday party three years ago.

It's interesting that I kept the ties. They seem to have a personal connection, unlike shirts and suits. Also, relatively easy to store.

-BB
 
I'd planned to retire at 65 and spent a lot on tailor-made pieces while in my late 50s- and then threw in the towel almost 7 years ago at age 61. I almost never wear them except, as others have mentioned, to weddings and funerals, but they were made for ME! The tailor even measured the angle of the slope of each shoulder separately. I'm a Church Lady but no one in my church dresses up that much. I still can't throw them out. I joke that they motivate me to maintain my weight at the same level.

So, I keep them- including the shirts with the French cuffs and my 14k gold cuff links.
 
I didn't toss them when I retired 7 years ago. And it had been years before that when I wore most of them. I'll be digging them out and wearing them to jury duty next week.
 
Ronstar said:
I didn't toss them when I retired 7 years ago. And it had been years before that when I wore most of them. I'll be digging them out and wearing them to jury duty next week.
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I have respect for the court, but when I went to Jury duty, a polo shirt and khaki’s worked fine. But, if you want a reason to wear some of your old duds, go for it.
 
Left my suits hanging in a Riyadh closet - December 1988.
 
Been 16 years and a bunch of them are still in the closet. Maybe this thread will motivate me to clear them out. Most don't fit well anyway since I lost weight after ER.
 
Jerry1 said:
I have respect for the court, but when I went to Jury duty, a polo shirt and khaki’s worked fine. But, if you want a reason to wear some of your old duds, go for it.
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My work clothes were casual - khakis and a collared shirt. Nothing extravagant.

Thought I'd better go with the work clothes as opposed to the tattered jeans and shirts I wear now.
 
Ronstar said:
My work clothes were casual - khakis and a collared shirt. Nothing extravagant.

Thought I'd better go with the work clothes as opposed to the tattered jeans and shirts I wear now.
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They wouldn’t care what you wear. They’re just glad you are there. But, respect for the Court . . .
 
Jerry1 said:
They wouldn’t care what you wear. They’re just glad you are there. But, respect for the Court . . .
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Yes- respect for the court.

And as one of my old college professors said - "whether you like it or not, people judge you by the way you look"
 
I know that we have a DC charity (a friend is on the board) that specifically asks for women's professional clothes, because it also runs a shelter and other support and recovery services, and they try to help their clients prepare for job interviews. Of course many women might look in Goodwill, but it might be worth calling a local women's shelter or two to see if they have a similar program.
 
Once I left the corporate world and re-interred academia I took suits and dress shoes to Goodwill. I kept a few sport coats. For the college classes I would alternate between a sport coat (if it was cool out), a leather motorcycle jacket and jeans (if I rode to work), and golf shirts. Kept all of those.


Cheers!
 
I got rid of them within just a few years. Never really liked wearing uniforms anyway, despite simplifying the "what will I wear today" question. :D
 
I'm not throwing out jeans and T-shirts and I still can use a suit now and then.
 
Ronstar said:
I didn't toss them when I retired 7 years ago. And it had been years before that when I wore most of them. I'll be digging them out and wearing them to jury duty next week.
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That's an interesting thought. I have jury duty in late May. I've never been on one and would like to; got thrown out on a peremptory challenge the first time because it was a civil suit and I worked for a property-casualty insurance company. Second time I never made it into the box for voir dire before they empaneled a jury. My pinstripe suit would probably make me stand out like a sore thumb and make one side or the other suspicious. Will have to choose carefully.
 
I culled the dress shirts after a few years, just to free-up space. Only recently did I cull the sock drawer. For almost 6 years, 60% of the drawer was taken up by black socks. I think I went to a couple of weddings, but otherwise never touched them.
 
It's been 8 years for me, so my work clothes are long gone. I kept a few things for awhile but I just never wore the formal stuff again. I sold quite a few of my nicer things on eBay and Facebook.
 
I never really tossed them.... After ~ten years most of the clothes are still hanging in the closets. About once a year I'll still need to "dress up" for some occasion.
 
I dropped 70 pounds a couple years after I retired, nothing fit other than a suit I don't remember wearing.
 
I worked remote for the last 4 years and when in the office only needed to dress business casual. That said, I kept my best (newest) pair of pants and a two shirts. The rest went to good-will within a month of retiring.
 
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