Count the tees in your drawer. If it is more than about eight, we would guess three of them do all the work and the rest are there because throwing clothes away feels wasteful. That drawer is not a wardrobe, it is a graveyard.
Why five is the number
Five gets you through a normal week with a wash cycle in the middle and one in reserve. Fewer than that and you are doing laundry on someone else’s schedule. More than that and the extras sit unworn long enough to go out of shape in the drawer rather than on your body.
The maths is not what people expect
Five good tees cost more up front than fifteen cheap ones. They also last several years rather than a season, which means the cost per wear ends up lower, and you spend less of your life deciding what to put on. The saving is real but it is slow, which is why it is a hard argument to make in an advert.
How to pick the five
- Two in white or off-white. They date the fastest, so treat them as consumable.
- Two in black or navy. These are the ones you will reach for when you have not thought about it.
- One in whatever colour you actually like. A wardrobe of pure neutrals is a uniform, and most people resent a uniform after a month.
The honest caveat
This works if your life is fairly consistent. If you cycle to work, do manual work, or have small children, you need more, and anyone telling you otherwise has never had yoghurt thrown at them. Buy for the week you actually have.
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