Signature tool · cost per wear
Cost-Per-Wear Calculator
A $30 tee you replace every year is not cheaper than an $85 one you wear for four. Enter the price, how often you wear it, and an honest lifespan — or pick a category preset — and read the only price that counts: dollars per wear.
Estimated cost per wear
Enter a price, rotation, and lifespan to see cost per wear
Lifespan estimates are honest averages from published durability data and broad user consensus — your mileage varies with rotation and care.
Buy-cheap vs buy-once
Same rotation (6 wears a month), very different cost per wear once you divide by an honest life:
- $30 fast-fashion tee · 1 yr$0.42/wear
- $85 heavyweight tee · 4 yr$0.30/wear
The $85 tee costs more up front and less per wear — but only if it actually lasts the four years. That "if" is what the reviews are for.
Cost per wear is just price divided by the number of times you actually wear something over its life: wears per month, times twelve, times the years it lasts. A $120 pair of boots worn ten times a month for ten years is a hundred dollars a year of boot and about ten cents a wear; a $25 pair that dies in one winter is more expensive per wear despite the friendlier sticker.
The honest part is the lifespan. The presets here — a tee at two to three years of heavy rotation, an oxford at four to five, chinos at three to four, raw denim at five-plus, Goodyear-welted boots at ten-plus once you count resoles, a merino sweater at five to eight — are averages drawn from published durability specs and broad user consensus, not a promise about your specific garment. Wash less, rotate more, and follow the care label and the same piece lasts longer; abuse it and it does not.
Lifespan estimates are honest averages from published durability data and broad user consensus — your mileage varies with rotation and care. Cost per wear is a decision tool, not a guarantee that any garment will reach the years shown.
Want the pieces that survive the math? Start with tees & henleys, denim, and boots & shoes, all reviewed on fabric weight, construction, and cost per wear.