When I was a broke college student, I went to a university where I experienced real winters for the first time. We’re talking winters with four feet of standing snow for five months, where the sidewalks were small pathways dug out regularly by the groundskeepers to avoid stranding students in their snowed-in dorms, where only the heads of students were visible bobbing above the snow pack as they walked through the quad to class. Ugg boots (give me a break, this was the 2000’s) and a sweatshirt wouldn’t cut it in this weather; I needed snow boots and a real winter coat.
The problem was, I was picky and did not have a huge budget. I had worked hard over the summer as a lifeguard and saved up a small amount of spending money for the school year. But that money had to last through nine months of late night Panda Express runs and filling up the thirsty gas tank of my 1970’s beat-up, hand-me-down car I fondly named Napoleon because, much like his namesake, he refused to die.
So I started searching. After weeks of casing Nordstrom Rack and searching online, I finally found a discount DKNY black wool coat on BlueFly (which still exists!). It was originally $1,000 and was on mega-clearance for $200.
The problem was, $200 was a lot of money for a broke college student (still is…). I hemmed and hawed for weeks about it. I kept going back to review it, over and over again to try and justify the purchase. I knew the specs by heart: double-breasted, fully lined, 90% wool, 10% cashmere, notched lapel, 42 inches long. Could I make it work? Was it going to be worth the investment?
Undecided, I discussed the purchase with my mom. She’s a power shopper and used to make her own clothing, so she knows more than anyone about quality clothing. She recommended instead of looking at the total cost, think about Cost Per Wear.
"What is Cost Per Wear?" I thought as I shivered in my damp UGG boots and cheap hoodie.
How to Calculate Cost Per Wear (CPW)
Cost per wear is the concept of breaking down the cost of an item by how many times you expect to wear it throughout the garment’s life. Or shown using this equation:
Cost of Item / Estimated Number of Wears = Cost Per Wear
An extreme example is a wedding dress, which typically is only worn once.
Using the example of my own wedding dress, which cost $700 and I wore once (on the best day of my life), the equation looks like this:
$700 / 1 = $700 per wear - ouch…
Using the black winter coat example, I could reasonably deduce I would wear the coat 50 times per year (this was a conservative guess) and assuming the coat would last me at least 5 years, equals 250 wears.
$200 / 250 = $0.80 per wear
80 cents per wear made me realize spending $200 on a wool coat was a reasonable investment, given my calculated CPW. I bought it and never looked back. I wore it around 75 times per year for eight years straight, long after college and into my early career days, which meant its end of life CPW was $0.33! Nailed it.
Things to Consider When Calculating CPW
There are a few factors to consider when calculating cost per wear, as it is an imperfect science. The more I have applied it, the more accurately I have been able to calculate CPW for my own purchases. However, there have been times where I have been overly optimistic and other times I have been pleasantly surprised by the results.
1 - The Quality of the Item Matters Most
I’ll say it again : the quality of the item matters!
One more time for the lady in the back reading ACOTAR: The. Quality. Of. The. Item. Matters.
The quality of the textile used in the garment is the first thing to look for. Maybe it’s a beloved navy blazer that has finally given up the fight and needs to be retired, so you’re looking for a replacement. If your original blazer was made from super 120’s wool and fully lined, do not expect that polyester Zara blazer to hold up in the same way.
As a general rule, if the fabric used in the item does not contain a high percentage of a natural fiber, do not expect the item to last as long. And reduce your estimated number of wears when doing your CPW calculation.
Now, I know there are exceptions to this rule; ski coats being a good example of a durable item that tends to be made from polyester. But when we’re talking almost every other type of clothing, natural fibers hold up better; it’s that simple.
Secondly, look for high quality finishes. What do I mean by finishes? I mean things like high-quality linings, even hems, resin or horn buttons, even top-stitching, perfect pattern alignment, clean seams - anything showing this piece was made thoughtfully, versus mass produced. Tell-tale signs of poor garment construction are loose stitches and threads, uneven hems or seams, mis-aligned plaid, puckering seams, lining that pulls as you put it on, thin or flimsy fabric without drape - I could go on….
The lower quality the construction of an item, the fewer wears you will get out of it, and the harder it will be to repair if damaged. This should be your first consideration when calculating a garment’s CPW.
2 - Know Thyself
Don’t work in a law office? Those pleated trousers might not see the light of day every week, regardless of how much you love the look. Maybe don’t spend $600 on that pair you’re dying to have; instead find a good pair for $150 to make the math, math.
When is the last time you reached for that linen dress on a hot summer day? Never? Mmk, then the next one you buy to add to your closet is going to be great company to the three other linen dresses you also never wear. It’s not a style issue; it’s not that you have finally found THE perfect linen dress and the others were somehow lacking; it’s that you don’t like wearing dresses in the summer.
Spend those dollars on something you will wear: a cotton t-shirt or a good pair of pleated linen shorts.
Don’t let the trends tell you otherwise. Cost Per Wear for an item you will never wear equals #DIV/O! (or incalculable for those of you who aren’t excel nerds like me). Too high to justify.
3 - Leverage Past Experiences
Do you wear orange regularly? I do not. Do you know what I purchased this fall? Orange jeans. Well done, Elise.
I blew up my capsule wardrobe with an impulse purchase, and now I have orange jeans burning my retinas every time I open my closet door. They were on a great sale, 50% off, they had a long inseam (required for me), and I thought they would be a refreshing change to my typically darker denim.
But even at 50% off, if I wear them 3 times this year, the CPW is significantly higher than it should be for a pair of jeans. What I should have done was think about these jeans in the context of my wardrobe as a whole: how many other items they coordinated with (very little) and whether or not they were filling a hole in my wardrobe (they were not).
This served as a good reminder to critically think about a purchase. Ask yourself: Have I purchased something like this in the past and not worn it? Why? Has my life or style changed significantly enough for me to wear it now? Yes or no. If the answer is “no”, walk away from those orange jeans, girl, and thank me later.
4 - Factor in the Care Instructions
I love silk shirts and blouses. LOVE THEM. They keep me cool and polished and I love the natural sheen of real silk.
You know what I hate? I hate having to dry clean them regularly or risk caring for them at home. They are so high maintenance, and I am wildly averse to the burden of dropping them off at my dry cleaner’s every week so they end up sitting in my wash pile for longer than I ever planned on. This in turn reduces the number of wears I get out of a silk blouse, regardless of their longevity.
Compare this to a cashmere sweater, another high-end and somewhat fussy textile, which I can layer over a tee or lightweight turtleneck to extend the wears between washes. I have learned over time I can mitigate the high maintenance care for cashmere more easily than I can with silk, which extends the life and wearability of it.
Cashmere = higher wears, lower cost per wear
Silk = high maintenance care, lower wears, higher cost per wear
Therefore, when I am looking at a new silk blouse, I ratchet down my estimated number of wears based on my complicated relationship with silk, while increasing estimated wears for things like cashmere and wool sweaters.
Overall, calculating Cost Per Wear takes time to do reliably, and the best time to start is now. Will you make mistakes? Absolutely. However, you'll learn from them each time, and there will be a few hero items that blow your initial CPW calculations out of the water and make you feel like a genius.
I hope this helps give you a clear guide as to 1) how valuable the Cost Per Wear can be when investment shopping and 2) how to calculate a reasonably accurate CPW for items you are considering.
Happy shopping!
-Elise
