Imli Diaries

Be honest: when you’re buying clothes and accessories, do you want to get your money’s worth? Unless you’re from a planet where money literally grows on trees (so cool!), you probably do. Well then, cost-per-wear is going to be your best friend. 

When you’re staring at a cute top in a store or online and wondering, “should I buy this?”, cost-per-wear is a simple way to help you decide whether you should. It doesn’t matter how expensive or cheap a garment is - money spent should still be money well spent.  

So let’s get straight into cost-per-wear and help you save money when you’re shopping (but still get an amazing wardrobe!)

What Is Cost Per Wear? 

Cost-per-wear is a way of thinking about how much use you’re going to get out of your clothes and how much that’s going to cost. Put simply, cost-per-wear is the price of the garment divided by the number of times you wear it. 

How to calculate cost per wear? 

Calculating cost-per-wear is like calculating the mileage you get out of your car (and who wants to buy a car without doing that?) Before buying a garment, think about how frequently you think you will wear it. Is it a material that’s suitable for regular wear? Is it a style that you’ll wear often? Is the garment of high quality and will it last for a long time? 

Based on these questions, you’ll have an idea of how often you think you will wear that garment. All you have to do now is divide that by the price of the garment and you’ll have your cost-per-wear.

So for example, if you buy a nice top for Rs. 1000 and expect to wear it at least twice a month every month for a year, that’s Rs. 1000/2 times x 12 months = an approximate cost-per-wear of Rs. 42. 

Also, keep in mind the cost of maintaining the garment before you buy it. If it’ll need dry-cleaning each time, that adds to the cost-per-wear. Or, if the garment is of poor quality and will have to be repaired frequently, make sure to factor that in when you’re calculating the cost-per-wear. 

How to Use Cost Per Wear to Save Money

Cost-per-wear helps you figure out whether what looks like a “good deal” really is a good deal. Here’s an example. 

Let’s say you’re choosing between a really cute top from a fast fashion brand that’s priced at Rs. 1000 but is on discount for Rs. 500 and another nice top for Rs. 2000 from a sustainable fashion brand, without any discounts. 

The first top is super cute but it’s in a style that you won’t frequently wear, and you also don’t have the right kind of bottoms for it in your wardrobe. You estimate that you might end up wearing that top once in three months or just four times in a year. The cost-per-wear comes out to Rs. 500/4 = Rs. 125. 

On the other hand, the other nice top would go well with the rest of your wardrobe and will be worn more frequently, at least twice every month in a year. The cost-per-wear comes out to be Rs. 2000/2*12 = Rs. 83.33. 

At first, the Rs. 500 top might have looked like the better deal, but when we look at cost-per-wear, it's obvious that the Rs. 2000 top is the clear winner. 

The longer you wear your clothes (ie. the more use you get out of them), the lower your cost-per-wear gets. So it's always a good idea to opt for high-quality clothes that can last a long time.

But what about variety?

Wait, does this mean you're stuck wearing the same clothes all the time? Not at all! 

The great thing about fashion is that you can get really creative with it. Shop for versatile items that you can mix and match with multiple clothes in your wardrobe and create different kinds of looks. You can even have a versatile wardrobe while creating a capsule closet (read about that here).

You can also opt for items that can be worn in various ways, like our Kokum top that can be worn back-to-front: 

Or our Dastaan top, which can be worn as both a top and a jacket: 

With cost-per-wear, you're equipped to spend your hard earned money on clothes that you get the most use out of and bring you the most joy! And you can also feel good knowing that you're making a positive difference for the planet. So the next time a cute top catches your eye, you know what to do.