Have you ever wondered how much money people really spend on their wardrobes? Or if everyone else finds it super easy to get dressed while you’re over there struggling every morning? Well, this year I asked those questions and more in the 2024 style survey, and thousands of you answered. Today I’m sharing the results of the survey and a few of my favorite responses. Let’s get started.

Hello, gorgeous. Welcome back to the Everyday Style School, the podcast that gives real-life style advice to real-life women. I’m your host, Jennifer Mackey-Mary. I’m a wardrobe stylist who’s been dressing everyday women for over 20 years, and I’m the founder of Everyday Style, where we’re on a mission to inspire women to love the way they look and give you the tools to make getting dressed easy.

Many, many years ago, before I ever had this show, a podcast that I listened to did an end-of-the-year survey for their listeners, getting their thoughts on all things business and marketing related. I thought it was so fun — I really loved hearing what other people were thinking and what they were doing. So when I started this show back in 2019, I thought I should do a year-end listener survey. And then for four years, December would roll around and I would think, oh shoot, I totally meant to do a listener survey, I’ll put that on the plan for next year. Well, the fifth time is the charm, apparently, because this year I finally did it. I got my act together and did it. And I had so much fun putting the survey together and reading your responses that I think I might make this an annual thing — we will see, I’d love your feedback on that.

One reason I wanted to do the survey is there are lots of questions, both clothing related and not, where I think, am I normal, do other people think like this, do they feel and act the same way? And maybe you wonder those things too — like, how much do people really spend on their clothes every year? You can’t really ask people that, it’s not polite. But I can, and I can share the answers with you. Selfishly, I also wanted to do a survey because it helps me know what you guys are struggling with, so as we’re creating resources both for the podcast and for our members, I can make sure we’re developing things that you need most. And finally, I’m just nosy, I can’t help it. If you took the survey, thank you for indulging me.

Now, my goal with sharing the responses is, of course, to satisfy the “am I the only one” curiosity — which, spoiler alert, no, you’re not the only one, and you’re not weird either. But also, I wanted to share some patterns and connections between some of the questions and responses, and hopefully make you think a little bit about how you think about style, and then share some actions you can take if you want to make getting dressed easier and more successful.

A lot of the questions I used this year were taken right from the pre-service questionnaire I used to give my one-on-one clients. These are questions that helped me get insight into who they were, why they were struggling, and how I could help them best — it was kind of my “before I got their diagnosis,” right? So that seemed as good a place to start as any for our annual listener survey.

So let’s get started. First annual. Let’s do this.

Spending

Okay, the first two questions I asked were about spending. The first thing I wanted to know was how much you spent this year on clothes and accessories for yourself. Here is the breakdown:

• 11% said they spent under $500
• 28% said they spend between $500 and $1,000
• 16% answered $1,000 to $1,500
• 9% spent $1,500 to $2,000
• 23% spent over $2,000
• 12% answered that they have no idea how much they spent on clothes

So there is your “how much are people really spending” breakdown. But what’s more interesting to me was the next question, where I asked: do you set and follow a budget for clothing and accessories? 20% of you said yes, you make and follow a clothing budget, and 80% said nope, you just buy what you want or buy what you need.

Now, I’m willing to bet that some of the respondents who don’t set a budget — part of that 80% — track where their spending goes after the fact, right, like a little app that shows where you spent your money. That’s some of them. But I’m guessing more of that 80% are guesstimating how much they really spend. And here, my friends, is the first call-out of the show: if you are not budgeting in advance or tracking your spending after the fact, the only true answer for you is “I have no idea.” And only 12% of you fessed up.

Now, granted, I made those categories pretty broad, so you have a $500 range to be right within. But did you know studies have found people underestimate their clothing spending by around 30%? That’s a lot. My theory is that we have an awareness of the big stuff — the memorable clothing, like, oh, that perfect pair of jeans, that jacket I invested in. We forget that we bought that T-shirt from Loft in three colors. Those little, often unplanned purchases that don’t seem like a big deal at the time can, in the end, tack on quite a bit of spending.

Now, if your wardrobe looks like you’d like it to look and your finances are where you’d like them to be — great, fantastic, no harm, no foul. But one thing I used to hear from clients pretty frequently was that they felt like they couldn’t afford nicer clothing. They wanted premium denim, or a pair of designer shoes, but felt like those things were out of financial reach. If that resonates with you, I want you to consider becoming more financially aware when it comes to your wardrobe.

I worked with a client, Linda, who really wanted a certain pair of shoes — sneakers, around $500. Not crazy, crazy expensive, but for her they were a financial stretch. She was convinced she could not afford them. But when we went through her closet, I pulled out way more than $500 in unworn or underworn clothes, most of which were just impulse purchases. She had a lot of guilt and regret when I showed her that, yeah, she could have had the shoes if she’d had an awareness of where her clothing money was going. You can’t go back and undo your spending, but you can do different going forward.

A couple of ways to be more intentional about your spending are: one, shop less often, and two, be a hunter, not a gatherer. In the survey, I asked how often you purchase clothing and accessories for yourself, and 37% said every few months — which is great. Or maybe we just have a lot of capsule followers who shop every three months when the new guide comes out, I don’t know. But only purchasing every few months allows you to use more of what you already have, and identify pieces you really want and need without being swayed by all the impulse, “it’s on sale” stuff. It allows you to be more intentional with your spending.

Another 3% said they shop twice a year, which leaves 60% shopping monthly, two to three times per month, or weekly. If you are in that 60%, be really aware of impulse purchases and overspending — you might be keeping yourself from having the wardrobe that you really want.

And when it comes to hunting versus gathering, 55% claim to be hunters and 45% are self-reported gatherers. If you listened to my episode on hunting versus gathering, which we will link in the show notes, you know there is a time and a place for both approaches. But if you want to spend more wisely, I would lean into hunting.

I also asked listeners to share their best clothing purchase of 2024 — what it was, how much they spent on it, and why it was so fabulous. There were so many great responses. I especially loved all the stories of life-changing bra fittings, and the stories of unique pieces that you found that truly feel like you and bring your style to life. Those pieces are so important. But I wanted to share these two responses with you.

The first one was from Jane M, who said: “A pair of expensive jeans that were over $200. I debated forever, but they fit like a dream and they make me feel cool, not like a 43-year-old mom.”

The other one was from Kelly L, who said: “I found the perfect black sweater at a thrift store for under $10. It’s so soft, and you can feel the quality. Every time I wear it, I feel glamorous.”

So, out of all the responses, why did I pick these two? Because they perfectly sum up that smart purchases have nothing to do with price. It’s not about saving all the money and just being cheap, or just filling your closet with expensive things — it’s about building a wardrobe of value. And value is completely subjective. Value is about how important things are to you, how they make you feel. Finding clothes that make you feel like a million bucks and that make it easy to get dressed — those are the valuable clothing items, no matter what they cost, whether they’re $200 or $10. Make finding those things your goal. If you focus on building a valuable wardrobe, you will never waste money. If you’re not sure how to build a valuable wardrobe, we’ve got an episode for that, and we will link it in the show notes.

Style and Mood

Okay, let’s move on from money and talk about style and getting dressed and some of your challenges. Let’s start with the most overwhelmingly agreed-on response in the entire survey, and that was to the question: does what you’re wearing affect your mood? 99.3% of you said yes. That’s a lot — that’s almost everybody. And I am so, so happy that you’re aware that your clothes and your style affect how you feel.

Now, I didn’t ask how it affected your mood, but I think we could all agree that when you like what you’re wearing, you feel better, and when you feel frumpy or inappropriately dressed, or your clothes are physically uncomfortable, you’re less happy. I don’t think I’m making a huge leap there. But that 99% tells me you know your wardrobe can have a powerful effect on how you feel.

Here are a couple more questions that confirm you know style matters: 88% said “mostly yes” or “yes” to the statement, dressing well is a form of self-care. 90% answered “mostly” or “yes” to the statement, what I wear matters. And when I asked, on a scale of one to 10, how important is being stylish to you, 79% rated it a 7.5 or higher. So, yeah — obviously you wouldn’t be listening to the show if style didn’t matter to you, but the data from the survey supports that idea, which is good. We are all on the same page. I love that.

Here’s where things get a little interesting, though. In the survey, I asked, do you struggle to get dressed — and here’s the important part — in a way that makes you feel good?

• 22% said they never or rarely struggle to get dressed. Hats off to you ladies, pat yourselves on the back, give yourself a big style high five.
• 29% said they struggle more to get dressed for activities outside of their everyday lives.
• 28% said they struggle to get dressed for everyday life.
• 21% said they struggle equally for everyday life and special occasions.

I am terrible at math, but my calculator says that’s 78% of you who struggle to get dressed in a way that makes you feel good. From experience — both as a wardrobe stylist who has seen lots of women struggle, and as a human who has struggled lots of times herself — I know that when you struggle to get dressed, the outcome is rarely great. No one struggles their way into a fabulous outfit that makes them feel beautiful. We struggle our way into, “it’s fine, I guess,” “at least I’m not naked,” “this’ll do.” Not good things, right?

To the statement “I get dressed with intention,” almost 50% answered “never” or “sometimes.” And 44% said “not at all” or “somewhat” to the statement, being stylish is worth the effort. I feel like what’s happening here is that there’s a disconnect between what’s going on in our heads and what happens every day when we go to get dressed. It’s like we know we feel better when we like the way we look, and we want to feel stylish and put together, but in the everyday it just feels like work — work that may not be worth it in that moment.

I asked two questions, really, that illustrate this point — questions I’ve asked my community groups for years, and the results are always the same, and this time was no different. I asked: ideally, would you always be a little overdressed or a little underdressed? 85% want to be a little overdressed, while 15% preferred to be a little underdressed. Then I asked: in reality, are you always a little overdressed or a little underdressed? 47% said they’re overdressed in reality, and 53% own up to being underdressed in reality.

In our minds, we have this vision of being the woman who chooses real pants on a random Tuesday. But when we stand in front of our clothes to get dressed — yeah, stretchy pants it is. And I get it, I truly do. Working from home, living a very casual life, I fall into that trap too. I have to consciously make an effort to be the person, and dress like the person, that I want to be, to match the image I have of myself in my mind. It does not magically just happen.

Honestly, I think a big part of this is our obsession with comfort. And let me be super clear — I think you should be comfortable in your clothes, I don’t see myself ever sitting in my home office in hard pants and a blazer anytime soon. But I think it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that comfortable clothes look a certain way.

I’m going to share two quick examples with you, and then we’ll get back to the survey. A few weeks ago I had to go to a funeral — my favorite uncle passed away — and I ended up wearing a midi skirt, tights, boots, and a cozy sweater. It looked very polished, if I do say so myself. I know that wasn’t the point of the day, but it was a good outfit. In the car, I actually said to my husband, this outfit is so comfortable, why don’t I wear this more often? In reality, it was just as comfortable as the athleisure I default to most days. And don’t get me wrong, I have cute athleisure, I’m not walking around in frumpy sweats — but my skirt and sweater were so much more elevated. It just would have taken a little more intention.

Which is what I told one of our Style Circle members recently, in a little tough-love moment. She was struggling with being stuck at home due to health reasons, defaulting to not-cute, comfy clothes every day, and not feeling great. Before you think I’m a total jerk — I did not tell her to suck it up and put on a blazer and heels, I am not that mean. But I did tell her that dressing well is a choice, and it takes just as much time to put on cute, comfy clothes as it does to put on sloppy comfy clothes — but the mental boost is worth that effort. Then I told her step one is to get some cute, comfy clothes if she didn’t have them, and step two was to intentionally choose those every day instead of defaulting to the other stuff. Getting dressed with intention is so important.

Which brings me back to the survey question about struggling. If you don’t have the right clothes in your closet for how you want to look and feel, you will struggle. If you don’t have jeans that make you feel great, or everyday tops that fit well and embody your style, you will struggle. If you don’t have special-occasion pieces in your closet, you will struggle. If you struggle to get dressed, the first solution is putting pieces into your closet that will solve that problem. If you are one of the 99% of responders who know that what you wear affects your mood, and you’re one of the 78% who’s struggling to get dressed, it’s time to put two and two together and solve it.

Struggles and Solutions

In the survey, I asked, what’s your biggest style struggle or challenge, and what have you tried to fix it? And I kid you not, there were hundreds of responses to this one — talking about everything from understanding your body shape, to size fluctuations, to never having the right pieces, to finding comfortable shoes, you name it. To be really honest with you, there wasn’t anything that made me go, huh, I’ve never heard that one before — it was kind of the usual list of what I hear from women.

But what was interesting to me was that despite this being a two-part question — what’s the struggle, and what have you tried to fix it — less than 5% of the responses shared what they’ve tried. By the way, overwhelmingly, the “what have you done to fix it” respondents shared that they joined the Style Circle, and I am so thrilled about that, I truly am. But I didn’t want this survey or this episode to be a commercial for our membership, so I’m not going to read those. I will say, if you’re ready to stop struggling and make getting dressed easier and more successful, that’s what we do — come join us, you can find the link in the show notes.

Okay, but that still leaves me with a ton of answers sharing struggles, but not solutions — either attempted or successful. And I wonder, did most people miss the second part of the question, or are most people just sitting in the struggle? I’m sure it’s a combination of both, but my gut tells me it leans toward just sitting in the struggle, which is never, ever going to be a winning strategy.

I think deep down, a lot of women still feel like style should just be easy, or that this is a thing everyone but them is good at, or even that it’s frivolous to invest time, money, and energy learning to be stylish or building a fabulous, functional wardrobe — or heck, even admitting that you care. I think it’s a really big leap for a lot of women to say, “I care about how I look.” It feels frivolous, but it is not. And if those beliefs are rattling around in your noggin anywhere, you’ve got to make peace with them and change your mindset — because I know from experience, you won’t find a solution until you think it’s a worthy problem to solve. You will struggle over and over, whether it’s for everyday life or special occasions, until you do — until you solve it. Every time you go out to get dressed, whether it’s for a morning coffee run, working from home, or a fancy dinner, you’re going to struggle.

So let’s wrap this up by talking about solving the struggles and improving your style, if that’s something you’re ready for or that you want to do.

One of the questions I asked was, what would you be willing to do to improve your style? 1.8% of you said you’re not willing to do anything because you’re happy with where you’re at — and I love that, keep doing you, babe. 12% said they’d be willing to spend a little more money on their wardrobe. And then the rest of the answers were perfectly evenly split between spending more time building their wardrobes and spending a little more time creating outfits each day or each week.

I think spending a little more time is a really great first step to improving your style. You’ve probably heard me say that “I don’t have time to get dressed” is something I’ve heard a lot, but I think it’s silly, because no one who’s ever said that to me has been naked — everyone’s been dressed. So you have time. What we usually mean by “I don’t have time to get dressed” is, I don’t have time in the morning to create outfits that make me look and feel the way I want, or I don’t have the right clothes to create outfits that make me look and feel the way I want, and no amount of time spent staring at my closet will change that. Either way, whichever one you mean, investing time is a good place to start — either in identifying the pieces you need, or planning outfits in advance so you’re not left scrambling in the morning.

I also asked, are you putting off having better style or a better wardrobe, and if so, why? I am so thrilled that almost 50% of you said nope, you are not “waiting until” for better style. Roughly 10% are waiting until their lives are more exciting — and that’s probably the one I identify with the most, I get it. 15% are waiting for a bigger bank account. And sadly, close to 25% of our respondents are waiting until they have the body they want.

We could do a whole other episode on the weight-and-wardrobe connection — if you missed my first one, we’ll link it in the show notes. But if you’re in that 25%, I need you to hear this and really take it to heart: clothes are a much better catalyst for reaching your goals than they are a reward. You do not have to like the number on the tag of the pants to like the pants. You don’t have to like the number on the pants to buy the pants. Buying clothes that make you smile and fit the body you have right now will do so much more for you than struggling and punishing yourself until you believe you deserve nice clothes. You deserve nice things right now.

And again, tough-love time — this is a choice. You can choose to dress well right now. It is not admitting defeat. The worst that can happen is that if your body changes, you’ll need to replace some clothes. And the reality is, most things out there are kind of crap quality anyway — they’re not going to be the last clothes you ever buy, regardless of size.

If you’re in that 25%, I want to personally challenge you to break down that belief this year. Explore where it comes from, and whether it’s actually true that you need to wait for a better body to have a better wardrobe. Spoiler alert: it’s not true at all. What would it mean for you if you went and bought a fabulous outfit right now, in the size that you are right now? How would that make you feel, both good and bad? And then, what can you do to start improving your style right now? Maybe it’s just shoes and accessories, which will always fit you, right? Or maybe it’s just styling your current wardrobe a little more, making more exciting outfits. I hope that when you see the boost that feeling better gives you, it propels you to make even more wardrobe changes, even if you’re not seeing body changes. Don’t let this lie rob you of the joy that comes from having a fabulous wardrobe, or having easier mornings. Those things are just too powerful.

One of the questions I asked, another client-questionnaire favorite of mine, is: can you think of a specific time in 2024 when you struggled with what to wear, or you didn’t feel properly dressed for an occasion? I asked what the occasion was, what they wore, and how they felt. So many responses talked about clothes that didn’t fit, but I wanted to share this one from Christine, who said: “I went to a wedding and ended up wearing a skirt that didn’t fit well and a pair of shoes that I hadn’t worn in a while. Both the skirt and the shoes made me feel frumpy, sloppy, and uncomfortable. I’m sad that what I mostly remember about the wedding was wanting to leave to get out of that uncomfortable, ill-fitting skirt and shoes.”

I’m sharing this one because of what Christine said at the end — it was just so powerful, it hit me right in the feels. What she remembers most about the wedding was wanting to leave, because her clothes didn’t fit properly. I guarantee you, if she’d had on a skirt that fit well and was comfortable, her takeaway wouldn’t have been “what I remember most about the wedding was the number on the tag.” Nope, it would have just been a non-issue. Hopefully, with a comfortable skirt and comfortable shoes, she could have danced all night and shut that reception down. Don’t let your clothes be a roadblock in your life.

Style Basics

Changing your mindset is a really important thing when it comes to improving your style, but I’ve got a couple of practical tips as well, and some style basics every woman should know.

The first one is understanding your body. I asked, what primary body shape describes your body best? The answers were pretty evenly divided — hourglass and rectangle had a little bit more than pear and apple, but nothing standout or noteworthy. However, “I have no idea” got 20% of the responses. Now, I don’t think being able to stick the right label on your body shape is the be-all end-all of style, not at all. But understanding your body shape is foundational knowledge I think every woman should have — it helps you understand why some things work better for you than others, and it makes it easier to find clothes that make you feel good.

This one’s really important, because I also asked: when it comes to putting outfits together, what’s more important to you — the style of the outfit, which I call “style points,” or how it looks on you, which I call “flattery points”? 82% said flattery points matter more, while only 18% said style points were more important to them. In order to more easily find those flattering clothes, you have to understand your body. I do wish more women would embrace style points being just as important as flattery points — I think it makes getting dressed a whole lot more fun, but that’s a topic we’ll tackle in another episode. What you need to know right now, though, is if flattery points are most important to you, you have to be able to find the clothes that flatter you, preferably easily. That’s the important part.

I also asked, have you had your colors professionally analyzed? 27% said yes, 73% have not. Again, if you want to look better in your clothes and you don’t want to struggle to find clothes that look good, this is something you’re going to want to know. If you want a shortcut to building a wardrobe that helps you look your best, find out your best colors — it’s so easy and will help you so, so much. Of course, we love the Color Guru, we will link that in the show notes for you — you can use code EVERYDAYSTYLE for 10% off any service, and you will be so glad you did this one.

Okay, the last official survey question I want to share with you is: when was the last time you had a professional bra fitting? If you’ve listened to our bra episodes — links in the show notes — you know you should have a professional fitting every 12 months. So how are our listeners doing?

• 30% have had a fitting in the last 12 months, which is amazing — you go, girls.
• 9% have gone more than one year but less than two.
• 46% haven’t had a bra fitting in more than two years.
• 15% have never had a professional bra fitting.

My friends, they do not call them foundations for nothing. If you want to instantly look better in your clothes, a better bra will help you do it. Make an end-of-year resolution, or a New Year’s resolution, to do this one thing for your style. Who knows — maybe you’re in the right size and the right style of bra and you’re good to go. On the other hand, maybe you’re in for a total transformation, and it is worth it to find out.

Advice to Our Younger Selves

Okay, the last thing I want to share with you are a couple of answers to the question: what style advice would you give your 21-year-old self? Again, so many great responses, but here are two that I really, really loved.

First, Amy D, who said: “It’s okay that you don’t know how to do this, but you’re not just bad at it. If you take a bit of time to learn how to put clothes together, you can look better and feel better about yourself. It can also save you a lot of time and money. This isn’t about vanity.”

And then there was Mary P, who shared: “If you love it, buy it and wear it. Don’t save things for occasions that may not happen. Wear the good clothes.”

Ladies, I couldn’t have said it better myself.

I hope you enjoyed hearing the results of the 2024 style survey. Let me know on social media if you think we should do this again next year — you can find me on Facebook and Instagram at Everyday Style with Jen. If you have a question you want to know, “am I the only one,” how do other people think, let me know, happy to include it next year. And if you took the time to fill out the survey, again, thank you — I loved reading your responses and analyzing the data. If I read your response on the show, keep an eye on your inbox, there’s a gift card coming your way.

And now it is time to announce our $100 gift card winner. Since this is episode 199, I decided to go with response 199, which belongs to Danny Z. Congrats, girl — your Nordstrom gift card is on its way to you.

Year-End Thank You

Okay, my friends, this is our last episode of the year, so I want to take a quick minute to thank all of the people who helped make Everyday Style and this podcast what it is.

First of all, everyone on the Everyday Style team — they all work so hard to create amazing content, take care of our members and our listeners, and, you know, keep me somewhat organized and sane. I appreciate all of you so very much.

Also, our fabulous podcast editor, Steve, who probably had no idea how much bra and underwear talk would be involved in this gig. Thank you.

Also, our Style Circle members — you ladies know that I love you, and I am rooting for you all the time. Thank you for letting me be a part of your style journey.

And finally, you, Style School listeners. I know there are a million podcasts to choose from, and I am always so grateful that you spend your time with me.

If you are enjoying the Everyday Style School, be sure to subscribe or follow the show on whatever platform you like best. That way you’ll never miss an episode, and it helps other women discover the show so they can feel fabulous every day too.

Also, head to the show notes to get all the links from today’s episode — we shared a lot of past episodes you may want to check out. While you’re there, grab our free 10-Piece Style Solution and see how 10 wardrobe basics can create over 30 stylish outfits. In the guide, we’ll show you the 10 pieces you need, the outfits they create, and you get the link database so you can shop the pieces in a variety of sizes and price points.

My friends, I am wishing you the very happiest of holidays. I will see you next time, next year. And until then, remember that your everyday matters, so get dressed for it. And that’s a wrap. Thank you for listening today.