Glasgow women's clothes purchases rarely see light of day says charity
Glasgow women have adopted a wear it once culture when it comes to their wardrobes and only wear items a handful of times before considering them old, according to a new study.
Barnardo’s Scotland’s surveyed the fashion habits of women over 16 in Glasgow and found the majority of fashion purchases in the city see the light of day just six times.
The average Glasgow woman typically spends £95.34 per month, or £1,144.08 per year on clothes – a whopping £376.08 more than the average British woman’s annual spend – only for most of these purchases to languish in wardrobes barely worn.
The study was launched to promote #MyBarnardosDonation campaign, which is is calling out for women to tackle their bulging wardrobes and give away the clothes and accessories they are no longer wearing.
People think they need lots of clothing, that they need to be surrounded by choices - Linda Blair
All donations will be sold to support the vulnerable children across Scotland.
It also emerged that the average woman’s wardrobe in Glasgow contains 68 items of clothing, and on average 11 of these are discarded or passed on each year. Glasgow women are also far likelier to feel happy wearing a new outfit than women across the UK, with 31% claiming they feel better compared to the UK average of 18%.
Glasgow residents were however shown to feel guilty about their causal attitudes towards their clothing habits, with almost half admitting to feeling bad for wearing an item of clothing just once.
Magdalene Davie, area manager for the charity’s stores in Glasgow, said: “We’re all guilty of wearing an outfit a few times and then forgetting about it, but we were surprised to find the average Glasgow woman’s wardrobe has at least seven items that will never be worn again.
“So this Saturday, instead of going shopping once again for another outfit, we’re asking people to put aside an hour to sort through their wardrobe and put those items they no longer wear to good use by donating them to their local Barnardo’s Scotland store.”
Linda Blair, clinical psychologist and the author of The Key to Calm, is supporting the #MyBarnardosDonation campaign. She said: "Having a clear out is a great way to help you feel more in control of your wardrobe and your life.
"People think they need lots of clothing, that they need to be surrounded by choices, however, psychological research shows that having more choices actually leads to indecisiveness and less satisfaction rather than greater contentment.”
