Do you have more or less clothes in your closet than the average Norwegian?

Counting around
200 items of clothing takes about half an hour. Researcher Vilde Haugrønning
knows this, because she has been to the homes of 15 couples and counted all
their clothes.

They each had
on average about 378 garments in their closets.

This is in good
agreement with a figure from 2016 (link in Norwegian), where the average number of clothes in
Norwegian wardrobes was 359.

“I interpret
that to mean that most people have between 200 and 400 items of clothing in
their wardrobe,” Haugrønning says. “At any rate, there are few who have fewer than 200 garments.”

There are also
many people who have more than 400 items of clothing, according to the clothing researcher. Most are women.

“My figures
show women on average had twice as much clothes as men, based on my count
of 30 people’s clothing,” she says.

The study in
which these figures are included has not yet been published.

An awful lot of clothes

Haugrønning’s
research is part of a project called Change, at Consumption Research Norway (SIFO)
at the Oslo Metropolitan University (OsloMet). The goal of the project is a ‘green transition in clothing consumption’.

We all have an
awful lot of clothes. Or perhaps more importantly: enormous amounts of clothing
are produced daily, much more than what we need.

According to a
report from Economics Norway (link in Norwegian), an independent analytical group, the clothing
industry in Norway disposed of at least 825 tonnes of unsold clothes in 2021.

“We are talking
about a doubling of imported clothing in the last 20 years,” Ingun
Grimstad Klepp, a professor at OsloMet and project manager for Change, says.

“The problem is
that we don’t wear out our clothes. We don’t wear them out and we throw usable clothes in the trash. We need to
stop the import of clothing, but that is partly dependent on sales,” she says.

100 pairs of socks

But back to the
closet.

Because how much
clothing is too much clothing?

“People’s
feeling that they had too many clothes was strong, regardless of the number.
Both people who had just over 200 articles of clothing and those who had close
to 500 garments said they had too much,” Haugrønning says.

And putting a
number on the contents of your own closet in advance is impossible. Socks were
the item of clothing where most people were surprised by how many they actually
had.

“We don’t think
of clothes in numbers, and you rarely see your entire wardrobe. So it can be weird
to realise that you actually have 100 pairs of socks in your closet,”
Haugrønning says.

Several of the
participants found clothes they had forgotten about or didn’t know where were, which they then begain using again.

Tidy up to wear out

And that’s a
good thing, according to the SIFO clothing researchers. Because having a lot of
clothes is not in itself stupid. And getting rid of clothes is not necessarily
a goal.

“This is about
why, and how your wardrobe has become large,” Haugrønning says. “If it’s large
because you buy a lot, but also throw a lot away, then that’s not good for the
environment. But if it’s because you rarely throw things away and have lived a
longer life, then it can be good.”

A large
wardrobe can mean that you take care of things, that you have what you need for
different occasions and seasons, and that you wear out your clothes.

So even though
she has spent time counting T-shirts and sweaters and trousers in other
people’s wardrobes, Haugrønning does not want to focus too much on these
numbers.

“The focus
should rather be on how often you buy clothes, and how often you throw them away. But you
shouldn’t think that just by cleaning out your closet you can get a clearer
conscience. We don’t have good enough solutions today for where the clothes we
get rid of end up,” she says.

And that is
precisely why the 15 couples were visited again six months after the count, to go through what they had gotten rid of since last time.

“Once this data has been analysed, I will be able to say something about the environmental
impact of the individual wardrobe,” she says.

It’s also not
so smart to get rid of your clothes too soon, according to Haugrønning.

“They may come
in handy again a couple of years later,” she says.

Your body and clothes

Clothes pose a
difficult problem for many people, Haugrønning says.

“It has to do
with your body. Your body changes, and you notice it in your clothes. And these
changes are linked to life phases,” she says.

Through her studies, she finds that many people want to be good about their clothing
consumption, and with to make environmentally friendly choices. They don’t want too
many clothes, and they wish things were a bit simpler when it comes to clothes. 

But then there
are weddings and confirmations, there’s exercise, work conferences, parents’
meetings, and trips.

“It takes a lot
of work to look for clothes, try on clothes, change clothes, and return clothes.
And if you buy used, it also takes a lot of time and work,” Haugrønning says.

A clear piece
of advice from the researchers is to spend some time shopping for clothes, so
that you are sure that the clothes you buy actually fit well. You should also
have a good overview of the clothes you own, so it is easy to put together
outfits, for everyday life and special occasions.

“It’s important
to recognise that it takes a lot of time to purchase and manage your clothing,”
she says.

Women and clothes

The fact that
there is a difference in how many clothes men and women have in their wardrobe
is perhaps not surprising. But the reason behind this is so is not simply that
women shop more.

“Both men and
women in my study talked about their bodies. Both sexes gain and lose weight, which
leaves you with clothes that can’t be used. But women can get pregnant and undergo
greater physical changes than men,” Haugrønning says.

“In this case,
you often end up holding on to more clothes, because you think that you can use
them when you are no longer pregnant, and you save maternity clothes for the
next time you are pregnant. Women need more clothes because their bodies vary
more in size,” she says.

And then there
are the social differences.

Haugrønning
finds clothes in men’s wardrobes that are old and worn, but which are
nevertheless taken care of and used from time to time.

“But they are
so worn that if they had belonged to the woman in the household, they would
have been thrown away. It is not as acceptable for women to wear shabby
clothes. There are expectations that govern what feels good and which have a
lot to say about what clothes you end up having in your wardrobe,” she says.

Can’t wait for a change in consumption

Haugrønning
says it has taken a long time for research on clothing consumption to be taken
seriously.

“There has been
much less research on clothes than on food, for example,” she points out.

And when
clothes have been studied, it’s often about fashion and identity, not the
trousers and sweaters of everyday life. But it’s the latter that is needed if we are to know where we can make an effort to create change, according to the researchers.

At the same
time, neither Haugrønning nor Klepp believe that the individual consumer is the
solution to the problem of extreme overproduction of clothing.

“This change
will not happen quickly enough. We are facing
challenges that mean we have to act quickly. The time has now come for regulations, and what we need to do is to regulate imports,” Klepp says. 

The good news is that we
can reduce imports to a third or a quarter of today’s without affecting our use
of clothing. 

“Our purchase of new clothes will have to decrease, but we can still be just as beautiful, well-dressed, and warm as we are today. We were no less
satisfied 20 years ago, when we used around half the resources we use today,” she says.

Strong commercial forces

Synnøve Rubach
is a senior researcher at NORSUS, the Norwegian Institute for Sustainability
Research. Her latest report was launched at Arendalsuka, an annual political event in Norway, with fresh figures for how much clothing is imported to Norway.
This totals to a staggering 90,000 tonnes a year (link in Norwegian).

Rubach agrees
that imports must be reduced, but she is not sure how quickly this can be done.

“There are
strong commercial forces at work here. Our data is incomplete. For example, we
do not have an overview of how much clothing is actually sold, because
businesses won’t answer us, and it isn’t mandatory for them to report these
numbers,” she says.

The report on
imported clothing forms part of the basis for creating an arrangement where
clothing manufacturers and importers take more responsibility, with the aim of
curbing imports. But this is not the ultimate solution, according to Rubach.

“It’s merely a fee for handling a waste management system, but it will be a step in the right
direction,” she says.

Doing something
about each individual’s consumption is very important, Rubach believes. Studies of
the type Haugrønning is doing are extremely important in this respect.

“We need more of
these kinds of studies, which look at different parts of Norway, different
population groups, and income groups. We need to gain more insight, so that we
can adapt nudging methods, small nudges in everyday life that get people to
switch to more responsible consumption,” Rubach says.

“Only one per cent of the clothes that are collected in
Norway are reused here at home. There are enough clothes, so to speak, that
we’re almost drowning in them. But people want new things all the time. We must
change our consumption so that used clothes are also usable,” she says.

———

Translated by Nancy Bazilchuk

Read the Norwegian version of this article on forskning.no