Women waste billions on clothes never worn

Financial Express ^ | 1/8/06 | Reuters

[voletti]

LONDON, JANUARY 7: British women have spent more than 7 billion pounds buying clothes, shoes and accessories they will never wear, according to a survey on Friday.

Women have 14 items of clothing, on average, lurking in the back of their wardrobes that they have not worn in the last year, the survey by home insurer Churchill found.

Each unwanted item cost an average 21.82 pounds, which meant Britain's 24 million women spent 7.3 billion pounds last year on clothes they did not wear, the insurer said.

Nearly two-thirds of women (62 percent) said that they bought their fashion follies in the sales, the same proportion as bought clothes a size too small in the hopes of dieting to fit their latest finds.

Churchill said women were spending an average 305 pounds a year on clothes they would never wear, or 12,810 pounds in a working lifetime.

"Many householders are guilty of buying new clothes in the sales which will never get worn," said Martin Scott, head of Churchill Home Insurance.

[Cheburashka]

It's a little-known fact that most women secretly feel they should be prepared in case they suddenly start to grow additional feet.

[Cheburashka]

I have a Van Halen concert T-Shirt that I bought in 1984 and never wore... does that count?
---
Not if you sold it on E-Bay as a collectible.

[Cheburashka]

I notice she never actually made it into the Gap Store.
Of course that may be the point.

[voletti]

Point taken.

The point here though is the "magnitude" of "wastage".
Nobody would be interested if clothes never worn totalled up to a few 1000s of $$ in private money, eh?

[baseballmom]

Hmmmmmm.....shoes......LOL, Shoes are my weakness.

Older son got married last week, and I had a fabulous, to- die-for, pair of shoes for the wedding. Of course, I had to buy a back up pair, because the fabulous shoes had 3 inch heels, and one can last only so long in those shoes.

So, one pair for ceremony and pictures and receiving line, and one pair for dancing. See how quickly the shoe racks can fill up? ;-)

[RHINO369]

I wear every piece of clothing i own thats suitable to wear that season atleast once before I do laundry. The only thing i overspend on is I buy socks alot because they get grey and nasty. But i can buy 12 at walmart for 4 bucks or something.

[R. Scott]

A unique shoe for every occasion?
I have a pair of brown moccasins for comfort and everyday wear. I have a pair of comfortable soft black leather for dress.
The connection between women and shoes will remain a mystery to me.

[afnamvet]

I just had to use a skip loader to make my way to my side of the closet.

[bluesagewoman]

Add into that the BTU considerations! One drawer of long underwear, and one of good grade socks...the rest is of no consequence. The guys here will continue to complain.

[ApplegateRanch]

No, this is Britain where ever thang be screwed up.

Pounds is money; stones are weight; and balls be pig-pushes.

[voletti]

A dozen pairs for $4? Wow!
Last I checked, it was 6 pairs for $5 odd...
So, Wal Mart prices differ store to store or what...?

[ApplegateRanch]

So, Wal Mart prices differ store to store or what...?

Of course they do, and even from shelf to shelf. The secret is, you first buy this handy-dandy little bar-code printing program, and a package so self-stick printable labels....

Oh, wait; wrong thread. This isn't DU.

[baseballmom]

A unique shoe for every occasion?



Well, not EVERY occasion, but I had to have these shoes for son's wedding (and the backups). I couldn't have possibly worn the shoes I wore to daughter's wedding in the fall!! Totally wrong for the dress. Shoes are like jewelry. Accessories MAKE the outfit.

[ChefKeith]

O.K. everything here has been asked and answered EXCEPT, why is an insurance company even researching this?

[Squantos]

Because they had extra cash laying around after Katrina ?

[ApplegateRanch]

Shoes are like jewelry.

Last time I looked, shoes are something that keep my socks dry, and stickers out of my feet.

[ChefKeith]

In England?

[Eaker]

Left over eggnog?

[ml/nj]

It's a good thing no one ever investigates my collection of books!

ML/NJ

[Squantos]

Ya'll ever line-x a whole vehicle ? Thinking of having the toy truck done for it's 20th birthday !