What cost per wear really tells you
One number, honestly kept, changes what you buy — and it is almost never the number people expect.
Cost per wear is the price divided by the number of times a garment has been worn. It sounds like accountancy. In practice it is the most opinionated number in a wardrobe, because it disagrees with almost everyone about what was a good buy.
The disagreement is always in the same direction. Occasion pieces — the wedding dress, the interview suit — carry a high cost per wear and are usually worth it anyway. Everyday pieces earn their keep quietly and are the ones people underspend on.
The number only works if the wearing is recorded. A wardrobe that logs what went on this morning has a real denominator; one that does not is guessing, and guessing always flatters the expensive thing.