Inside the Wardrobe
Research by luur into how we wear, wash, care for and live with our clothes.
We know a lot about how clothes are made. We know a lot less about what happens once they make it into someone’s wardrobe.
Inside the Wardrobe is luur’s ongoing research into the life of clothes after they’re bought.
What gets worn, what gets washed, what gets left on the chair, what we know how to look after, and what we have absolutely no idea what to do with.
Because if we want clothes to stay in use for longer, we need to understand what actually happens to them first.
What happens to clothes after the checkout?
Fashion has an enormous amount of data about what people buy. Trends, transactions, searches, returns. Brands are digging into that data at every chance they get.
But buying something is only the beginning of its life in a wardrobe.
We’re interested in everything that comes next: how often something gets worn, why it gets washed, which clothes we’re scared of ruining, what we repair, what we stop wearing and what stays with us for years.
Not what people say they should do with their clothes. What they actually do.
Research No. 01
Inside the Modern Wardrobe
507 UK women on what really happens between worn and washed.
We asked women how they decide whether something is clean, when they wash it, what they know about caring for their clothes and where everything goes in between.
We found a wardrobe full of unwritten rules.
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90%
sometimes wash clothes because they’re unsure whether they’re clean
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94%
use the sniff test to decide whether something can be worn again
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75%
have somewhere clothes sit between worn and washed
Turns out, the chair isn’t bad organisation.
It’s a behaviour nobody has designed for.
Why we do research
We make things for wardrobes. We don’t want to add to your workload or guilt. We want to meet you where you are and help you care better without making life harder.
Before we decide what those things should be, we want to understand the people living with them.
That means asking questions before assuming we know the answer. Looking for the awkward bits. Paying attention to the things everyone seems to do but nobody really talks about.
Sometimes the research will lead to something we make. Sometimes it will change our minds. Sometimes it will simply tell us something worth knowing about the way we live with clothes.
All three are useful.
What we’re interested in
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Wearing
What gets worn repeatedly, what doesn’t, and why.
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Washing
How we decide something needs cleaning, including the unofficial rules we’ve made up along the way.
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Caring
What we know about our clothes, what we’re unsure about, and where care gets difficult.
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Keeping
Why some things stay in wardrobes for years while others don’t.
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Living
The chair. The floordrobe. The hooks. The piles. The real systems between the wardrobe and washing machine.
This is just the start
Inside the Wardrobe isn’t a one-off report.
We’ll continue researching how people live with their clothes, from washing habits and fabric knowledge to repair, storage, secondhand and why we keep certain things for years.
We’ll publish what we find here.
Better questions about the clothes we already own.
About luur research
Inside the Wardrobe is the home of original research by luur, a British garment care brand.
Our research explores clothing care, washing habits, wardrobe behaviour, garment longevity and the relationship people have with the clothes they own.
When we conduct original research, we’ll publish the sample, methodology and date alongside the findings. When we reference third-party research, we’ll identify the source.
For press, research or collaboration enquiries: karen@weareluur.com