British Women Pay More for Holiday Clothes than the Trip

According to research carried out by consumer group Which?, a large percentage of women over the age of 50 spend more on clothes for their holiday than the actual trip. It’s not surprising to men, who have to lug the baggage around, that their female counterparts also overpack their luggage by nearly twice as much as they need, according to other research for isme.com by OnePoll just this past May.

The Which? survey of 2,000 British women found that 4 of 5 women over the age of 50 spend more on clothes than the holiday. Of those questioned, about 85% plan to spend more than £1,000 on all of their summer holiday clothes, which is nearly twice as much as the average £677 per person overseas holiday cost.

The isme.com research of 1,000 British women shows that British women need an average 34 garments of clothing for a one-week holiday. However, they pack 60 in case they can’t decide what they want to wear while they’re away. This means that nearly half of what they pack won’t be touched. Of the 2,000 women questioned in the survey, 77% admitted to packing extras of everything for this reason, while 65% say they find it hard to get their luggage closed after packing and 58% find it difficult to keep their bags within the flying weight limit.

So what do women pack? The research finds that the average woman will pack 19 tops and 16 bottoms – leggings, shorts, trousers – but only wear 10 tops and 8 bottoms. Out of a total of 9 accessories – sarongs, sunglasses, hats and pashminas – only 4 will get used. Together, 54% say they take as many as 10 individual outfits and 96% take 5 pairs of shoes. Among the things that never make it out of their suitcases are an extra bikini, some underwear and at least one pair of shoes.

Additionally, about 73% of the respondents admitted to filling their bags with suntan lotion, 41% with hair straighteners, 43% with electrical products like hair dryers, 53% with make-up and 91% with an average of 5 handbags. Of the respondents, 65% admitted to only wearing half of what they take on holiday. Handbags are also problems for women, because they try to fit everything in them that they can’t get into their suitcases. This includes digital cameras, sunglasses, suntan lotion, MP3 players, books and phones.

To pack all of this, 33% of the respondents said that they spent as long as 3 days getting packed, while 10% say they take between 7 and 10 days to get organised. Despite all of this, 42% plan to buy clothes during their holiday, with 36% saying they spend an extra £50 on new things while on their trip. According to BBC Woman’s Hour adult psychologist Susan Quilliam, the overspending and overpacking is due to women seeking a confidence boost when they go to the beach or out for the night.