We’re Wasting Our Lives Away Combing Through Clothes

Would you spend six months deciding which outfit to wear? Surprise! You already do.

A new study out of London by British retailer Marks & Spencer found that women spend an average of 17 minutes every day choosing how they’re going to dress themselves, which adds up to about six months of their lives by the time they’ve turned 60.

A 10th of those 2,000 people surveyed — which includes both men and women — have been regularly tardy to work because they can’t figure out what to wear, and one in 20 has completely given up and canceled on an event. Been there.

Even after we have decided what to wear, things can still go awry: 62 percent of women and 33 percent of men have experienced “wardrobe rage” (which I imagine is basically road rage but less dangerous and indoors), and 15 percent of all adults say they’ve chosen the wrong clothes — spiraling them into a terrible mood for the remainder of the day.

To top it off, 21 percent of people have gotten into a fight with their significant other over clothing. Imagine explaining that to your divorce lawyer?

Of course, all this time tearing through your wardrobe and arguing with your spouse over your crappy clothes is nothing compared to how long most women spend buying new stuff. A 2011 survey revealed that women spend 399 hours a year shopping for clothes, meaning that the average 63-year-old has spent 8 1/2 years retailing.

That’s North West’s entire life almost three times over. Just let that sink in for a minute.

And that number is only set to increase. A 2013 study found that nearly half of millennial women shop for clothing more than twice each month — while only 36 percent of older women can say the same. Millennial men are shopping much more too.

So OK, fine: We may be wasting our lives away shopping in stores, online, and in our own closets. But at least we’ll look good doing it … except for the times we don’t. And then we’ll throw a fit.

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