Women in Britain waste millions of pounds on clothes they do not wear, the latest research shows.
Ambitious purchases of clothes in small sizes by unsuccessful dieters are one factor behind the trend.
Other garments languishing in wardrobes have fallen out of fashion - or out of favour with their owner.
Women have an average of 14 unused items costing an average of pounds
21.82 a piece, the survey for Churchill Home Insurance found.
Shoes top the list of items which women buy and do not wear, while shirts are number one 'most unworn' item of men's clothing.
Women in the UK have an average pounds 305 worth of clothes in their wardrobe which have not been worn in the last year, the research found.
British women collectively own around pounds 7.3bn worth of clothes they do not wear with each spending around pounds 12,810 during their working life, the insurer said.
By contrast, men have an average of nine items of clothing they have not worn in the last year, each with a price tag averaging pounds 18.68. This adds up to pounds 7,901 worth of unwanted clothes over the average man's working life.
The January sales are the time when women are most likely to buy garments which never see the light of day.
Nearly two-thirds of female shoppers admitted the lure of a bargain had tempted them into buying most of their unworn items in the post-Christmas period.
Ambitious purchases of clothes in small sizes by unsuccessful dieters are one factor behind the trend.
Other garments languishing in wardrobes have fallen out of fashion - or out of favour with their owner.
Shoes top the list of items which women buy and do not wear, while shirts are number one 'most unworn' item of men's clothing.
Women in the UK have an average pounds 305 worth of clothes in their wardrobe which have not been worn in the last year, the research found.
British women collectively own around pounds 7.3bn worth of clothes they do not wear with each spending around pounds 12,810 during their working life, the insurer said.
By contrast, men have an average of nine items of clothing they have not worn in the last year, each with a price tag averaging pounds 18.68. This adds up to pounds 7,901 worth of unwanted clothes over the average man's working life.
The January sales are the time when women are most likely to buy garments which never see the light of day.
Nearly two-thirds of female shoppers admitted the lure of a bargain had tempted them into buying most of their unworn items in the post-Christmas period.
