Can you actually invest in your wardrobe?

I have long used the word investment when talking about buying pieces I’ll own and wear for the long term. But now that I have a better understanding of financially investing my money into shares, I’m challenging myself if this is an appropriate use of the term, or if it's an honest misuse. And does it fall into the same bucket as ‘girl math’, inadvertently causing myself long term financial harm?

Foundationally I believe an investment item has merit, as you’re aiming to make a good financial decision by buying something once and holding onto it for a long period of time.

When investing in the stock market they also encourage you to take a long term view to see the benefits of compound interest, with 5 years as the minimum but ideally holding on for longer depending on your goals.

Time isn’t the only factor though when it comes to a good wardrobe investment, frequency is another key metric. Having it hang in the wardrobe isn’t enough, you need to actually wear it.

Similar to the compounding effect our money has when invested, the more we wear a piece, the more it grows in value. It's not monetary, but we place a higher personal value on items that become synonymous with our style, and how imperative they are to getting dressed. We also value pieces that universally style well with the rest of our wardrobe and that generate more outfit combinations.

A less emotional view on this is the cost-per-wear math, with an item getting ‘cheaper’ the more its worn. Its an approach that can help us evaluate the successes and the misses in our wardrobe to make better decisions moving forward. But similar to the buy-now-pay-later price splitting mentality, we need to be honest with ourselves and understand its not actually reducing in cost. Especially if you’ve gone over budget or bought on credit and are seeing the ramifications of these decisions.

To perform well across both frequency and time, they can’t fall apart or warrant themselves unwearable or unrepairable before they’ve reached their minimum 5 year term date. And so the quality of the item needs to be at a level that gets us there, but also, the value we place on them to look after it.

Two people can treat a pair of $200 shoes in two very different ways. Price doesn’t always reflect the level of care it will receive. You need quality and value working in tandem.

So how many