The arithmetic takes five seconds. Getting an honest answer takes slightly longer, because one of the three inputs is a guess and it is the one that decides everything.
The formula
Cost per wear = (price + upkeep) ÷ times worn
The price you would actually pay, after any discount.
Be honest. For most people an occasion dress is under 5, a winter coat is 80 or more.
Dry cleaning, resoling, alterations. Leave at zero if there is none.
Cost per wear
$4.00
$120 across 30 wears.
- To reach $5.00 per wear
- 24 wears
- To reach $1.00 per wear
- 120 wears
- To reach $0.50 per wear
- 240 wears
Cost per wear is a comparison tool, not an accounting one. It is most useful when weighing two specific options against each other — this coat against that coat — rather than as an absolute verdict on a purchase.
Input one: the real price
What you would actually pay, today, after any discount. Not the ticket price, not what it "should" cost, and not what it was reduced from — a 60% discount off a price nobody was paying is not a saving.
If you are comparing two options, include anything that differs between them: delivery, alterations to make it fit, the shoes you would have to buy to wear it.
Input two: upkeep
Everything you will spend keeping it wearable across its life.
| Category | Typical lifetime upkeep | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Everyday cotton and synthetics | $0 | Washing at home is not worth modelling |
| Wool knitwear | $0–30 | Occasional specialist wash, a de-pilling comb |
| Tailoring and dry-clean-only | $100–400 | Frequently exceeds the purchase price over five years |
| Leather shoes | $60–200 | Resoling, which can double the life of welted construction |
| Outerwear | $40–120 | Periodic cleaning, reproofing on technical fabrics |
Input three: the wear count
This is the whole thing, and it is where honesty is difficult.
The failure is universal and predictable: people estimate from intention rather than behaviour. The fix is to stop imagining and start anchoring.
Anchoring the estimate
- Name the specific garment in your wardrobe this would replace or sit beside.
- Work out how many times you wore that one over the last twelve months.
- If you cannot say, use the category range below rather than a feeling.
- Divide your estimate by two if the piece is outside your usual style. Novelty wears off faster than fabric does.
- Do not revise the number upward after seeing the result.
| Category | Realistic wears | What limits it |
|---|---|---|
| Everyday top | 80–150 | Wash cycles, not taste |
| Jeans or everyday trousers | 150–300 | Usually the best value in a wardrobe |
| Winter coat | 80–120 per season | Worn almost daily for a third of the year |
| Everyday shoes | 200–400 | Resoling can double this |
| Workwear separates | 60–120 | Falls sharply with hybrid working |
| Occasion dress or suit | 2–10 | Where the metric stops applying |
| Activewear | 50–150 | Washing degrades it faster than wearing does |
Reading the answer
A single number means very little. Cost per wear is a comparison tool, so run it twice — once for each option you are genuinely choosing between, including the option of buying nothing.
| Cost per wear | Everyday basics | Outerwear and shoes | Occasion wear |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under $1 | Excellent | Exceptional | Effectively impossible |
| $1–5 | Reasonable | Good | Very good |
| $5–20 | Poor | Acceptable for quality | Normal |
| Over $20 | Something has gone wrong | Reconsider | Expected |
Turning the forecast into a fact
Everything above is a projection. It becomes real when you record actual wears, which is what a wardrobe inventory is for. After one season the numbers stop being estimates, and the difference between what you predicted and what happened is worth more than any individual calculation.