1. What is the cost per wear?
The cost per wear is a formula with which we calculate how much it would theoretically cost to wear a piece of clothing, jewelry, bag or shoes once. If we use this formula, we get the cost of each piece and we can compare and contrast them to see if the cost per wear is justified or if we are willing to pay that much for it. If you can only wear a piece 1 time a year, like on New Year’s Eve, would you spend 300€ on a dress or would you rather buy a bag for that value that you can carry to the office every day. This is an extreme example, in the calculation example for the Cost per Wear it is noticeable that this is not always as clear as one assumes at the beginning.
2. How to calculate the cost per wear?
The calculation of the cost per wear is really simple:
| Price of the product / how often I wear it per year = cost per wear |
A small fashion example should simplify the whole thing, we now look at 4 different fashion pieces, a coat, a New Year’s Eve dress, a handbag and a pair of sneakers.
Let’s compare a New Year’s Eve dress for 150€ and a coat for 300€. The New Year’s Eve dress is mostly fancy maybe with sequins and glitter and so can be worn maybe 3 times per year so the Cost per wear at 150€/3 = 50€.
You can wear a coat in spring and in autumn, half of the year, because you probably won’t wear the coat every day and the weather varies. Let’s assume you wear the coat 60 times a year. The cost per wear is 300€/60= 5€
That means the New Year’s Eve dress costs you per once wear exactly 10 times more than the coat, although the coat is actually with 300€ twice as expensive as the dress. In addition, you will wear the coat for 2 or more years.
Note! Some parts you can wear for more than 1 year
The next section should include and clarify an important point in the cost per wear, which is sometimes overlooked, because usually you wear the parts also longer than 1 year. The formula could look like this:
Price of the product / (how many times I wear it per year * years you will wear the item)= Cost per wear (total time)
| So we would have a cost per wear for the new years dress of 150€/ (3*2)= 25€ for 2 years and for the coat of 1€ for 5 years. |
With the next comparison example the whole thing becomes clearer again. We now compare a designer handbag for 1500€ and designer sneakers for 500€. A handbag from a well-known designer usually lasts a long time and can be worn for 20 years if the design is simple, the sneakers should be disposed of after 3 years of daily wear at the latest. So these cost per wear results with the 2. Formula
Designer handbag: 1500€/(wear 100 times*20years) = 0,75€
Designer shoes: 500€/(wear 100 times*3 years) = 1,6€
Although the handbag costs three times as much, it has half the cost per wear. Parts that have a low cost per wear and in which you can invest more are jewelry, handbags, coats and jackets and accessories that you can not grow out of, for example scarves, hats and belts.
3. The effect of the cost per wear on the shopping behavior and the closet
If you become aware of the formula of cost per wear and you use it, you will be more careful to invest in high quality pieces and to invest less in trendy pieces. Then you have mostly pieces you love in your closet and maybe even a designer piece or two, as more is left over since you don’t have to repurchase more pieces.
4. Where can I use the cost per wear formula everywhere?
You can apply the cost per wear to many different areas in your everyday life. When you buy a new cell phone, laptop, car, beauty or interior, you can use the following formula. The formula also helps you to decide between two products with different prices.
Handbags with great Cost per Wear
Handbags you can invest in with a good conscience are bags in classic design and from designer brands where you can sell them even after years as a vintage bag. These bags have a great cost per wear, also because you can combine them to many things.
Coats with super cost per wear
In the case of the coat, the design also plays an important role and here too there are a few models that simply have a good cost per wear, because you can sell them even after years of wear, as long as they are not damaged. These are my favorites:
Jewelry with unbeatable Cost per Wear
You are worth gold, says the proverb, when we want to tell someone how valuable that person is to us and so it also clearly applies, gold has an unbeatable cost per wear. Gold you can wear always and everywhere, discreet pieces of jewelry fit to every occasion, as well as in everyday life.
