Signature tool · the arithmetic
Cost Per Wear
What it weighs is a number. What it's worth should be one too. Put in a price and an honest wear count, and this returns cost per wear, total cost of ownership, net cost after resale, and a three-band verdict.
The readout
$2.40per wear
- Total wears
- 500
- Cost per wear
- $2.40
- Total cost of ownership
- $1,200
- Resale recovery
- none assumed
- Net cost after resale
- $1,200
- Net cost per wear
- $2.40
The Pennyweight Verdict
Buy on sale
At $2.40 a wear the piece is defensible but not obviously so — a markdown, or more wears, is what closes the gap.
- Buy at full price
- Buy on sale · this one
- Skip
Bands: under $2.00 · under $10.00 · above
Preloaded pieces
Published prices from the brands we cover, loaded straight into the calculator at 52 wears a year. Change the assumptions and the verdict moves with them.
- Roxanne AssoulinThe Cylinder Cord Necklace$125
- Jennifer BehrVoilette Headband$282
- Finley ShirtsSloane Shirt$285
- Gwynn's of Mount PleasantNili Lotan Cami Gown$595
- LUOSOPHYCanada Goose Women Chilliwack Bomber Jacket$780
- Anna OctoberClementine Satin Maxi Dress$850
- NomaseiSTRADA - Ankle Boots - Suede Black$850
- AMANDA PEARLRipple Ring - Plain$1,065
Prices are the brands' own published figures as recorded in our brand files, checked September 2026. A price marked “from” is a starting price for that style. Check the current figure on the brand's site before you decide anything.
What this does and does not do
Cost per wear is purchase price divided by the number of times a piece is actually worn. Net cost per wear subtracts whatever you realistically recover on resale first. Both are arithmetic, not a forecast: the accuracy lives entirely in the wear count you supply, and the honest wear count is almost always lower than the one you first think of.
The three-band verdict is a fixed call, not a score. Under $2.00 a wear, the wear count has done the work and the price does not need a discount. Under $10.00, the piece is defensible but a markdown is what closes the gap. Above that, you are renting it.
We do not assume a resale figure for you. Recovery varies enormously by label, category and condition, it is close to nothing on lab-grown stones, and for many independent brands there is no secondary-market data at all — so the field starts at zero and stays there unless you have a comparable listing to point at.