You’ve just bought that stunning new dress that you’ve been obsessing over for the last few weeks. You get home, try it on twirling around, admiring how great you look. You then carefully take it off and then stuff it in the back of your wardrobe, probably never to be seen again for a while! If that’s you, you’re one of the thousands of British women who spend over £1,000 on new clothes every year, topping up with new gear very couple months, according to new research.
Of the 2,000 adults surveyed, eight in 10 women only go shopping for the sheer enjoyment of the “just-bought” feeling of new clothing, which gives them a sense of confidence. By comparison, when clothes aren’t new, women often feel lacklustre and dull, which leads to a loss of confidence.
But the psychology of shopping isn’t that simple. The study, by Fabric care experts Ariel and Fibre Scientist Neil Lant, also found women often return to wearing the same items of clothing citing laundry reasons; no hand washing or dry cleaning restrictions, they wash well and less often than other more high maintenance garments. This is Illustrated by the fact that we own on average 95 items, but only wear 43% per cent of what is in our wardrobes.
The findings in this survey were hardly surprising, particularly when for many women, looking our best very often closely mirrors our self-esteem. But the stats of how many few clothes in our wardrobe that we actually wear did ring true and is a bit of a wakeup call. Do we really need to buy that flattering blouse, very similar to three others that we already own, in yet another shade of red? It all adds up, and not in a good way.
Carrie Bradshaw once said: “I like my money right where I can see it… hanging in my closet,” but much as I love Carrie, I would have to disagree. I much prefer to spend my money funding the lifestyle I choose and as boring as this makes me sound, spending it wisely, not gathering dust at the back of my wardrobe.
