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Britons will spend more than £2.7 billion this year on 50 million summer outfits that will be only worn once, thanks to holidays, weddings and festivals.
Thanks to holidays, weddings and festivals, Britons will spend more than £2.7 billion this year on 50 million summer outfits that will be only worn once.
According to recent research carried out by Censuswide for the charity Barnardo’s one of they biggest expenses is due to new clothing for holidays, where consumers splash out more than £700m on 11m items bought for their getaway that will never be worn again.
Wedding guests spend on average £79.76 on a new outfit for the day, buying nearly 10 million pieces that will only be worn once.
That’s why wedding guest dress hire is our biggest category! We see a growing demand from our customers wanting the fun and flexibility of wearing a dress to a wedding and not worrying about wearing it once, when it stays in the wardrobe unworn after that!
The surveys highlights that one in four people (25%) is embarrassed to wear an outfit to a special occasion more than once, rising to 37% of 16 to 24-year-olds, with the children’s charity suggesting that “this needs to change”. It is another example of the huge environmental and financial impact of fast or throwaway fashion, making fashion the second most polluting industry in the world. This is one of the growing concerns that the industry is wasting valuable resources and contributing to the climate crisis. It is urging shoppers to consider second-hand clothing rather than only buying new outfits.
In response, Barnardo’s is launching an in-store booklet with tips on finding and styling occasion wear from its shops. It is also releasing a short film with tips from experts on sustainable fashion.
Javed Khan, Barnardo’s chief executive, said: “Choosing to buy ‘pre-loved’ clothes for a special occasion means you don’t have to worry about bumping into someone wearing the same outfit.
It is also kinder to the environment and your wallet, getting more wear out of clothes which might otherwise only be worn once and end up in landfill.”
Girl Meets Dress gives all women access to easily wear relevant, trend led, time-sensitive fashions, while continuing to invest and buy only in those classic pieces which will stand the test of time. Designer clothing is expensive and a notoriously poor long term investment and it can lead to a wardrobe full of things you never wear but spent too much on to give away en masse — and the cycle perpetuates. But Girl Meets Dress made it accessible and sustainable.
