Clothing made using sustainable and ethical practices always costs more than fast fashion. There are good reasons for this plus fast fashion has worked hard to devalue clothing in our culture. Quite simply, quality materials and ethical labor cost more. A design and production process with care and consideration in mind costs more.
But, using the cost per wear metric, the higher quality pieces that you purchase may have more value depending on how often you wear them. The cost per wear metric helps you understand the true value of your clothing, and it can help you make more sustainable decisions and save money overall.
This math is easy. To calculate cost per wear, take the cost of a garment divided by how many times you've worn it or how many times you plan on wearing it. The result equals the cost per wear. The lower that number, the more value that item provides.
Here are a few examples. If you buy a shirt at H&M for $20 and only wear it once, the cost per wear is $20. Even if you wear it twice, the cost per wear is $10. There’s a high likelihood that the garment itself will not last long considering the quality of the materials that contribute to that low cost so the number of wears is limited.
If you buy a Lilla Barn shirt for $120 and wear it four times for one month, the cost per wear is $30 (which is a lot higher than the H&M shirt). But that's just one month! I make clothes that will last a long time and I advocate for wearing clothing as often as you'd like. If you wear that top every week for a year, the cost per wear goes down to $2.50! And chances are that you'll continue to wear that shirt year after year only making the cost per wear even lower.
So, when considering a new purchase, I invite you to think about how many times you can wear any new piece of clothing, how long it will last, and if it's a good fit for your wardrobe.