For legal reason mostly due to the new tax laws, I have emptied and refilled my dresser here in Saudi Arabia. For some reason I own:
1 Jacket
1 Sweater That I have never worn
7 Polo shirts for work
7 colored t-shirts
3 Sweatshirts
5* Undershirts
8* Drawers
7* Pairs black socks
2 Pairs grey wool socks that serve as slippers
2 Dress shirts
2 Pair office pants
1 Pair casual pants
3 Pajama bottoms
1 Pair scrub pants I have not worn in years
2 pair work shoes
1 pair dockers
*I keep a stockpile of these in reserve and I am not counting the reserve.
I have inventoried most of my clothes, but my numbers vary slightly from yours. Note that these are clothes that are in active circulation in my wardrobe. I have others that are no longer being worn.
Buy a 10-pack of solid black, a 10-pack of solid white, and a 10-pack of solid brown. Buy the house brand from someplace ordinary like Kohls or Target. You’re set for life.
Any number of a single color between 10 and 2 is still fully matched. Only when you get down to just one of any color do you have a problem.
Once any color gets down to just a couple survivors, go buy another 10-pack of that color and dump it in the drawer with the others. Pretty good bet they haven’t changed the house brand since 5 years ago when you last bought socks. Viola! (Cello too!)
I don’t know how limited the OP’s quarters are, but that seems like a kinda light wardrobe for a non-retired man.
I have a week’s worth of everything. That way laundry only needs to happen once a week no matter what else is going on. I wear a uniform for work and have to be able to dress on- and off-duty for temps of 0F to 120F. My approach to color is that men’s clothes come in two color groups: the blue / black / gray / white / red group and the brown / tan / green / yellow group. Anything in one group goes with anything else in the same group. But never mix the two groups; that’s bad.
So there’s a week’s worth of summer work uniforms, a week’s worth of winter work uniforms, a week’s worth of my summer off-duty “uniform” (polo & shorts), and a week’s worth of my winter off-duty “uniform” (long sleeve knit shirt & dockers). That’s 7 each of 4 kinds of shirts, 3 each of 3 kinds of pants, 7 summer undershorts, 7 winter undershorts (longies), 7 summer undershirts, 7 winter undershirts (longies), 7 sets of 4 kinds of socks.
The civvie pants and shirts are split up between the two color schemes. And there’s shoes & belts for each. Plus shoes and belt for the uniform pieces.
Plus the very occasional wear stuff like a couple of dress shirts, dress slacks, dress shoes, ties. Plus 4 sets of gym gear: two for traveling in cold & warm weather & two for home were it’s always warmish. Add a couple swim trunks & beach shoes.
Outerwear like light and heavy jackets and light and heavy sweaters are also doubled for the two color schemes. Plus the uniform sweater & suit jacket and outerwear jacket items for work.
I’m no clothes horse; buying clothes is a total PITA. This is just a matter of having 2 seasons and no overlap between work wear & off-duty wear. And needing to plan to go 7 days between laundry.
I have
a couple dozen company logo polo shirts for work
about a dozen pairs of jeans
a stack of black Carhartt K87 tee shirts about a foot or so high
a whole lot of Hawaiian shirts
enough boxer shorts and socks to get me from one laundry day to the next
Two suits. one charcoal, one navy with dress shirts and ties
You saw my haute couture color scheme. Brown/tan clothes demand brown/tan socks. White socks are worn only with gym sneakers or unseen inside boots. Black is for everything else.
I inventoried mine. It inspired me to take 9 bags of clothing to Goodwill. Then we inventoried our jackets and took an industrial size garbage bags to Goodwill. 2 people in Arizona do not need 25 jackets.
