The Most Expensive Clothes In Your Wardrobe (And They Are Not What You Think!)

 

If I were to ask you right now what the most expensive clothes in your wardrobe are, you’d be thinking about an investment winter coat, maybe some fancy occasion dress or some designer accessories, right?

 

But I’ll surprise you now, those are not the most expensive items in your wardrobe.

 

The most expensive pieces are the ones that you don’t wear.

 

Let me explain why.  

 

 A Bargain is Only a Bargain if You Wear it

 

There is a variety of reasons why we end up with clothes we don’t wear – from misjudging how the item will fit into the existing wardrobe (and actually having nothing to go with it) to misinterpreting the excitement about the new purchase (e.g loving something in the shop only to discover that you actually don’t want to wear the item as it’s not ‘you’). 

 

But one of the biggest culprits that leads you to items that you don’t wear in the end is the false economy. 

 

If you buy something deeply reduced, but then end up wearing the item only once (or don’t wear at all!), the cost per wear of that ‘bargain’ equals its original price. And that’s a pretty pricey investment regardless of the price. 

 

I’ll show you why.

 

Let’s take 2 dresses:

 

The first one was one of those impulsive bargain purchases for, let’s say, ₹2,500 in sale.

 

The other dress was quite an investment for ₹25,000.

 

You wore the first one once for an event you panicked about when you didn’t know what to wear. The dress then ended up in the deep bowels of your wardrobe waiting for another occasion that never came. The cost per wear of this dress is ₹2,500.

 

The second dress you’ve been wearing, for example, once every 2 weeks for 2 years.

 

Here is its cost per wear:

 

₹25,000 / 52 wears (26 wears per year x 2 years) = ₹480

 

So we have ₹480 versus ₹2,500! 

 

The dress that cost 10 times less than the dress you’d originally perceive as expensive is actually a lot more expensive from the cost per wear point of view. Simply because the item hasn’t been worn! 

 

Now think about all of the pieces that you have sitting in the wardrobe that you are not wearing – do the maths and you’ll see why these guys are expensive liabilities with no return on investment! 

 

You have a yearly budget that gets spent on clothes and throughout the year you are flushing a chunk of that budget down the drain on pieces that end up being a waste of money, space, and time. They are clogging up your closet and only creating an illusion of options. They are hiding the good things, creating mental clutter, and making you feel guilty.

 

It’s a complete lose/lose scenario but you are doing it on repeat! 

 

Next time you are tempted by a questionable bargain or are about to splurge on something without a clear plan of what you’ll do with the item, ask yourself whether this is going to be another expensive investment with nothing to show for it. And if there is a chance it might be, walk away!! 

 

Your wardrobe and credit card will be thankful!