Why women only really need five outfits

THEIR wardrobes might be brimming with a seemingly endless choice of clothes – but when it comes to choosing what to wear, women choose the same five outfits on a loop.

Two-thirds admitted that they rarely wore many of their T-shirts, trousers and dresses because they always just reached for their favourites instead.

And because of this, a poll of 1,000 women found that a third of the items in the average wardrobe were never worn.

Most women have just one pair of jeans, four T-shirts and three jumpers or cardigans that regularly make it out of the wardrobe, according to the research that was carried out for Oxfam.

Oxfam spokesman Fee Gilfeather said: ‘Men and women up and down the country are secreting away thousands of pounds worth of clothing which they aren’t wearing for one reason or another.

‘It would seem we constantly reach for the dress, trousers or top which we feel most at home in, and the rest of our wardrobe remains untouched.

‘We suspect there are many items of clothing housed at the back of people’s closets which they’re never likely to wear again.’

Three-quarters of women said that they wore the clothes on rotation because they fitted well and felt comfortable.

And women were not alone – of 1,000 men who were also polled, most admitted they did not wear at least 30 per cent of the clothes they owned.

A further third had a staple ‘work wardrobe’ they wore over and over.

The research, by onepoll.com, also found that 73 per cent of women owned clothes that did not fit them properly – compared with 60 per cent of men.

Men have three ‘work outfits’ worn on a loop, it found. But they were less likely than women to worry about friends noticing that they were wearing the same clothes all the time, according to the study, which Oxfam commissioned as part of an appeal for donations of unwanted garments.