Cost Per Wear - What is it and why is it useful?

Photo by Parker Coffman on Unsplash

Have you ever heard about the term Cost Per Wear? It is commonly used in slow fashion circles to remind ourselves of what the real cost actually is when consuming an item. Let us show you a few examples. If you buy a pair of winter shoes, made of good quality that you’re planning to use for several winters to come, you might not find 150 euros particularly expensive. If you want to buy a sweater that you also might use for several winters to come, 150 euros suddenly sounds very expensive. If you buy a dress in a fast fashion store for 25 euros you might find the price cheap. If you buy four dresses for 25 euros each for 100 euros you still think you made a good deal. But what if you find one dress for 100 euros, again, you think that’s expensive. Do you agree? Logically you would argue that four dresses are better than one and that a jacket is of more use and therefore has a higher value. But wait a minute, is this really true?

Let’s say you use the winter jacket every single day for three months, 90 days to make it simple. If you are wearing that sweater throughout the year, maybe every four days or so (in total 90 days in one year), then the cost per wear of the jacket and the sweater is the same. In this case 1.66 euros for every time you use each item. If you would wear the sweater way less, the cost per wear would increase. In the case of the 25 euro dress, if this dress is only worn three times cost per wear would be 8.33 euros. If you buy four dresses and you only use two of them twice the cost per wear for those two dresses would be 12.5. In order to have a cost per wear of around 1 euro, you would have to wear that cheap dress 25 times. Do you believe that is common among fast fashion consumers to wear “cheap” items that many times?

Well, we don’t think so and would say that the price should be a reflection of the true costs (living wages and so on) but it should also reflect what you are willing to pay per wear. If this is an item you’re planning to use a lot, maybe the cost isn’t that high. Or is this an item that you’re planning not to use very often, maybe the “cheap” price isn’t worth it.

More and more brands are now starting to see the value of cost per wear and if you pay attention you might find it next to the purchase button on their online store. Next time its time to invest or buy something, ask yourself how many times you think you will wear the garment before you buy, that’s the real cost for you!