Guide
How to calculate cost per wear.
Cost per wear tells you what a piece of clothing really costs you, by spreading its price across every time you wear it. It’s the simplest way to compare a cheap piece you rarely wear with an expensive one you wear constantly.
The formula
Cost per wear = price ÷ number of times worn.
A $90 pair of jeans worn 45 times costs $2.00 per wear. Wear them 90 times and the cost per wear halves to $1.00. The price never changes; the number only gets better the more you wear it.
A worked example
Here are five pieces from one closet after a year:
| Piece | Price | Times worn | Cost per wear |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wool coat | $240 | 60 | $4.00 |
| Everyday sneakers | $120 | 150 | $0.80 |
| Dark jeans | $90 | 45 | $2.00 |
| Patterned top (on sale) | $40 | 4 | $10.00 |
| Occasion dress | $180 | 2 | $90.00 |
Three things stand out:
- The sale top is the most expensive everyday piece. At $40 it felt like a bargain, but four wears make it $10.00 a wear, more than double the coat.
- The coat costs six times the top and is cheaper to wear. Price alone said the opposite.
- Occasion pieces will always look high. That’s fine. Compare them with renting or with each other, not with sneakers.
A fuller version
If you want to be thorough, include what it costs to keep a piece and what you get back when it leaves:
Cost per wear = (price + care costs − resale value) ÷ times worn.
Say the wool coat needed $30 of dry cleaning over the year and you later sell it for $70. That’s ($240 + $30 − $70) ÷ 60 = $3.33 per wear. For everyday clothes the simple version is usually close enough; the fuller version is worth it for coats, shoes and anything you resell.
Using it before you buy
Cost per wear is most useful before you spend anything. Estimate how often you’ll realistically wear the piece in a year, then divide. Be honest: if similar pieces in your closet get worn four times a year, a new one probably will too.
- A $150 pair of boots you’ll wear twice a week through a five-month winter (about 40 times) comes to $3.75 per wear in the first winter, and keeps falling every year after.
- A $35 top that matches one thing you own, worn perhaps five times, comes to $7.00 per wear.
The cheaper piece is the more expensive choice. This is the same logic behind a capsule wardrobe: fewer pieces that combine well get worn more, so each one costs less to wear.
Tracking it without a spreadsheet
The hard part of cost per wear is counting wears. A tally in a notes app works if you’re disciplined. Cotton’s Insights tab does it for you and is free for everyone: it shows cost per wear alongside your most-worn pieces, the ones that have waited longest, and the share of your closet you wore this month.
Questions
What is a good cost per wear?+
It depends on your budget and the kind of piece. A useful habit is to compare pieces within the same category, such as coats with coats, and to aim for the number to keep falling the longer you own something.
Should I include the cost of cleaning and repairs?+
If you want a fuller picture, yes. Add care costs such as dry cleaning, tailoring or resoling to the price before dividing. For most everyday clothes, price divided by wears is enough.
Does resale value count?+
It can. If you sell a piece, subtract what you got for it from the price, then divide by the wears. That gives you what the piece really cost to wear.
How do I keep track of how often I wear things?+
A note on your phone works. A closet app saves effort: Cotton keeps track of what you’ve worn and shows cost per wear in Insights, free for everyone.
Know what your clothes really cost.
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