I have a spreadsheet listing all my clothes, how much they cost and when I bought them. When I feel like I’m not 100% happy about my wardrobe I print out this spreadsheet and use it to track what I’m wearing to figure out what I’m doing wrong. 

I first did it about five years ago when I made an international move and my clothing needs suddenly changed. I moved to the west coast of Scotland — cool, windy – from a drier country with more extreme hot summers and snowy winters. My lifestyle changed too as I spent more time working from home. 

Tracking my wears for a whole year showed me that I almost never wore the skirts and dresses I’d accumulated, but I had wool jumpers, leggings and jersey tops on rotation. That gave me the information I needed to step away from new skirts and dresses, however, appealing they were, but give myself full permission to pick up second hand wool jumpers when I spotted one in the local charity shop. It also showed me what I wasn’t wearing at all and might want to let go of. 

After that I stopped. But I started again this winter, when I realised I had gradually accumulated a bit more clothing than I actually needed. 

So I updated my spreadsheet and printed it out again, with a space for each item to mark when I’d worn it. I also went through and marked around 40 items as ‘winter’. I planned to wear every one of them during the winter — and if I didn’t I’d have some questions to ask about weather I actually needed them. 

Overall, tracking my wears has given me much better information about what to keep and what to let go of. 

And it helped me to put together a small capsule of clothes for my 90 days of Shein challenge, because if I have to buy new things, at least I can be sure they are things I will use. 

Now, of course, I’m using that spreadsheet to track exactly what I wear during the three months of wearing only Shein. 

Everything I wore on Day 22 of the 90 days of Shein challenge:

Note the ever-extending sleeves on this sweater!

SHEIN LUNE Women’s Batwing Sleeve Round Neck T-shirt, grey

Women’s Solid Color Basic Daily Leggings

Dazy-Less Women’S V-Neck Drop Shoulder Long Sleeve Sweater, green

Beige trench coat (thrifted) 

2024 New Style College Wind Black & White Outdoor Sports Shoes for Women

DAZY Women’s Floral Print Sleeveless Round Neck Sleep Dress

3pack Lace Trim No Show Brief, pink

Fashionable Color-Block Lingerie Set, bra

3pairs/set Fashionable Women’s Socks, white