Cost-per-wear is a simple number and almost nobody uses it at the point of sale, which is exactly when it matters. A coat worn forty times a season for six seasons is cheaper than a jacket worn four times before it's retired.
This is not an argument for spending more. It's an argument for spending on fewer, more deliberate things - construction that survives a dry clean, fabric that was chosen for the climate it will actually meet.
The label 'investment piece' gets used loosely. The honest test is whether you'd still choose it if no one else ever saw you in it.
