Fashion's always on Lancashire females' minds

4:42pm Wednesday 23rd July 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

SPARE a thought for bags, clothes, shoes and accessories... women do 960 a day, according to a new study.

Forget work, family, friends, or even their partner, shopping is women’s big obsession according to the survey by cosmopolitan.co.uk, which analysed the thoughts of over 770 females nationwide.

Women think about shopping every 60 seconds, which mounts up to an astonishing 960 times a day and an incredible 6,720 times a week.

Self-confessed shopaholic Mags Walker, a marketing and PR consultant for Practical Partnership, in Barrowford, admits to thinking about shopping constantly.

“Being a bit of a slave to fashion I daydream about everything including the latest designer bag, shoes, and accessories,” said Mags.

“I shop most Saturdays and sometimes have a quick midweek jaunt. I also shop in Manchester or London once a month.”

But looking good comes at a price, and Mags admitted she’s been known to spend “a couple of thousand” on one item and then been unable to afford to go out for a month or two.

And when she sets her mind on something she goes to extreme lengths to get it.

“I called the store manager at Zara in Manchester every day for a fortnight for a stock report in an attempt to bag a stunning little dress that I’d tried on in a smaller size and which was meant to be arriving in my size sometime ‘in the next couple of days’.

“When that failed I bought the smaller size, hired a personal trainer for three sessions a week, and stopped eating until it fit!

“I only got to wear it the once but it was worth it!”

Liz Faye, 40, managing director of financial advisory company Palm Financial Care, Nelson, admitted having queued for hours to get her hands on the latest must-have bag.

“I queued for ages with hundreds of other women for an Anya Hindmarch ‘I’m not a Plastic Bag’,” she said, “Now I’m daydreaming about Louboutin black patent shoes. I even have pictures of them on my wall above my computer so I can see them every day and know what I’m working towards!”

Rowena Stanworth, 25, owner and manager of The Golf House, Clitheroe, said: “I walk past fashionable boutiques every day on my way to work and am always peering in windows looking at the latest trends.”

Sharon Skinner, 46, recruitment consultant for Cummins Mellor, from Oswaldtwistle., said: “I think about shopping every day and will spend as much as it takes to get the perfect item! You name it, I daydream about it — clothes, shoes, jewellery, make-up...”

Alicia Varo-Clement, 28, PA at CW Advertising Agency, Altham and who lives in Clitheroe, added: “I think about shopping every day, but what I daydream about most is a holiday in the sun.

“I would spend up to £300 on a handbag and up to £200 on a pair of shoes. I spend between one and three hours shopping at the weekends.

“I’ve had to cut back since the credit crunch though. ”

Deborah Boyle, 29, sales and marketing manager, HIT Computing Services, Hyndburn, said: “I am a bargain hunter.

“I think about what I want to buy next most days. Before now I’ve gone to the same shop week in week out waiting for an item to arrive in stock.”