# Are you a "series" or "parallel" clothes wearer? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 3, 2003, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-series-or-parallel-clothes-wearer/192738 "2003-08-03T17:30:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-series-or-parallel-clothes-wearer/192738/1 "2003-08-03T17:30:23Z")
As a woman, I think I’m a little abnormal in that I get a couple of outfits that I like, and I wear them almost exclusively until they wear out, then I get some more. I consider myself a “series” clothes wearer, but the norm for women is “parallel” clothes - multiple outfits, wearing different stuff all the time, always buying new stuff to supplement the wardrobe. How about it, ladies? Is parallel the norm for women, or am I not as abnormal as I think I am? How about guys? Do you do the same thing as I do, or do you all mostly have parallel clothes going on too? ---
**Author:** ![lovelee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@lovelee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lovelee)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-series-or-parallel-clothes-wearer/192738/2 "2003-08-03T17:37:54Z")
I’m parallel. I tend to have a “favorite”, “not so favorite”, “work only” sort of clothing division within the parallel definition, though. ---
**Author:** ![Mercury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e95f7d/32.png) [@Mercury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mercury)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-series-or-parallel-clothes-wearer/192738/3 "2003-08-03T17:38:52Z")
From my experience, it differs. I think most women are parallel, as am I. I think most men are series, as is my best male friend. However, my boyfriend is a parallel and my best female friend is a series. I have a lot of outfits that I really love, that I would wear every day if I could, but I don’t want them to wear out. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-series-or-parallel-clothes-wearer/192738/4 "2003-08-03T17:40:09Z")
I’m parallel. I couldn’t imagine wearing the same clothes every day. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-series-or-parallel-clothes-wearer/192738/5 "2003-08-03T17:43:23Z")
I’m with you, **featherlou**. I’ll have one or two things which I can wear with out scaring little children on the street. I wear them until they burn out, then drag myself to the store for more. Part of my trouble is, I’m such a tightwad that I despise spending money. Where some women love to shop and acquire new things, it _bothers_ me to spend money. I probably buy clothes about once a year. The last time was a couple of weeks ago. I went to McRae’s and bought 9 pieces … one jeans, four blouses, and two capri sets. That’ll probably be it until next year. Oh yeah… I only spent $129.00 😉 ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-series-or-parallel-clothes-wearer/192738/6 "2003-08-03T17:46:04Z")
I need to be on the senior citizen version of “Queer Eyes for Straight Guys.” ☹ ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-series-or-parallel-clothes-wearer/192738/7 "2003-08-03T19:07:11Z")
I’m a series clothes wearer too. I find one outfit I really like and wear it as much as I can. currently it’s a rainbow-striped spaghetti strap vest top with short khaki shorts. I look good in it and it’s comfortable, and it cost practically nothing. Shame I don’t have duplicates, really. ---
**Author:** ![Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Violet)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-series-or-parallel-clothes-wearer/192738/8 "2003-08-03T19:08:39Z")
More “series” than not. Clothes _and_ shoes. I always gravitate toward the more comfortable stuff. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-series-or-parallel-clothes-wearer/192738/9 "2003-08-03T19:50:49Z")
I’d call myself more of a “piles and piles” person. I currently have 22 pairs of pants hanging in my closet, and I’ve probably worn almost all of them in the past two months. I don’t like to wear the same outfit more than once in a two-week period. I don’t even like to wear the same color two days in a row. My closet is a disaster. It requires a herculean effort just to move the clothes aside in order to hang something up. And there are literal piles of sweaters and sweatshirts stacked around my bedroom. OTOH, I’m definitely a “series” person when it comes to shoes. I’ll wear the same two pairs of sneakers for months and months on end until they fall apart, and then buy new ones. I keep a few pairs of nicer shoes at work to change into – they last for years. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-series-or-parallel-clothes-wearer/192738/10 "2003-08-03T20:33:29Z")
Well, I’ll amend my previous post. I’m parallel when it comes to actually clothes, but serial when it comes to shoes, earrings, and watches. ---
**Author:** ![Slainte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Slainte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slainte)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-series-or-parallel-clothes-wearer/192738/11 "2003-08-03T22:31:37Z")
I’m a series wearer who is in recovery and slowly working my way to parallel. I’ve been stuck in a rut for a long time: I _love_ jeans and solid colored V-neck shirts. It looks good on me & is comfortable. But lately I’ve become tired of wearing the same things, and I’m sure my co-workers are tired of seeing me in the same things. Like **NinetyWt** , I balked at spending so much money. I’ve been paying off credit card debt intensely for the last year or so and I’ve become so focused that I rarely spend money on anything that isn’t a necessity. I’ve finally started buying new things. I have found some cute things and received several compliments at work (they’re probably just grateful for the variety). I’ve allocated a modest amount in my monthly budget for clothes. I’ve started to enjoy buying new clothes, but it has to be done in small doses. ---
**Author:** ![jlsmith57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@jlsmith57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jlsmith57)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2003, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-series-or-parallel-clothes-wearer/192738/12 "2003-08-04T01:22:21Z")
I am also a series girl. I find a few comfortable outfits and wear them until I get tired of them or they wear out and then get a new set. I am way too picky about my clothes and its hard for me to find ones I really like wearing. ---
**Author:** ![Wyatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b19c9b/32.png) [@Wyatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wyatt)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2003, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-series-or-parallel-clothes-wearer/192738/13 "2003-08-04T04:33:39Z")
Wow… hadn’t thought of it in these terms … but I Used to be parallel, now, semi-parallel in shirts and seriously series in pants. (shoes? series to be sure) I have two pair of olive green pants that just swap off, in rotation, nearly every day. And as to favoite clothes? I’m bad enough, when I find get a shirt and wear it a couple times, and realize it’s a ‘new favorite’ … I’m back at the store first chance to get another just like it, when I can! I have a ‘new’ favorite shirt I got last year on Kauai. My folks call and in the news tell me they are going to Kauai on vacation … my first thought … not “how nice, the folks are going on vacation …” Nope, "Hey, Dad, if I send you a picture of my favorite shirt, will you drop by {store name} and see if they still have it? and Get me another like it? _sigh_ sad, huh? Do NOT want to wear out my favorite shirt, would rather have two in the rotation! ---
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2003, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-series-or-parallel-clothes-wearer/192738/14 "2003-08-04T04:41:27Z")
I wear whatever’s on the floor when I wake up 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![5-HT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/f19dbf/32.png) [@5-HT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5-HT)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2003, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-series-or-parallel-clothes-wearer/192738/15 "2003-08-04T06:29:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Trigonal Planar \* > \*\*I wear whatever’s on the floor when I wake up : > \*\* thread over. this is the correct answer. of course, I’m a guy, and I think most of us use this system. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2003, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-series-or-parallel-clothes-wearer/192738/16 "2003-08-04T06:35:36Z")
Guy checking in: Clothes? Any more than a washload is wasted. ---
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2003, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-series-or-parallel-clothes-wearer/192738/17 "2003-08-04T07:06:13Z")
I have parallel clothes, but I think I am more of a series wearer. I usually have 5-7 favorite dresses that I wear unless they all need to go the cleaners, then I go to the parallel stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Kayeby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de0a6/32.png) [@Kayeby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kayeby)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2003, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-series-or-parallel-clothes-wearer/192738/18 "2003-08-04T07:32:56Z")
Parallel, but I often have love affairs with particular items. I don’t buy clothes to supplement my wardrobe - if I see it and love it, I _have_ to have it even if it doesn’t match anything else. As was the case with the $300 floaty pink skirt I bought last week. _sighs and cries over credit card bill_ My boyfriend is a series wearer. He’ll wear a pair of jeans to death and only buy new clothes when I nag him to. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2003, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-series-or-parallel-clothes-wearer/192738/19 "2003-08-04T13:08:46Z")
Definitely series. I decide what looks good together and wear it. I only buy clothes that go with things I already own. I hate shopping. ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2003, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-series-or-parallel-clothes-wearer/192738/20 "2003-08-04T13:19:39Z")
Series. A cow-orker noted that I had a different shirt on the other day. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-series-or-parallel-clothes-wearer/192738.md?page=2)