Cost Per Wear — What It Is, How to Calculate It and Why It Changes Shopping

Cost per wear (CPW) is a single metric that completely changes how you think about buying clothes. Instead of looking at the price tag, you look at the cost of one wear. And suddenly an expensive coat turns out to be cheaper than a bargain blouse.

How to calculate cost per wear

The formula is simple: CPW = price of item ÷ number of times worn. A coat at £200 worn 150 times over 3 seasons = £200 ÷ 150 = £1.33 per wear. A blouse at £20 worn 8 times = £20 ÷ 8 = £2.50 per wear. The cheaper blouse costs more.

Why cost per wear changes buying decisions

• You stop buying things "because they're cheap" — a cheap item worn 3 times is expensive
• You start investing in quality — things that last and work with many outfits
• You avoid impulse buys — you ask "how many times will I actually wear this?"
• You discover that 20% of your wardrobe gives 80% of your wears

Cost per wear in Closie — automatic tracking

Closie tracks how many times you wear each item and automatically calculates cost per wear for everything in your wardrobe. After a year of use you can rank your items: which were the best investment and which cost you a fortune per wear — even if the price tag was low.

Smart Buy and cost per wear — shopping with data

The Smart Buy feature in Closie analyses a new item before you buy it: it checks how many outfits you can build with it, whether it duplicates something you already own, and forecasts the cost per wear based on your wearing habits. A purchase decision based on data, not impulse.