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Weekly News Update

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  • Newsweek [autoplay video] looks at the huge amount of clothing we throw away in the U.S. every year — partly thanks to the surge of fast fashion. In 2012, 84% of it went to landfills or incinerators — and the solution isn't simply to recycle or donate it.
  • The Wall Street Journal asks, “Has Fashion Abandoned the Suit?”
  • In the femalefashionadvice subreddit, redditors offer tips to a woman who asks, “Blazers feel like a costume to me. How do you get used to clothes that are appropriate but unfamiliar?”
  • The Washington Post looks into the reasons many major clothing retailers are struggling lately.
  • The Glass Hammer helps you determine whether you could benefit from an executive coach.
  • Over at Above the Law, Mr. Arrogant Lawyer shares his advice on looking important, Staci Zaretsky shares more reader stories from the Pink Ghetto, and Jeena Cho talks about how to know it's time to quit.
  • New York magazine's The Cut reports on new research that found that when men and women ask for raises, men are 25% more likely to get them.
  • Columnist Jena McGregor's essay in The Washington Post says that people should stop telling everyone the crazy number of hours they work, and that “The idea that being well-rested could be a black mark against a leader is preposterous.” (Donald Trump recently criticized Hillary Clinton for … sleeping.)
  • Speaking of Hillary Clinton — and in case you haven't seen this making the Facebook rounds — Humans of New York talked to her about what it was like trying to get into law school in 1969 — as a woman.
  • For your “Awww” of the Week, BuzzFeed shares excerpts of Victoria Beckham's letter to herself at 18 — the full letter will appear in October's Vogue.

On CorporetteMoms Recently…

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25 Comments

  1. I read somewhere that people wear a clothing item an average of 3 times before throwing it away. (It’s possible this was a tv commercial. I honestly don’t remember.) That can’t be right, can it? There have been a few misses for me, that have pretty much disintegrated in the wash almost immediately, but for the most part, I keep my clothes for a long time. Can someone else weigh in? How often do you wear something before tossing it?

    1. That is not accurate. Sounds like the kind of cray cray generalization that comes from a commercial.

      I certainly do not keep track of how many times I wear something. I keep my clothes a long time, and probably wear them for too long. I do not work in Big Law and grew up to be very frugal, so I am fairly careful with my purchases.

      Deciding to toss is rarely is correlated with age. Since I take great care of my clothes, I have some pieces that are several decades old (I’m in my 40’s). I may tend to get rid of a few things that are totally dated, but I no longer do that if they are well made and in decent condition, as trends come back around so often. But I don’t tend to buy really trendy things. I lean towards modern classic, with a twist.

      Probably the items that are worth the least are my formal dress-up clothes, since I don’t do a lot of that. I realize now that Rent-the-Runway is so so perfect for this reason.

      And I rarely throw things away. I recycle cotton to make rags for cleaning etc.. I take items in good condition to my local consignment shop and sell. I give away things a little dated not worth saving to people I know who may want/need them. And I donate the rest to a local charity shop.

      1. I figured that number had to be way off. They must be counting things like wedding dresses, and even then, it’s so low as to be ridiculous.

      2. I agree with this. Even if for some reason I find myself stuck with something that I really don’t like, I’ll probably find at least 3 times to wear it just to give it a chance. If I really don’t have a use for something that’s in decent shape, it gets donated; I only throw away if it’s something that’s got a hole or stain or is really worn out (and even then I struggle with it – there are two sweaters with holes in my room that have been sitting by the door for months but I just don’t want to toss).

    2. I find that I wear a few things dozens and dozens of time and a lot of things once or not at all before donating/selling them.

      1. I’m the same way, but as I’ve gotten older and since I Kondo-ed my closet, I’ve gotten better at buying things that I like and will wear many times. The few things I buy and end up not liking right away are typically for reasons beyond my control– like I got this really pretty tunic, but it looked like a disaster after the first time I washed it. If I would have known, I wouldnt have bought it. Also, I buy a lot of my casual clothes at goodwill, so I have more of an easy come, easy go attitude with those. If something is a disaster right off the bat, I just consider the small amount of money I paid for it a donation, and bring the item back to goodwill.

        I have just started this experiment where I write down what I wear each day in my bullet journal. It is making me want to re-Kondo my closet, because it’s clear that I could purge even more.

        1. I mentioned it before, but I’ve been using an app called Lookbook. It is one of the few apps I’ve ever paid for, but I love it. I’ve added in most of my clothes and accessories and was able to track down prices since I shop mainly online. You can put everything you wear into the calendar and it will break down the cost per wear for all your items. It also keeps a list of the 25 most and least worn items.

          1. I bought Stylebook and am not loving it. I’ve stuck with my spreadsheet. I wonder how Lookbook compares. I really wish you could play around in the app before buying it.

    3. I don’t know who participated in that survey, but they must have either a lot of money to blow on clothes or buy low quality materials. I make sure I buy great quality materials and timeless styles when I shop for clothing, thus I almost never end up throwing clothes out.

  2. My dad make’s me wear clotheing for at least 3 season’s b/f giveing it away to goodwill. I think this is a good idea b/c of renewable energy. By makeing me wear stuff for 3 years, I am keeping the planet cooler, even tho I sweat more with itchy clotheing. FOOEY!

    1. I was going to post it on the afternoon thread (and you should!). I got goosebumps reading this.

    3. Slow clap, Tim Gunn. Love this. As a size 18 woman, I’d gladly spend more on clothes if I could find more that I like that fit me.

      2. WHY do companies play around with whether they sell sizes 16 and 18? I like LOFT pants and dresses, but they often will only have a couple of items that come in 16 and 18, and most of the collection will stop at 14. I just hope Boden never stops selling size 16, they are most of my work wardrobe right now.

    4. The day they figure out that one can be both plus-sized and tall will be the day I rejoice. My size 18W, 5’10” frame requires items that are not just wider but longer as well.

      1. Yes! Or that short does not always mean petite all around! Yes, I need a super short inseam, but I still have thighs! Thunder & Lightning still need to room to move… lol. Sizing all around is a mess. I’m not considered plus size, I’m usually between 8-12, depending on brand. (That big of a swing says something already.) My challenge is getting pants that fit my waist, hips, and inseam. Recently a lower-priced brand started carrying extra-short jeans, and it’s been a life changer!!

  4. I am in my 40s.

    While I am very comfortable with computers and the internet in general, I grew up in the time before social media. I am not on any site. No Facebook page, and no interest in that stuff.

    But Twitter…

    So on this website, sometimes people with post a response and then add a #lifestinks…. or some phrase. Why exactly are they ?bothering to post that hashtag? Do they want me to actually go to the Twitter site associated with that hashtag, just to ?waste time reading random posts? Or is that more for people who like to just hang out on Twitter searching for random ?hashtags, and while they are reading the “#lifestinks” thread then maybe they will no see a link to the corpor3tt3 site because someone just posted #lifestinks on it.

    How exactly are using Twitter in a practical way? Half the time when I have followed a hashtag there, I can’t even make sense of what people are posting, or it is just links to nonsense.

    And then some people say they actually use Twitter for news? Is this for real?

    1. I have been on Twitter for about 3 years and ignore hashtags. I don’t use them in my tweets or click on them as there’s just a lot of out-of-context tweets. I do find it useful for news. I follow the major Canadian and US media accounts and environmental ones as it’s an interest of mine. And OK I follow a few celebrities.

  6. The article on women’s fashion was… odd. It took until the fourth to final paragraph to note that quality has gone downhill to compensate for the continual “sales.”

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