Burberry Prorsum Menswear SS15
Despite what stereotypes may hint at, it is in fact young men who have the most valuable clothing collection of any age group in the UK, according to new figures.
The contents of a young man’s wardrobe cost £1,227 on average, while young women estimate theirs to be worth about £150 less at just £1,078.
Expensive designer labels are clearly the modern status symbol for young men, who admit to spending an average of £362 on their most expensive item of clothing. In fact, nearly two out of five young men spend over £50 every month on their fashionable threads, which adds up to an incredible £960 million being spent on fashion by this demographic each year.
The rise of the ‘metrosexual’ man has even resulted in one in 20 men carrying a compact mirror and even more carrying some sort of make-up. However, these ‘peacocking’ tendencies seem to be particular to the younger generation, with the figures indicating that the contents of a young man’s wardrobe was worth an average 45 per cent more than that of men in their fathers’ generation .
Unsurprisingly, it was trendy Londoners who were found to have the most expensive wardrobe collection in the UK, with the cost of their clothing totalling £1,447 on average. People in the North East, however, took a more frugal approach to their sense of style, with their closets costing half as much as those in the capital.
In contrast with ongoing cost of living concerns, 17 per cent of 18 -34 year olds admitted that the items they did not wear in their wardrobe were the result of inappropriate purchases they never got around to taking back, with men the most likely of the sexes to hoard these. Over a third of gents also confessed to keeping clothes that no longer fitted them, but this paled in comparison to nearly half of all ladies.
Despite this slightly cavalier attitude to their finances, four out of five (80 per cent) men in their twenties admitted that they do not have personal contents insurance to protect their style investments, or indeed the rest of their belongings.
Dan Simson, head of home insurance at Privilege, who conducted the research, said: “It is clear that the younger generation sees their clothing as a status symbol and are willing to invest a lot of their disposable income into looking good.
“However, an alarming number of young people admit to having no contents insurance at all. They may not have considered whether they could afford to replace their wardrobe and all of their personal possessions if they lost everything in a house fire and should consider taking out comprehensive contents insurance”.
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