COST PER WEAR: When Buying Better Can Save You More

We’ve all felt the sting of buying something cheap that didn’t last — the broken zip, the stretched-out fabric, or the seams coming undone after a few wears. While budget shopping seems practical in the moment, it often costs more in the long run. The key to smarter style? Understanding Cost Per Wear (CPW) and investing in quality pieces that actually deliver.

Let’s break it down:

Say you buy a jacket for R500 and wear it five times. That’s a CPW of R100.
Now imagine you fall in love with a beautifully made jacket that costs R3000. It feels incredible, fits perfectly, and works with half your wardrobe. You end up wearing it 100 times over a few years — your CPW drops to R30.

That’s the power of investing in quality.

Why Cheap Isn't Value

Low prices often come at the expense of durability and ethics. Cheap clothing is typically mass-produced using poor materials, rushed manufacturing processes, and underpaid labour. These garments are designed to look good on the rack and meet your impulse to buy now — not to last.

Here’s the truth:

• Many fast-fashion items are losing their shape and structure in a single season. 

• Seams unravel. Shapes warp in the wash. Those baggy knees, baggy bums, out of balance hems, stretched necklines, shapeless T-shirts, wavy edged cardigans, and more, are all signs of poor quality or sometimes poor care. 
  

Each time they fail, you're back in store, spending again. That’s not good value — it’s just a short-term fix with long-term waste.

The Value of Quality

On the other hand, quality brands build trust by producing garments that hold up over time. They use better materials, pay attention to detail, and often maintain a level of ethical production. When you buy something from a quality label, you're investing in:

• Better fit
  

• Longer wear
  

• Timeless design
  

• And often, a smaller environmental impact
  

Plus, there’s something truly empowering about wearing a garment that feels as good as it looks — and keeps looking good, year after year.

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