Cleanliness - is Stella Mccartney right or just barking?

Ditto pants, socks, tee shirts etc. all one wear. I usually have at least 2 bras on the go for at least week and 'air' the ones I'm not wearing ready for the next wear - works well as have light and dark coloured tops and some tops/dresses require a prettier strap that might show.
Jeans, trousers, etc. usually 5 or 6 wears but if they've been sitting round for a while might be more often.
Like everyone else I hang things that are not absolutely clean on the front of the wardrobe much to DH's annoyance ('why can't you put them away?!')
I often only wear clothes for 2 or 3 hours as I change when I am just in the house - a tip I got from MIL. Spend a decent amount of ££ on going out clothes and look after them. Have some cheaper, comfy stuff for in the house, doing chores, etc. - the latter usually get washed after one wear as get dirty when cleaning/gardening, etc.

wellshe could be right in a sense. i do two washes a week and bed linen every two weeks. no i dont smell and nor do my sheets. i save on water(full load each time)and electricity do it after 10.30pm in the evenings. i dont use any sprays or chemicals in my home.tell a lie i do have a bottle of bleach to whiten my net curtains.sprays i cannot stand as there is enough chemicals in the air without adding more. i vacuum maybe once a week depending if the cat has been in his litter tray and left sawdust over the carpet. but usually use a dustpan and brush.......am thinking of taking up carpets and using ther tiles underneath instead.knickers i wear panty liners so knickers dont get dirty. so maybe those every two days...bra's once a week. who is going to see my bra no one except me.clothes like trousers/legging type trousers. depends on how dirty they get. but maybe every two days.socks maybe every two days....but it all depends on whether you go round half naked or not.

^ I ruined a really smart pair of chinos that I had only worn once because I ignored the "Dry Clean Only" label. The fabric is Tencel (I think).^
Possibly not Tencel, then Grannyknot
I've had tencel chinos/cargo trousers and they wash well and I have occasionally tumble dried them too.

I have my dog clothes, allotment clothes, laid on a chair in the bedroom, I can quickly access them for an early start.
They will be washed when muddy or smelly. I have been known to nip to the supermarket in my dog stuff though.
In the wardrobe are my nice clean things, not worn nearly enough these days since finishing work eleven months ago.

I have at the moment just one comfy bra, out of about half a dozen, it gets its own special handwash every couple of weeks!

Bra every other day in winter but daily in summer in hot climes, socks/tights daily, knickers daily and another change if out for the evening. Every thing else on a sniff test really - pits and groin to put it indelicately!

We’re so lucky nowadays that clothes worn to a restaurant/pub/party no longer stink of cigarettes and the days of having to hang a dress on a washing line the following day just to air it, are long gone.

I don't think SM was referring to knickers! she said she'd wear a bra more than once, I reckon most of us agree. Her point was that clothes that have e.g. mud on can be brushed off, they don't need washing/cleaning, sounds OK to me.

I do wonder if the advent of sutomatic washing machines led on to people washing clothes and linens more frequently. If clothes release plastic into the water system has this led on to the terrible pollution we now see in our oceans do you think.? When i worked i worn everything clean every day. Now it is undies and socks that are changed daily and i usually wear joggers and t shirt a couple of time around the house and garden, Going out shopping clothes may get a second go if i have only had on a couple of hours, they are hung on the wardrobe door to air.

I wear a bra for 2/3 days (they tend to come off in the early evening!). Knickers and socks clean on every day, of course. Tops and dresses changed every day if the weather is hot - otherwise every 2 days. Trousers subjected to the 'sniff' test to decide if I can wear 'em again!

Going back in history to all the things OP says, it was lack of space, poor sanitation, poor nutrition to name a few of the problems that led to the disease, infestations and smells.
If you cannot afford the fuel to heat the water, to wash yourself never mind the laundry then how could you focus on laundry. Natural fibres such as wool take longer to dry and absorb a lot of water so without a change of clothing, which many didn't have, laundry was difficult.
We are very fortunate to live now but we don't need the vast amount of clothing we currently buy, cheap fabrics, cheap quick seasonal trends (I'm not always talking cheap to buy) cheap throw away items.
I'm with a few of you in that I change underwear daily except my bra, I wear different ones but usually wash after a few wears. Woollies, jeans, skirts, dresses and maybe blouses are washed if they need it. I'm clean, I shower or bathe daily so they don't require more than that, I don't have a demanding job and I don't get too dirty. ... mostly anyway

I’m with you MimiMoon, common sense really isn’t it.

I’m saying nothing.

I wear my knickers and socks only once, and they are then thrown into the laundry basket. My bras last a week between washes, and I only wash outerwear when I deem it needful. I wash bed linen weekly.

I am my own worst enemy, I have a mountain of ironing every week because I have everything clean every day and a clean nighty every night. I also have to have a clean towel every shower. I think it’s because as children, we seemed to wear clothes for ever without washing them

Somethings need to be changed daily of course, knickers, socks (if worn) and anything under the armpits, so that means the whole garment. I wear jeans a couple of times, 7/8th trousers for the summer washed after every wear. Bras, mine are all black don't get changed daily, if I go to the gym I wear a sports bra to keep the annoying appendages under control, then I change back into a normal bra. So no I wouldn't wash a bra every day, I'm with Stella on that one.

Young people seem to wash everything after only one wear. I do this with underwear only. Outerwear only as required. Skirts and trousers usually get worn quite a few times, tops and dresses several times.
It is waste of resources to wash after one wear.

Even the Elizabethans thought spotless linen was important. What a load of rubbish Mccartney is talking. Personal linen should always be spotless, think of having an accident with less than clean linen???.

With regard of everything else, I think it is common sense. My cashmere lasts as long as it will, but honestly the washing liquid is so good these days it’s no problem. Silk is the same. But my posh frocks I only wear occasionally and they get re hung and covered until the next wear. Same with my winter posh stuff. They get dry cleaned or washed when necessary. Everything else gets washed after a maximum of 3 wears.

Bugs survive in dirty clothing. Yukity yuk.

That's just it aggie. Hate Sunday mornings when I have to start a clean bra. I either give it a good yank or two before I try to put it on, or climb into it.

With you all the way Kitty 'I wash pants and socks daily. The rest when its dirty. I dont understand this thing of not putting a once worn item back in the wardrobe to be worn again.'

it is an ecological disaster and a massive waste of water and electricity, and polluting too - nothing wrong with putting a t-shirt or blouse on a hanger to air by the window, and wear again if it is not dirty or very hot and sweaty. I separate washes too- and many things are washed on quick wash at 30C - whilst towels etc, are done at 50C on normal wash.

Boiling one’s knickers? My silk underwear is hand washed after each wear, with some Dettol in the water! I spend a lot of money on my clothes and they are well cared for. Jeans are only washed if they are muddy or food has been spilled. Tops are worn several times but left outside the wardrobe to air, following each wear. I take a daily shower and use a strong antiperspirant/deodorant. Would not dream of wearing socks or undies more than once!

I am on my third day of this bra , first day I have to seriously struggle to fasten it , second day a lot better , third day it is comfy , might wear it tomorrow or might not

My bra does me a week. As do my current footlets. (I leave them to air when I come in. Don't stink at all next day)

My new frock is hanging on the outside of my wardrobe. It has been worn twice using a good deodorant. No pong at all. I will get another couple of wears out of it.

I get a couple of wears from a bra ,white ones are washed every time ..that doesn't mea I put the machine on for one bra though .As with everything else whites get collected and washed once a week ...my bedding although changed twice a week only gets washed once with the other whites too .

Bras that fit and support me cost about £30 each and my size fluctuates so I dont have daily bras. If Ive been sweaty / active they get washed, otherwise 2/3 days, but they get hung over my bedroom chair inbetween not in with the clean ones.

Will anyone admit to how often they wear their bras before washing? I think I saw a thread where people wore theirs for 2 weeks or more . You definitely see the grey straps of a once-white bra this time of year.

At the beginning of winter some of the children were rubbed over with poultry fat, sewn into liberty bodice etc until spring came.

In living memory, then?? Just totally gobsmacked.