This whole site rests on one idea: buy fewer things, buy better ones, and keep them longer. The tool that turns that idea into a decision is cost per wear. Take the price and divide it by how many times you will actually use the thing.

Here is how to use it, where it favors the expensive option, where it does not, and what the price tag leaves out.

The formula

Cost per wear = price ÷ number of wears

A $200 pair of boots worn 400 times costs $0.50 a wear. A $60 pair that gives out after 30 wears costs $2.00 a wear. The expensive pair is a quarter of the price per use.

The numbers below are worked examples, not test results. Your wear counts will differ, so plug in your own. The point is the shape of the math, which holds up across most of what people wear every week.

Boots: the clearest case

Boots are where cost per wear is most lopsided. A resoleable boot on a Goodyear welt can take a new sole when the old one wears through. A cemented boot is usually finished when the sole is. Take a $300 welted boot worn three days a week for five years. That is roughly 750 wears and $0.40 a wear, before any resole. A $70 boot that lasts a year at the same pace is about 150 wears and $0.47 a wear. Then you buy it again.

See the best American-made boots and how to break them in.

Jeans: close, then not close

A $30 pair of jeans worn weekly that blows out at the knees in a year is about 50 wears and $0.60 a wear. A $150 pair of heavier denim worn weekly for five years is about 250 wears and $0.60 a wear. Same number. The difference is that the second pair is still in your rotation in year five and can be repaired when it tears. See our American-made jeans and the raw denim care guide.

T-shirts: where cheap can tie

An $8 tee that loses its shape after 30 washes is $0.27 a wear. A $40 tee that lasts 150 washes is also $0.27 a wear. On basics like this, the math can come out even. What you are paying for is wear number 100 looking like wear number 1. Fabric weight is most of that, and fabric weight explained shows how to read it. See our American-made t-shirts.

When cheap wins

Cost per wear does not always favor the expensive option. Buy cheap when:

  • You will wear it a handful of times. A themed party shirt or a one-season trend piece.
  • It wears out regardless of quality. Gym clothes take a beating whatever they cost.
  • Someone will outgrow it. Kids grow out of clothes long before the clothes wear out.

A working rule: if you will wear something more than 100 times, buy the best you can afford. Under 10 times, buy the cheapest thing that works. Everything in between is a judgment call.

What a low price leaves out

Cost per wear only counts what you pay. Some of the cost of cheap clothing is paid by other people.

Waste. In 2018 Americans generated 17 million tons of textile waste. Landfills received 11.3 million tons of it, and only 14.7 percent was recycled. i EPA - Textiles: Material-Specific Data

Fewer wears per garment. The UN Environment Programme reports that the number of times a garment is worn fell by 36 percent over 15 years. It puts the fashion industry at 2 to 8 percent of global carbon emissions. i UNEP - Putting the brakes on fast fashion

Labor. In 2013 the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh, which housed five garment factories, collapsed and killed more than 1,100 workers. i ILO - The Rana Plaza disaster ten years on Buying American-made does not guarantee good conditions. It does mean the work is done under US wage and workplace-safety law, and that is part of why American-made costs more.

How to buy fewer, better things

Ask two questions before you buy. How many times will I really wear this? How long will it physically last? Be honest about the first one. Then do the division.

Wait a week. If you still want it in seven days, buy it. A lot of wants do not survive the week.

Do the closet test. Count what you have not worn in a year. Whatever you paid for those things bought nothing. That count is the best argument for buying less next time.

Replace, don't add. When something wears out, replace it with something better, one item at a time. Nobody needs to overhaul a wardrobe in a weekend.

Maintain what you own. Cost per wear rewards care, because every extra year lowers the number. Condition the leather (leather care guide), rewax the canvas (waxed canvas care), and repair before you replace (where to repair American-made gear).

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