25% of UK consumers hoard fashion disasters – M&S study

- Brits spend majority of young adult life uncomfortable with their fashion choices

- 2 in 5 (40%) find their teenage years the trickiest style era to look back at

- 1 in 4 (25%) confess to hoarding fashion disasters to use as fancy dress costumes

- 2 in 5 (38%) Brits only like and wear half of the clothing in their wardrobes

- 1 in 4 (21%) of men are using celebrity Instagram pictures to find their style inspiration

-  With 1 in 3 (34%) admitting to throwing unwanted fashion choices in the bin, M&S and Oxfam are calling on the nation to shwop their fashion regrets

AFTER years of bad fashion choices and changing styles British men and women have stated that they finally feel happy with how they dress from the age of 33.

The study by Marks & Spencer (M&S) and Oxfam’s Shwopping initiative has shown two in five (40%) of the nation look back in horror at the choices they made in the rebellious teenage years, with women on average, admitting 24 is the age they find most tricky in terms of style.

A nation of hoarders, one in five admit to owning fashion disasters from the past – with flares, shoulder pads and shell suits topping the list. However bad these styles from yester year are, people feel compelled to hang onto them, with one in four (25%) stating they keep them to wear as fancy dress outfits.

The nation is amassing millions of items of clothing they consider to be fashion disasters that will never see the light of day again, with two in five (38%) admitting to only wearing half of the clothes they own.

Over one third (34%) of Brits are still throwing clothes in the bin which means we are sending millions of clothing to landfill.

M&S and Oxfam’s Shwopping initiative is calling on the public to ensure no clothing ends up in landfill by shwopping - not binning - these unloved items of clothing in their stores nationwide.

With over 1 billion items sent to landfill each year in the UK, the retailer is calling on Brits to adopt a ‘buy one, give one back’ culture when they shop.

As part of its One Day Wardrobe Clear Out Shwopping event on Thursday 3rd October, the retailer is asking the nation to ditch the bin and ensure their unwanted clothing choices can have a second life by Shwopping in-store to receive a £5 money-off voucher when they spend £35 or more on fashion.

Social media sites have become the 21st century catwalk. Not only was last month’s London Fashion Week played out across various social media platforms, but one in ten (11%) admit Facebook and Instagram are now their number one port of call for knowing what’s hot and what’s not in terms of trends and styles.

Surprisingly, it is men not women, that trawl celebrity Instagram snaps to find style inspiration, with one in four (21%) admitting to styling themselves on their idol.