Price Per Wear, What Is It?
I am just as guilty as anyone else, but over time I have learned there are items to invest in and others that won’t stay long in your closet. In my younger years I would always choose to shop and buy clothing from the most affordable stores, considering paying a rent or mortgage, university tuition, vehicle payment and living expenses, there was normally little left to go shopping, let alone consider spending large amounts of money on only one item. As time went on and I settled into my adult life this was one habit I carried forward until eventually I had filled multiple (walk in closets) in my home with clothing. The truth was, the clothing was crap and was actually rarely worn. Why? Because a lot of it I had bought for very reasonable prices rather than for their quality and longevity. I slowly started to work on going through each (and every) closet to figure out what I needed and what needed to go. As I was sorting through hundreds of items I had a hard time donating pieces that I knew I had barely (if ever) worn. I started to question why a particular piece would still have a tag on it, or only been worn (maybe) a handful of times. I realized it all had to do with the quality of the item and often an affordable piece is the first to stretch out, fade, (or worse) fall apart. Talking with my sister-in-law one night she told me about “Price-Per-Wear” which fascinated me. She went on to explain that buying affordable clothing and only wearing it a few times (before it’s seen its lifeline) is actually an expensive way to shop. She went on to justify pricey pieces by saying that for every time you wear it, the cost can be divided. This, is price-per-wear.
Example, a blazer worth $60.00 no longer holds shape or fades after 4 washes. (I’ve had it happen in less time.) This article cost you $15.00 per wear and will now probably sit in your closet while you opt for a new and well fitted item. Rather, you spend $260.00 on a quality blazer… to get the same price-per-wear, you need to wear it 17 times, every time after that actually makes the item more affordable than the other. A quality item could potentially last a lifetime depending on what we’re talking about.
*There will always be fun and trendy items that are in style for now, those can be done more affordable because sooner than later, you’ll move onto something else. For your “essentials” I recommend the “Price-Per-Wear” theory.
*Tip for cleaning out the closet. Turn all your hangers backwards in either Spring or Fall, once you have wore the item then the hanger goes back to the proper way. At the end of 6 months, the hangers that are still backwards should be donated, with seasonal items as an acceptation.
