Originally Posted by
safariofthemind
The clothes are actually fine functionally, they just look faded. For example, if I take a pair of inexpensive black jeans that can serve for going out at night, they start to fade after a couple of weeks. Given that a pair of inexpensive jeans costs 20 dollars, I just give away the old ones and get a new pair. Same with T shirts and dress shirts. Not so much a problem with wool clothes, cycling jerseys, etc.
Looking presentable is also in the eye of the beholder. If one is spending all of oneīs time in national parks for example, the standard can be suitably modified versus touring in urban places. Honestly, I donīt worry too much about it North America or Australia-NZ, but it is a subtle issue I have noticed in parts of Europe and LAmerica and Asia. More to do with how you get treated by folks, service people, and potential helping angels. Of course YMMV - I am sure if you are young, fit and attractive that makes up for a lot - no such luck here
I don't wear jeans on a tour ... they are way too bulky and heavy. A pair of nylon or nylon-blend zip-off (convertable) pants are so much lighter and fold down to practically nothing, more versatile because they can be worn as long pants or shorts, and they dry faster than jeans. I can wash them, hang them out, and within a couple hours they are dry ... or toss them in the dryer for 20 minutes. They are comfortable both on and off the bicycle.
I also pack very light wicking T-shirts and a long-sleeved merino so that I can wear them on and off the bicycle too ... plus they are light, pack small, and are easy to wash and dry as well.
For the cycling part of the tour, I wear cycling shorts (either by themselves or with another pair of shorts over them), and I usually have at least one jersey, simply because my cycling shorts and the jersey I select are comfortable choices for cycling all day.
But these clothing choices are not something I'd want to give away or toss every few weeks ... and there is really no need to because they don't wear out that fast and they don't fade that fast.