Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Every person has a style, and every style deserves support. Enter your style strategy cheerleader and founder of BU Style, Natalie Tincher. Since 2010 Natalie has worked with hundreds of personal clients as well as large corporations and a major global news network—and she is here to guide you.
In this podcast, you will gain clarity and insights on how to connect your style with your authentic self through Natalie's style expertise as well as interviews with other style-supporting guests like designers, clients, and other professionals in and out of the fashion industry.
Whether you love fashion, fear fashion, or fall somewhere in between, it doesn't matter. This isn't about fashion; it's about exploring who you are and how to own your unique style identity. This podcast will help you cut through the noise and examine your personal style holistically so you can "wear who you are" every day.
By embracing these principles of buying the best you can and buying less, I truly, truly believe you save money in the long run and you're also helping contribute to a more sustainable and planet-friendly mentality in your shopping habits. Welcome to when who you Are, a podcast that takes the fear out of fashion and holds space for everyone to explore how to connect your authenticity with your personal style. I'm your host, Natalie Tincher, founder of BU Style, expert style strategist and your enthusiastic friend in safe space of support. I believe that every person has a style and every style deserves a seat. With over a decade of experience working with hundreds of personal clients, I've learned a thing or two about how to help others have a healthy and holistic approach to navigating, how to build a wardrobe that reflects who you are. So pull up your seat and let's get started. Hello, and welcome back to another when who you Are, Wednesday.
Today is a solo episode. We're going to do some Nat-style school and we're going to dive into a concept that I've sworn by, lived by, strategized by, since I began working as a stylist and even before that. That is the principle of cost per wear. So, first of all, I hate math. I'm truly, truly so bad at it, so bad that I have to do grade school math when I'm adding up a tip to a restaurant, check you know where you add the columns and then carry the one and all of that, even if it's super simple. However, cost per wear, or CP-Dubs as I like to call it, is the one math equation that gets me really excited, actually Very nerdy on that side, like really, really, really excited. It's a very simple, yet powerful principle that can really revolutionize how you think about investing in your wardrobe. So what exactly is cost per wear? I'm going to break it down for you. Cost per wear is equal to the cost of the item what you paid for it, divided by the number of times that you wear it.
So some scenarios here. Imagine that you're eyeing a really trendy, fun blouse that's on sale. Before you swipe your card, you'd ask yourself how many times will I actually wear this? That's where cost per wear comes into play. At its core, cost per wear is the idea of evaluating an item's value based on how many times you'll wear it, rather than just its initial price tag. We'll do some math and in these scenarios, so say that blouse that you're eyeing is, say, $50. If you only wear it once to a special event or a fun dinner. Then it collects dust in your closet until eventually it hits a donate bag. The cost per wear is $50. Maybe you find two occasions to wear it. Then your cost per wear goes to $25. Now you know I'm a huge advocate of buying less of the best that you can.
So let's consider a different scenario. You invest in a great pair of jeans, and for simple math we'll call it $200. You wear them twice a week for a year. That's roughly 100 times. So your cost per wear after a year is just $2. Not too bad right, compared to, maybe, that blouse, which was $50 or $25 per wear.
By looking at your spending and budget from a cost per wear perspective, you're shifting your focus from the upfront cost to the long-term value of an item. Suddenly, that pricey coat doesn't seem so expensive when you wear it every winter for, let's say, the next five years, 10 years. And the cost per wear isn't just about saving money. It's also truly a really great way to think about sustainability and to implement sustainability. Fast fashion encourages us to buy cheap, trendy items that often fall apart after a few wears by investing in quality pieces with a low cost per wear, you're reducing waste and minimizing your environmental impact.
Let's talk about some ways that you can apply cost per wear to your own shopping habits. Here are just a few of my tips. First, prioritize quality over quantity. So, instead of buying five cheap and cheaply made pieces, invest in one that will last for years, even if you decided to donate it or sell it. Remember that the cost per wear formula extends beyond its life in your closet. When you buy the best quality you can, the garment's life and lower cost per wear quests can extend to its next user. So when you donate quality pieces, it's actually more likely that they'll be accepted by a donation or consignment center and be loved by the next owner, so that cost per wear can go down for more and more times with somebody else.
Second, I want you to think about versatility. I want you to choose items that you can mix and match with multiple outfits, maximizing their wear potential even within one season. So today I'm wearing two key pieces a gray tibie blazer gray. Another tomorrow, cashmere sweater. I mix and match both of these pieces like crazy. So I knew they were on my key list a couple seasons ago and I knew when I invested in them that they would be super, super, super versatile in my life, and it's proven to be true. The cost per wear, I mean we're pretty low. Now I haven't calculated at this point in time the exact cost per wear, because now I'm in a few seasons and I actually couldn't even count how many times that I've worn these pieces.
On this vein, I do want you to consider the cost over time when you're buying things. A higher upfront price might sting a little bit at first, but if it means years of use, it's worth it in the long run. And if you're nervous about investing in expensive pieces because you're afraid you might not like it in a year, I hear you, I totally acknowledge you, and if you fall into that category, I suggest we back up a few steps before you shop. If you haven't, you can listen to a few of my episodes that help you key in on your personal style and strategies to go along with it. One of those episodes is episode 22, on doing your own closet sort in order to make a strategic shopping list and hone in on your style. And another useful episode might be episode 26. And that's about when rental services are useful. Now this could be an opportunity to try pieces similar to what you're considering purchasing as your investment pieces from a rental service. Give those pieces a test run, and this is a great way to alleviate any of those trepidations you may have on a higher upfront spend or really any spend at all.
I'm now so wired to do a quick CP dubs check anytime I buy anything. Now this even extends to special event items. I love to buy great dresses or pieces for events, but I always, always, always, think of versatility for these things long term. I run through a quick checklist that may sound something like could I style this more casually? Would this work for a very sub-ents I may have down the line that aren't on my calendar, like weddings that come up, cocktail parties, holiday parties, a really nice dinner, you know, a charity event, something like that. Whatever your lifestyle is, for me those might be some things on my list. Honestly, I even did this with one of my wedding looks all my wedding looks, actually, but one in particular, and this was a two piece sequence set. I felt so much better when I found it about investing in it because I could style it, particularly the bottoms, with more casual pieces later on. So, for example, I paired those sequin bottoms with an oversized ivory, more casual sweater for a holiday party.
So I hope you'll take these really quick tips into consideration when you're making your own shopping wish list in order to get really, really, really intentional about what items you want to invest in. It may be worth taking off a few of the micro trend items on your list in order to allocate that seasonal budget for investing in better quality, versatility and that upfront costs. I also truly hope that it goes without saying that I don't believe in putting yourself in unnecessary financial strain with your shopping. So that's why, when clients say to me I want to invest in pieces, I always clarify what that looks like financially for them. We all have different budgets, we all have different ways that we want to allocate those budgets and we're all just in different places. So just be sure that you're clear about what budget truly supports your holistic big picture goals and we can support that. That doesn't mean you have to buy the most expensive investment item. It's really the best that you can buy within your specific budget. So there's really the cost-per-wear formula in a nutshell and my principles and strategies behind it. By embracing these principles of buying the best you can and buying less. I truly, truly believe you save money in the long run and you're also helping contribute to a more sustainable and planet-friendly mentality in your shopping habits, which is so opposite of so much of what we see with these fast-fashion advertising telling you bye, bye, bye, bye, bye. So it's been a minute since we did Aware who you Are Challenge.
I'm going to give you a choose your own CP-Dubs adventure option here for this. The first one is it's that time to start making your spring summer shopping wishlist and a budget with it. When you make this budget, I want you to do a one-year CP-Dubs formula for each of these pieces, for those big, big investment pieces. If this is a year that you're like you know I'm going to get a new great leather jacket or I'm going to get a really nice investment purse for myself I want you to extend that cost-per-wear timeline to five years. So doing this will help you one, create an expectation and practice of looking at each piece with more scrutiny because you're committed to keeping this piece long-term, and, two, it helps you, if you're a nerdy and competitive like I am, get really jazzed about challenging yourself to reach an ultra low lifetime cost-per-wear on these pieces. I think it's really fun. I have, you know, handbags that I bought five or six years ago and sometimes I sit down just to be competitive with myself and do the calculation like approximate Obviously I don't know what every time I used it and I'm like, yeah, I got that lower this year.
Your second option for your WearWho you Are Challenge is, if you're not buying clothes this season which many people aren't and I also extra applaud that your challenge is to pick an item in your closet that you did purchase and haven't worn as much as you'd like. Come up with new ways to style that piece in your wardrobe and commit to lowering that cost-per-wear by wearing it more this season. Thanks again for tuning in. Remember, as you start to think about your style strategy this spring and every season, it's not about how much you spend on an item, but how many times you, or maybe somebody else, wears it. I hope that part of your wearing who you Are includes wearing thoughtful wardrobe investments. I'll see you next time.
Thanks for joining another Aware who you Are Wednesday. If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to help support the podcast, please share it with others, post about it on social media or leave a rating and review. Be sure to follow along for episode news updates and other bonus style insights on Instagram through my business account at BU Style that's the letters B, u and Style or my personal account at natalie_tincher, and don't forget to subscribe to Aware who you Are wherever you listen to your podcasts. Thanks again and see you next time.