What have you got packed?
Our holiday wardrobe is important, maybe even more important than our day-to-day wardrobe in all honesty. When we go away there are plenty of pictures taken, from morning to night you can guarantee that someone will have a camera to hand.
But just how much are you willing to spend on your holiday clothing? And does it depend on we're you're going?
Benidorm was once thought of as the 'tacky' holiday destination for hen 'dos and stag weekends, but not anymore. According to a new survey, conducted by Very.co.uk, this is second highest 'fashion suitcase spend'.
Young British women heading there this summer are planning to take a whopping £664 worth of clothes, heels, swimwear and accessories.
Based on responses of 1,000 women aged between 18-35, the research revealed the average suitcase value for Europe-bound Brits to be £580.
In terms of where the most expensive suitcases are travelling from, it’s perhaps no surprise that jet-setters from the capital lead the way (£639), but delving a little deeper, a comprehensive destination analysis throws up some interesting revelations.
While it might be famed for its boutiques, bars and yachts – and known as the Mediterranean playground for countless reality TV stars – Marbella has an average suitcase value of just £532, meaning it fails to even crack the top 10: and is only two places above the traditional British seaside resort of Blackpool (£507).
However, ‘Marbs’ does lead the way when it comes to a number of specific summer essentials: namely fake tan (16 per cent of young women heading there will take it with it them – more than any other resort), ‘beach bods’ and tablet technology.
Of all the pre-holiday diets, arguably the most trumpeted in 2012 has been ‘No carbs before Marbs’ – and it seems there’s more than a ring of truth to this. A third of women (32%) jetting out to the high-end location will purchase at least one clothes item ‘a dress size down’ as an incentive to get a ‘bikini bod’ for their holiday – compared to an average of 23% across all other resorts.
Finally, it seems Marbella-bound belles can forget about the latest must have sunglasses or ‘beach jewellery’… because the ultimate style accessory to be seen with there this summer is a tablet PC. Surprising to say the least, over a third of women (36 per cent) will be packing their mobile shopping and gossip gadgets to keep up to speed with Facebook, and an eye on celebrity websites, from their sun loungers.
Rounding off the key findings, the research threw up a number of interesting insights as regards to the fashion behaviour of British women on their holidays. They will spend an average of 42 minutes getting ready to go out in the evening and one in ten women (11 per cent) admit to four or more outfit changes in the course of a single day.
Julie Donnelly, Head of Womenswear Very.co.uk said, “British women take great pride in what they wear and a summer holiday represents the perfect chance to showcase a hot summer wardrobe. Whether they’re heading to the coast or the Med, it seems our girls are committed in packing to impress.”