Skirt vs. Sweater Update

As August winds to a close, it looks like the sweater may win this after all. I’ve worn each once since I last updated, bringing the CPW for the skirt to $3.20 and the CPW for the sweater to $1.68.

However, the sweater will not win fairly. It’s been horrifically hot here with temperatures over 100 degrees most days over the past two weeks and a lightweight cotton skirt is perfect for weather like that. Unfortunately, I lost it sometime last month.

You see, we just moved in to a new house and are still unpacking boxes, so everything is a bit disorganized. I thought the skirt might have been misplaced in a drawer or languishing at the bottom of the laundry bin, but I just can’t seem to find it anywhere.

This is why I sometimes hesitate to buy more expensive, good-quality clothes: I have a tendency to lose and destroy them. Despite my best efforts, it seems awfully arbitrary which garments stand the test of time. I have a striped t-shirt I bought twelve years ago at the Fashion Bug or some such place for about $3 and it’s just now starting to wear out. Then there’s the $20 t-shirt I bought at Parisian that self-destructed after one wash in the gentle cycle (at least I was able to return it for store credit). The Domestications quilt that’s still in one piece after surviving my college dorm room and subsequent bachelorette apartments vs. the Ralph Lauren quilt I bought a couple years ago that started to come apart at the seams when I looked at it funny.

I’ve learned that quality isn’t defined by a brand name or by the price you pay, it’s something you have to learn to recognize in the feel of a fabric, the condition of little details like stitches and hems. If I’m going to take a risk on spending my hard-earned money for something, I’d rather take the risk on quality.

Previous Posts: Quick Update: Skirt vs. Sweater, Cost Per Wear