Back when high school seemed eons away, maybe, just maybe, you had underpants labelled for every day of the week.
Besides serving as an unintended spelling exercise (the N-E-S in Wednesday becomes ingrained after enough staring), they helped remind us that certain articles of clothing need to be changed (and washed) daily.
Now that we're all grown-ups, I hope you've advanced beyond ironed-on labels. But I'll bet you sometimes wonder whether there are any hard and fast rules on wardrobe rotation for other garments.
It is at this juncture that certain readers will sneer, "As if people really notice when I wear the same tie or top two days in a row or twice in one week." Let me assure you that one need not be a clothes horse to observe the frequency with which a colleague sports the same outfit.
Sure, you can get away with a standard black suit or classic shoes, but anything that boasts a bold print or colour scheme will make more of an impression on your colleagues.
That's why Ed Liston, merchandising manager for designer collections at Harry Rosen, recommends that men who want to wear "statement" ties daily should invest in a few.
"If you're buying a shirt or a tie for a special occasion, whether for work or for pleasure, it should be worn differently than a shirt that serves a utilitarian purpose," he says. "Otherwise it loses its cachet. Why would you want to pull it out again three days later?"
Where most men would once be content to purchase multiples of a shirt they liked, Mr. Liston says, he is increasingly noticing men taking interest in the variety and detail of men's furnishings (all the apparel that complements a suit).
So instead of buying four identical 100-per-cent broadcloth cotton shirts, a contemporary customer may choose one with French cuffs, one with standard barrel cuffs, a third with a subtle tonal herringbone pattern and a fourth of more textured cotton twill.
This also means that a week's worth of shirts need not all be expensive. At Harry Rosen, J.P. Tilford shirts start at $98 while those from Hugo Boss or Ermenegildo Zegna run to $200 to $300.
As for women, personal shopper Wendy Natale says, "You have to have at least four or five white shirts." The reason, she continues, is not just the inevitable yellow armpit stains.
"Today, there are so many variations - wrap shirts, basic, non-wrinkle cotton, plus ruffle shirts - that, in a sense, a white shirt becomes a uniform that you can really rotate because you have choices," adds Ms. Natale, who offers advice through her Toronto image consulting company, On Your Behalf.
To maximize the amount of time her clients can wear the same dress, she recommends changing the look - by adding a sweater, for example. A shirt that's worn against the skin cannot be worn as frequently.
Far worse than creating the impression that you don't have much to wear is to look as though your clothes are never taken out of circulation long enough to be cleaned.
Black does have one advantage in that it hides stains (toothpaste and deodorant notwithstanding). Mr. Liston says a good suit requires cleaning only twice a year, which may also explain why most men prefer black or navy over beige.
Of course, some people choose to wear "uniforms" that become their signature. Architect and designer extraordinaire Philippe Starck always wears black-on-black. It's practically impossible for such an iconoclast to be as painstakingly eccentric with his attire as he is with his designs.
We'll give him the benefit of the doubt that he has enough fresh shirts and pants to last him through the week. But let it be known that among his many commercial designs is an electric tooth flosser, no paste necessary.
