Cost Per Wear: An important fashion rule

Have you ever tried to work out the value of your investment in clothing, shoes, and accessories? Do you know if the money you spend on a dress, a pair of shoes, or a piece of costume jewellery is really worth it? What is the cost of wearing, for instance, a dress every time? Understanding Cost Per Wear (CPW) is important, if you want to get maximum return on your investment in fashion.

CPW follows a simple formula. You divide the upfront price you pay for an item by the number of times you think you are going to wear it.

CPW = cost of an item ÷ number of wears

In a world dominated by fast fashion, most of us do not look past the price tag. Purchasing a cheaper item may initially look like a clever decision, but in most cases, "you get what you pay for." A cheaper item will not likely last long, look frumpy after a few washes, and will be discarded quickly. If you think deeply, it is never a good investment of your money. Yes, you probably do not care because you bought it cheap, but it is not only "price" that is involved here, there are other issues, too.

Fast fashion is cheap because their manufacturers use cheap materials and cheap labour. In fast fashion, for instance, the manufactures use synthetic fabrics like polyester, acrylic, rayon, and nylon to keep costs low. The production of these synthetic fabrics results in serious environmental damages — from water and air pollution during the long and toxic production process, to microplastics being released to waterways and sewers with every wash.

Also, when a garment made from synthetic fabric like polyester is discarded, it eventually ends up in a landfill, where it will take hundreds of years to break down! The environmental impact of fast fashion is huge.

Purchasing a durable, timeless article of clothing made from natural fabric is always better, because it will last longer, feel nice on the skin, and you will get a good return on the money you spent. Yes, you pay a higher price upfront but if you take a minute to calculate the Cost Per Wear, you will see that you get a much better return on your investment when you buy a better product.

Here in the US, I can, for example, buy a polyester T-shirt for as low as $5, which is much cheaper than a good-quality 100 percent cotton T-shirt with a price tag of $35. However, the cheaper polyester T-shirt is often good for one or two wears; it looks shabby after one wash. It also does not feel nice on the skin because of its poor fabric quality. When you calculate the CPW of this kind of a T-shirt, it is $2.50 per wear. I have divided the cost of the T-shirt, which is $5 by the number of wears, which is 2.

Now think of the T-shirt that I bought for $35. A good-quality cotton T-shirt can withstand as many as one hundred washes and still hold up well. The cost per wear of the $35 T-shirt is only 70 cents, if I wear it 50 times. However, in most cases, I am able to wear a high-quality cotton T-shirt more than 50 times, which brings down the Cost Per Wear even more! 

Fashion experts will tell you to spend your hard-earned money on better-quality items, because inferior-quality clothes, shoes, and accessories will only drain your wallet. A lot of us have purchased, for instance, a dress, a shirt, or a pair of footwear on the whim or because it was on sale, wearing them only once, twice, or never! Who is the loser here? You, the consumer. The retailer certainly is not, because he has just made some money out of your impulsive nature. 

Consumerism is making us spend the money that we do not have (credit card) and creating more trash for this planet. The good news is that more and more people are abandoning the consumerist society, the society where people spend a great deal of time, money, and energy to buy new things and place a lot of importance on owning many things, even if they fall apart after single use.

The non-fans of fast fashion save their hard-earned earnings to buy a high or premium-quality product that their money can afford and wear it well. They do not mind repeating their clothes, shoes, and accessories. Why would they? After all, you can only repeat the things that are well made. Poorly-made things fall apart after a few wears. Well-made items can even last a lifetime, if you take proper care of them. People pass such items down to their children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews. For instance, a cashmere shawl, a Jamdani sari, a piece of gold jewellery, or an heirloom watch. Last but not least, a premium-quality product can also be resold at a good price, if it stays in good condition.

The fans of sustainable fashion see money spent on clothes, shoes, and accessories as an investment, not an expense, and therefore want to maximise the Cost Per Wear of the things they own. They are all for building a sustainable closet! They do not believe that the lifespan of a clothing item or a piece of jewellery is one Instagram-worthy photo and that's it! This new breed of consumers also cares about the environmental impact of their consumption and want to reduce the carbon footprint that results from their lifestyle choices.

Consider the Cost Per Wear of clothes, shoes, and accessories next time you add an item to your wardrobe. Money spent is money spent, it is not coming back to you, so why not quickly calculate if you are getting your money's worth before purchasing something. Smart shopping will help you enjoy your purchases for a long time, save money, save the environment, and keep your home clutter-free.

Photo: LS Archive/ Shahrear Kabir Heemel