The average woman's outfit today cost £1000 - how about yours? - YouLookFab Forum

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The average woman's outfit today cost £1000 - how about yours?

RoseandJoan

Veteran

I found this quite an interesting study, when you take into account accessories (including mobile) and jewellery the average British lady steps outside of the house wearing outfits to the value of £1000 or $1593.60. I thought my thrifty circumstances would ensure that I was well below the national average but surprisingly I'm not.

Jewellery, sunglasses, handbag and shoes were the most expensive of my items. How do you compare?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem.....0-men.html

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54 replies

Latest reply was from Beth

bj1111

Veteran

this sounds about right for the average woman, especially the accessories.

just think about americans and their love for diamond engagement rings. for many (but not all) that's a couple thousand right there and can go up...

thinking about nas, the average outfit i would put together just from the stuff that i got would hit the average.

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

Let's see......
My outfit (including all jewelery, bag and cell phone- which was free with the contract) costs $680
If I add in my prescription sunnies, that bumps it up by another $170

Anonymous

Whoa.

I don't have a cell phone, so I'm well under the $300 mark, even with my prescription sunnies.

Dawn

(website)

Today's outfit which I think is an inaccurate reflection of my casual outfits was quite cheap:

My skirt was 119zl or €30, my graphic tshirt was a present, my waistcoat was the free part of a buy two, get one free offer in H&M, my tights were €2 and my ring was €6. My shoes were €25. My glasses however bump that up to around €363, my handbag adds another €30, my mobile phone and MP3 players adds another €200.

Overall, today cost €593/ £500/ $785.

This is not an accurate reflection as I was wearing two garments which were free and I was not wearing my amethyst ring (€320) which I normally wear everyday.

Laura

(website)

Veteran

I am over if you count my rings. But without that, I am way under. Less than $300. I need to stop wearing such cheap underwear

Rebecca

At first I thought no way would this apply to me given every clothing item i'm currently wearing was bought on sale but I'm closer than I thought when accessories are added in:

£1000 is about $2000 NZ

skinny jeans $20
tunic $30
singlet $30
underwear & socks $50
cardy $20
boots $200
prescription glasses $700
cellphone $0 (gift)
necklace & earrings $50
handbag $85

= $1185 although the article does say "to the value of £1000" so if everything was bought at full price and I added the value of the phone I'd be over $2000

RoseandJoan

Veteran

I wore today:

underwear £30.00
Office booties £85.00
Grey menswear trousers £15.00 (sale purchase)
American retro tunic £20.00 from what I remember (sale purchase)
Noa Noa belt £15.00 sale purchase
Glass bead necklace £30.00
Fine jewellery bangle £150.00
Jacket £40.00
Sunglasses £90.00
Farhi Handbag £100.00

That's £585.00, not including my rings or contents of my handbag.

Louise

Veteran

Rebecca I also thought no way - lets have a look

Underwear £16
Top £20
Skinnies £35
Clogs £17
Necklace was a gift, estimate £5
Sunglasses £40
Bag £40
Engagement ring paid £450 now worth £650
Phone paid nothing (upgraded via contract) worth £150
Contents of handbag- purse, organiser, odds and ends £40

Flippin heck £1013!!! what I paid was slightly cheaper but this is what it's all worth eeeccckkk that's scary!!!! x

Rosie

Veteran

Wow, sounds crazy, but when I start to add things up, especially handbag contents as the article does, I'm definitely up there. If we are talking about price paid then it is definitely a lot less than what the items actually sell for given that several things I am wearing are really expensive but I got them on sale. In the instance of my shoes, I bought them for $60 instead of $600... My pants were a gift but they were also on super sale and normally over $300!! My L.A.M.B. bag I also got for much, much less. Ack. Amazing.

Melissa

Ditto Anne: Whoa. I must show this to my bf who thinks spending basically any $$ on clothes is ridiculous.

Even including jewelry and spectacles, I come in well under $500. I'd say that's about my spring/fall average, with summer being less than that and winter being more because boots and winter coats are expensive.

Laura, I may also need some support to start spending more $$ on underthings. I'll even confess that all of my underpants came from Target. Yikes.

shana

Veteran

Hmmm, so interesting! I'm very much a bargain hunter and excluding jewelry, I am definitely under $250 (and I bought nearly everything on sale). I don't wear specs or expensive sunglasses (mine were $10 from Filene's Basement) and have an inexpensive purse and cell phone. My most expensive non-jewelry item today is footwear - dansko sandals. But then add in my watch and I am well over the average. It's interesting to note that according to the article, the average man's outfit costs almost as much as the woman's!

Mochaccino

Whoa! This is what happens when people confuse the mathematical concept of an average with what's normal or common. Then again i didn't bother to read the article, but i'm assuming the reporter thinks all these concepts are basically the same. It's a pretty common misconception. I remember a statistician with access to all the correct demographic data explaining the difference buy using the following example. I think he said something like if income were transformed into height in inches, then if the poorest of the poor were the height of a typical human being, people like Bill Gates would be more than tall enough to reach the moon. Averaging the incomes of the world's richest few with the rest of humanity gives an extremely misleading figure, if you make the mistake of assuming "average" means the same thing as common or normal.

Jenava

(website)

Veteran

Wait...they are including Cell Phones as part of an outfit? Weird. what about makeup, then? That seems more part of an outfit than cell phone, but then again how would you value the amount of eyeshadow you are wearing...LOL.

I don't even know what my wedding/engagement rings cost, and that also seems weird to count, since it's something I wear everyday, regardless of the other items I'm wearing. So, without cell phone or rings:

leggings $20
dress $100
jacket $60
shoes $30
undies $70
watch $300 (although I only own one and wear it everyday, so it also doesn't seem to count - but I know watches can be more of a fashion item)

Total $580!

But, I know there are days when I am closer to the average...

Jenava

(website)

Veteran

Mochaccino, I guess what we need is the "Mode"...hard to do with non-integer values, though! We could round all the values to the nearest $100 and then take the mode. Would that satisfy?

Mochaccino

Oh, if I seem a little touchy on the subject, It's because I remember literally crying after one of my school textbooks in the 90's told me that the average teenage girl spends around $5000 on her wardrobe a year. At the time I was living without electricity, but that's long behind me. Well that, and I absolutely can't stand the way the media misuses and abuses statistics. Lies, damn lies, and statistics!

Queen Mum

Veteran

hmmm... today I'm wearing
sundress from Kohls... $25
cami (express)...........$15
earrings (Silpada).........$40
shoes (Famous Footwear) $20
bag (Macy's)............... $50
Sunglasses (Kohls)........$15
undies+bra..................$60
and I'm not going to count my wedding ring

for a grand total of..... $225
oh, I forgot about the cell phone.... that's another $20 (lol.. yes, I'm serious) but it was on the kitchen counter charging all day so technically it wasn't on my person. but that one seems a bit ridiculous to count as it's not a clothing item or an accessory. Should we then also count every single item in our purse? I think that's going a bit far...

Tara

(website)

Veteran

Very interesting. I am definitely at the lowest end of this scale!
I refuse to count my phone as an element of my outfit, it's a utility and it's on a plan anyway so it's paid for monthly. It would definitely be my most expensive item at more than $800 (iPhone).

So, here's my breakdown:
Skirt: Cotton On, $10 on sale
Cream knit top: Valley Girl, $9.95
White singlet/cami: SES, $4.95
Rivers cardi: $39.95
Shoes: Thrifted, $7
Tights: $1.50 (bought as part of a 2-pack for $3!)
Scarf: gifted
Earrings: $5
Bangle: $3
Undies: $5
Bra: $15 on sale
Hair clip: gifted
Bag: thrifted, $5
Gloves: $10

Grand total of (drum roll please...) AUD$116.35.

Kristine

Veteran

Ok, let's see:

Cap sleeve sweater, Banana Republic Outlet, $35
White Express pants, thrift, $7
Silver bracelet, Target, $15
Leopard flats, Aerosole, $35
Bra, Warners, $15 (good sale)
Underwear, Old Navy, $2

Total: $74

Add in:
Sapphire wedding band, handcrafted, $500?
Cross shoulder bag $80

Total: $654 or 410 Pounds.

My cell phone was free so I don't count it.

Becky

Veteran

Yeah, I guess if you count wedding/engagement rings, specs, and cell phones, I'd be "average." I don't typically think of those items as part of individual outfits, though.

Cookie

I do not even want to consider this! It is scary to think of how much "money" is on your person as you venture out into the world. My engagement ring alone would excede that average and so would my watch. Start to add in boots and purses or diamond earrings - that is just crazy.

Ariadne

Veteran

Interesting!

Earrings: $15
Top: $30
Skirt: $30
Underwear $70
Shoes: $150
Watch: $80
Nose ring: $15
Diaper bag: $160

TOTAL: $650
I'm not counting my engagement and wedding rings. Pretty much everything on that list was bought on sale.

Lisa

Veteran

My accessories would put me over the edge everytime. Especially since I favor wearing an engagement ring and a watch everyday. If you took out those two items, the shoes are the other place that would push me over on certain days but not everyday. Makes me start wondering about how much I want to spend on my next handbag now though.

Isabel

Veteran

Wow..this is really an eye opener. I thought, at first, who did they survey ???

Then, like you, I thought of my prescription sunglasses, my Michelle watch, and my wedding band ( no diamonds and no engagement ring ) alone put me over that amount. It's what some people in the world earn in a year ! Yikes.

I don't tend to spend tons on clothes...so if I only focused on clothes and shoes it would be around $50 - $150 ( more in the winter with coats, gloves, etc. )

It made me think of my friend who has a $48,000 ( yes, you read correctly ) engagement ring and Louis Vuitton bag and wallet........I never thought of it that way before. When she steps out, even with no clothes, she is wearing the down payment on a nice house !!!

Sparky

Veteran

Fascinating! But the article's title is misleading. It says the average woman is walking around with that much in clothes. I think adding in the value of a handbag's contents as clothes is a bit much, and I don't consider jewelry, watches and cell phones, etc. clothes either.

Kate

Veteran

I love the poll where currently 92% of respondents say their outfit costs less than £1000!

While this article is interesting, I think it should focus more on cost per wear rather than sensationalizing how much we spend on an outfit. A lot of the items listed are investment pieces, not disposable fashion, and people who don't think about fashion as much as we do might miss that and think they "should" be buying more.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

What a great study! Julie, love having veteran you back on the forum.

My white ceramic Michelle watch alone cost $1200, and I wear it most days. My specs cost a fortune - and when I'm wearing my Valentino.....I guess I am rob-able.

However, catch me in my American Eagle sweats at night sans accessories and it's less than a hundred bucks.

taylor

Veteran

I am not touchin this one:)

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Go on, Taylor - I *touched* on it :0)

taylor

Veteran

OK...my jewelry alone...like you Angie, puts me over")

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