Quality and Care in Wardrobe Planning

We've been discussing the idea of cost-per-wear, and how this little equation can be used when making your wardrobe choices. However, you shouldn't think of cost-per-wear as the sole determiner of what to buy. There are other factors involved in building your wardrobe wisely.


The way cost-per-wear works is that the more you wear an item, the less you spend for each wearing. We've seen how this can make a more expensive item the better bargain in the long run. But two other things factor in to the economics of a small wardrobe: quality and care.

If you are interested in having a fully functional wardrobe, you need to start thinking about maximizing the number of times you can wear something. We're not talking about over-exposing the clothing in your closet. Rather, the idea is to have each article of clothing in some form of a rotation so that it gets worn regularly. Keeping an eye on quality and care will help you do this.

Quality will directly affect the longevity of the garment. The better the quality of the garment, the longer it will last. The longer it will last, the more wearings you can get out of it. This is how cashmere, at twice or three times the price of polyester (maybe more) will be a better bargain in the long run.

There is a sweet spot here, though, if you are interested in the economics of a small wardrobe. When the price of something reflects not only its quality but its label, you may be paying more for the brand name than you are for the quality. Just because something is designer does not always mean that it is quality. There are some appallingly "cheap" designer clothes out there that are outrageously pricey. Keep this in mind when you are planning out your wardrobe, and learn to spot quality independent of name or price.

Of course, properly caring for your garments will also help extend their life, improving that ol' cost-per-wear ratio. Proper cleaning and storage is definitely in order! However, the economic aspect of caring for your clothes doesn't stop there. Think also about how the type of care the garment requires will affect its overall cost to you. If something needs frequent dry cleaning, it will be more expensive to maintain than cotton that can be washed at home. Learn which items truly need dry cleaning (those that say Dry Clean ONLY), and those that can be washed by you with special attention (and many items can...you just need to know how!)

Tomorrow will be Q&A day, so come on back!

See you then...same blog time...same blog channel....

(For more information on wardrobe planning, or to sign up for my free e-zine, please visit my wardrobe planning website)