The Ultimate Guide To How Many Pants You Need

How many pairs of pants should I own? You've come to the right place to find out if you have too many pants in your wardrobe. With the following easy tips, you can improve your fashion style, save money, and protect the planet.

The number of casual pants you only really need and wear is 4 to 5, even though most women own 7 pairs of pants on average, and men 6 pairs. Add 2 pairs of formal trousers to complete your wardrobe.

Of course, this excludes additional lounge pants, leggings, track pants, shorts, and pajama pants you should own to meet your everyday needs, even in a small closet.

You don't really need as many pairs of pants as you would think. It depends on how big your closet is, how often you can do your laundry, and your fashion style.

Consider how many of your pairs of pants you actually wear. Depending on your lifestyle and personal preferences, you don't need to own an excessive amount of clothes.

With the right selection of clothes, you can save time, space, and money. Reducing your closet is a fabulous way of getting dressed easier and faster to look and feel your best.

Keeping a small and simple wardrobe not only decreases stress by making things less complicated but also saves natural resources and protects the environment.

To help you spend less money on clothing, improve your fashion style, and save the planet, here is the ultimate guide to how many pairs of pants you should own.

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Step 1: Consider your lifestyle

Having too many clothes is one of the biggest reasons why most people spend too much money and experience stress regularly.

Buying more clothes that you actually need, storing them, and caring for them, is not only overwhelming but also costs you more money than it should.

Reduce your closet as much as possible to simplify your wardrobe, save time and money, and make space in your life for what is the most important to you.

Simply think about your current lifestyle and answer a few questions to find out how many pairs of pants you need.

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

It takes just a couple of minutes to get organized when you are decluttering your closet to really figure what you should keep and what you should get rid of.

Step 2: Find out your fashion style

One of the biggest reasons that most people own so many pairs of rarely-worn pants is their fashion style. It's difficult to find flattering pants that look good on you and fit into your lifestyle.

Think of your current dressing style and lifestyle to find out how many pairs of pants you really need. Make sure you actually like and plan to wear every new piece of clothing you buy to make every garment you own a winner.

If you know your fashion style and what suits you the best, you can easily express your creativity, enhance the way you look, and highlight your best features. List what your clothing essentials are before you go out on a shopping spree.

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

Step 3: Think of your laundry time

Next, if you want to find out how many pairs of pants 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 pants 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 pants. But for most people, 4 to 5 pairs of casual pants, including denim jeans, are more than enough to meet everyday needs.

Keep in mind that you don't need to wash your casual pants 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 pants 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 your pants too often risks damaging the fabrics.

Take good care of the clothes 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.

Step 4: Determine your ideal closet size

Ask yourself how much room you have at home before buying any new pants. Do you truly have enough space in your closet for another pair of pants? If you have no place left for new pants, it doesn't make any sense to buy more.

Try to keep your wardrobe simple with only essential pieces that you like and wear regularly. You'll have an easier time getting dressed in the morning. Having an encumbered closet is stressful and overwhelming.

If you want to reduce your clothing budget, purchase new pairs of pants only if you have space left in your closet. So go through your clothes and be extra picky about what you keep.

You may even find pants you didn't even remember you had bought in the back of your closet. Only keep the clothes that you truly need to have more time, space, and money for the things you enjoy the most.

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.

Step 5: Figure out a good number

We’ve put together a very useful list of how many pairs of pants you and your family need depending on your lifestyle and personal preferences. Don't be worried if it doesn't fit your needs right away.

You don't have to make drastic changes suddenly. Just start reducing today one piece at a time and adapt your lifestyle progressively. Feel free to make adjustments along the way.

It will become much easier to craft fabulous outfits with fewer clothes overall if you stick with it in the long run. Your dressing sense improves with time, practice, and experience.

Hopefully, these simple tips will help you cut back on your clothing budget and get more use out of what you already have.

Babies and toddlers

3-4 casual pants
1-2 everyday shorts
4-5 pajama pants or shorts

Children

3-4 pairs of pants or denim jeans
1-2 everyday shorts
1-2 formal trousers or dress pants
2-3 pajama pants or shorts

Teenagers

4-5 pairs of pants or denim jeans
2-3 everyday shorts
1-2 pairs of leggings
1-2 pairs of track pants
1-2 formal trousers or dress pants
1-2 lounge pants or sweatpants
3-4 pajama pants or shorts

Women working from home

4-5 pairs of pants or denim jeans
3-4 everyday shorts
3-4 pairs of leggings
1-2 formal trousers or dress pants
2-3 lounge pants or sweatpants
3-4 pajama pants or shorts

Women working outside the house

4-5 pairs of pants or denim jeans
2-3 everyday shorts
2-3 pairs of leggings
1-2 formal trousers or dress pants
1-2 lounge pants or sweatpants
3-4 pajama pants or shorts

Men working from home

4-5 pairs of pants or denim jeans
3-4 everyday shorts
1-2 pairs of track pants
1-2 formal trousers or dress pants
2-3 lounge pants or sweatpants
3-4 pajama pants or shorts

Men working outside the house

4-5 pairs of pants or denim jeans
2-3 everyday shorts
1-2 pairs of work pants
1-2 pairs of track pants
1-2 formal trousers or dress pants
1-2 lounge pants or sweatpants
3-4 pajama pants or shorts

Step 6: Buy your favorite pairs of pants

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

Thankfully, many sustainable fashion brands make consistent efforts to offer inexpensive and ethically-made garments that make dressing well and sustainably very easy for you.

To help you make more conscious wardrobe choices as a well-informed consumer, here are some of the best pairs of pants made under high social and environmental standards.

Made trade

Category: Pants, shorts, joggers, leggings, sweatpants
For: Women, men
From: Portland, United States
Values: Organic, Fair Trade, recycled, vegan, BIPOC, made in the USA
Prices: $30-$150

Made Trade is a sustainable and ethical company that makes goods for the minimalist wardrobe and home. It offers affordable pants, shorts, joggers, leggings, sweatpants, and more for women and men.

Made Trade is committed to transparency and making a positive impact on the world. The curated online marketplace sells a great selection of ethical, essential products handcrafted in the USA and around the world.

Made Trade adheres to sustainable and fair practices that support both artisans and the Earth's natural resources. It strives to make the world a more beautiful place through higher ethical standards.

SHOP MADE TRADE

Tentree

Category: Pants, shorts, joggers, leggings, sweatpants
For: Women, men, children
From: Vancouver, Canada
Values: Organic, B Corp, recycled, vegan, give back
Prices: $30-$120

Tentree is an ethical fashion brand designing clothing for a healthy, sustainable world with recycled materials and organic fabrics such as cotton and hemp.

Tentree is the perfect destination to buy affordable and minimalist basics, pants, shorts, joggers, and more. Currently, every single piece of Tentree apparel is vegan.

The sustainable clothing brand is B Corp certified and partners with charitable organizations across the world to plant trees and rehabilitate natural ecosystems.

Tentree aims to guide you on your journey and empower you to do your best when it comes to the environment. It already planted over 48 million trees and restored land in over eight countries.

SHOP TENTREE

Outerknown

Category: Bottoms, pants, shorts
For: Women, men
From: Los Angeles, California, United States
Values: Organic, Fair Trade, recycled
Prices: $50-$160

Outerknown is a clothing label that creates effortless clothes for women and men rooted in sustainability and transparency. It makes versatile and casual pants for the modern wardrobe with the most planet-friendly fibers.

Outerknown keeps strict sustainability rules and aims to raise the standard for sustainable design in the global fashion industry. It uses organic and recycled materials to reimagine design and embrace circularity.

Accredited by the Fair Labor Association (FLA), the ethical fashion brand invests in the livelihoods of over 5K workers through Fair Trade USA. Three of its partners are Fair Trade Certified.

SHOP OUTERKNOWN

Girlfriend Collective

Category: Leggings, lounge pants, shorts
For: Women
From: Seattle, Washington, United States
Values: Organic, recycled, inclusive
Prices: $10-$70

Girlfriend Collective makes sustainable underwear, loungewear, and activewear out of recycled materials, such as recycled polyester from PET bottles and regenerated nylon.

Husband-and-wife duo Ellie and Quang Dinh launched the brand in 2016 to create flattering, comfortable, and supportive leggings.

Girlfriend Collective aims to make luxurious, responsible sportswear and be as transparent as possible. It fosters a community of people who care about beautiful designs as much as the people making their clothes.

The sustainable label makes eco-friendly and high-quality textiles from recycled materials in its facility in Taiwan. It offers affordable leggings, shorts, briefs, basics, sweats, and more.

SHOP GIRLFRIEND COLLECTIVE

Reformation

Category: Denim jeans, casual pants, loungewear, activewear
For: Women
From: Los Angeles, California, United States
Values: Organic, recycled, made in the USA
Prices: $10-$160

Reformation makes sustainable and affordable pants for women. It offers a collection of organic basics and timeless classics for petite up to extended sizes.

The minimalist clothing retailer designs effortless silhouettes that celebrate the feminine figure with the most beautiful and sustainable fabrics possible. It pays attention to minimize its social and environmental impacts.

Reformation uses sustainable materials such as organic cotton, recycled cotton, linen, and Tencel lyocell. It also makes some of its clothes with upcycled and recycled materials, such as regenerated nylon or deadstock fabrics.

SHOP REFORMATION
 

PACT

Category: Pants, sweatpants, leggings, tights
For: Women, men, children
From: Boulder, United States
Values: Organic, Fair Trade, recycled
Prices: $20-$70

PACT is a leading sustainable fashion brand using organic fabrics and Fair Trade factories to design stylish essential clothing for the minimalist wardrobe. It creates ethical apparel for women, men, kids, and babies.

PACT offers a change you can wear, organic cotton clothing, and home goods, sustainably and ethically made. It strives to inspire change by doing better and being better.

PACT promotes organic clothing for everyday use. It designs clothes that are affordable, practical, comfortable, and easy. It offers organic casual pants that fit the lifestyle of conscious consumers because doing good should be easy.

SHOP PACT

Boody

Category: Pants, loungewear, activewear
For: Women, men, children
From: San Diego, California, United States
Values: Organic, vegan, give back
Prices: $20-$80

Boody is a sustainable and minimalist fashion label making everyday soft, comfortable, and classic pants. It uses bamboo viscose to produce most of its beautiful, timeless, eco-friendly, and affordable clothes.

Boody aims to deliver easy-to-wear minimalist pieces you can feel good about. It offers affordable and ethically-made underwear, basics, loungewear, activewear, and accessories for women, men, and kids.

The brand ensures that lawful, humane, and ethical work conditions with the WRAP certification. And all bamboo involved in its production chain comes from FSC-certified sustainably managed forests.

All Boody products are PETA Vegan Approved and certified. The clothing brand doesn't use any animal product in the production of its garments, making it 100% vegan.

SHOP BOODY

Alternative Apparel

Category: Basics, loungewear, joggers, sweatpants
For: Women, men, children
From: Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Values: Organic, recycled
Prices: $30-$90

Alternative Apparel is a minimalist clothing brand selling affordable and stylish fashion classics for a better future. It creates timeless loungewear, outerwear, and knitwear for women, men, and children from organic and recycled fabrics.

Alternative Apparel is a minimalist fashion brand best known for comfort, simplicity, and commitment to sustainability, making many affordable, vegan, and eco-friendly clothes.

Alternative Apparel is mindful of the impact it makes on the planet and its people. It uses biodegradable mailer bags and recycled materials. It adheres to the Fair Labor Association (FLA) guidelines, and most of its facilities are WRAP certified.

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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.