The Truth About How Many Jeans You Really Need

By Alex Assoune Mar 05, 2021

Denim jeans currently are one of the top-selling clothing items worldwide, especially tight jeans that shape an elegant silhouette and make the lower body appear slimmer. But how many pairs of jeans should you own?

You should aim for 4 to 5 pairs of denim jeans, excluding shorts. It is a good number to meet your everyday needs, even though a woman own 7 pairs on average, and men 6.

The number of jeans you should own is much lower than you think. It depends on how big your closet is, how often you can do your laundry, and your fashion style.

However, jeans can quickly become uncomfortable if you wear them for too long. And they aren't suitable for everyone's fashion style. With the right selection of clothes, you can keep looking and feeling your best.

Most people own too many pieces of clothing and still have nothing to wear, particularly in developed countries. This led the fashion industry to become one of the largest polluters globally.

Conventional denim manufacturing is one of the most polluting processes in the textile and apparel industry. It requires tons of water and chemicals with long-term disastrous effects on human health and the environment.

To help you spend less money on clothing, get dressed much easier, and improve your fashion style over time, here is the truth about how many pairs of jeans you should own.

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Closet size

Ask yourself how much room you have at home before buying any new pair of jeans. Do you truly have enough room in your closet for another pair of jeans?

It's an excellent idea to try to keep your wardrobe simple with only essential pieces that you love. You will make every garment you own a winner.

Having an encumbered closet is never fun. So, find out how many pairs of jeans you should own, take a closer look at how much free room you have at home.

It's fun to buy new stylish pairs of jeans and try various styles to improve your look and accentuate your best features.

It's also difficult to resist when they are so many different styles to choose from, between boyfriend cut, slim, skinny, tight, straight, regular, loose, flared, white, black, and more.

But if you have no space left for them, it doesn't make sense to buy more. Try to dress realistically with wardrobe essentials without being too complicated. And you'll have an easier time getting dressed in the morning.

If you want to reduce your wardrobe budget, purchase new pairs of jeans only if you have space left in your house.

If you like to have more options, make sure you have enough room at home to store your denim jeans. Be sure to like and wear them all. It's good to be extra picky about what you keep.

if you want to spend less money overall on unnecessary fashion items, make an effort to own fewer clothes and adopt a more sustainable and ethical approach to fashion.

Make space in your closet before buying new pairs of jeans. Go through your clothes to get a better picture of what kind of jeans you already own, what you wear regularly, what you don't need anymore, and what you should buy next.

You may even find garments you didn't remember owning in the back of your closet when you declutter your wardrobe. Avoid an oversized wardrobe as it's often overwhelming and stressful.

For most people, 40 to 50 items are plenty enough, including 4 to 5 pairs of casual pants or denim jeans. Follow my ultimate guide on how big your wardrobe should be for inspiration.

Only keep the jeans that you truly need and love to wear so you have more time, space, and money for the things you enjoy the most.

Laundry time

Next, if you want to find out how many pairs of jeans you should own, think about how many times you can wash them during the week. It's one of the biggest things that can help you figure out your wardrobe's ideal size.

If you can do your laundry often enough, you can wear the same pair of jeans regularly. And you won't need that many in your closet, saving you time, space, and money.

Depending on your laundry schedule, you might need more than 5 pairs of jeans. But for most people, 4 to 5 pairs of casual pants, including denim jeans, are all that is needed to look stylish and well dressed.

Keep in mind that you don't need to wash your denim jeans too often. You should wash them only when you need to. And don't wash clothes that you don't wear.

How many times you should wash your clothes depends on a lot of factors. Your lifestyle, your environment, the climate, the types of jeans you like to wear, their quality, and durability.

Casual clothes such as denim jeans can last up to five times wearing them before they need cleaning. It depends on their materials, how dirty they are, how much you sweat, and how active you are during the day.

Wash your clothes at the right moment and only when necessary. Washing denim jeans too often risks damaging the fabrics.

Take good care of the jeans you already have to make them last longer. You will save time and money in the long run, reduce your water and energy consumption, and protect the planet's natural resources.

Fashion style

One of the biggest reasons that most people own so many pairs of rarely-worn jeans is that it's difficult to find flattering pants. Not all pairs of jeans look good on everyone and fit into every fashion style.

Think of your current dressing style and lifestyle to find out how many pairs of jeans you need, if any. It can be that jeans aren't for you at all and you should wear something else to look and feel your best.

Knowing your fashion style is crucial to express your creativity, enhance the way you look, and highlight your best features. List what your clothing essentials are and see if denim jeans fit into them.

Keep nothing superfluous in your wardrobe to save time and money and make space in your life for what is the most important to you.

If you don't know what your preferred clothing style is exactly, you can get inspiration from this definitive list of fashion styles and create stylish outfits every day.

Once you know how you like to get dressed, think of what you normally do during the day.

What activities do participate in daily? When do you go to work? How often do you work out? How many times do you meet with friends? Do you go out regularly during the evening?

These are the questions you should answer to find out how many pairs of jeans you need. You cannot wear denim jeans for every occasion so make sure you build your wardrobe accordingly.

Sustainable denim jeans

Regular denim production requires vast amounts of resources, chemicals, water, and energy. It creates massive amounts of pollution, waste, and greenhouse gases every year.

By changing your shopping habits, you can save time, space, and money, reduce your environmental footprint and also push the denim industry to care more about the planet and the people behind your clothes.

Shop for affordable and sustainable denim jeans that protect the planet and help you look stylish without breaking the bank. The best pairs of jeans are eco-friendly, versatile, and durable.

They are ethically-made with recycled or organic materials to enhance your style and grow your confidence with a good conscience.

Thankfully, many sustainable denim brands make consistent efforts to offer inexpensive and ethical options that make dressing well and sustainably very easy for you.

They are leading the denim jeans revolution and pioneering sustainability with eco-friendly materials, such as organic cotton, lyocell, hemp, and linen.

Discover our selection of the most affordable and sustainable denim brands that produce jeans under the highest social and environmental standards.

Was this article helpful to you? Please tell us what you liked or didn't like in the comments below.

About the Author: Alex Assoune

Alex Assoune (MS) is a global health and environmental advocate. He founded Panaprium to inspire others with conscious living, ethical, and sustainable fashion. Alex has worked in many countries to address social and environmental issues. He speaks three languages and holds two Master of Science degrees in Engineering from SIGMA and IFPEN schools.

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