New survey shows when it comes to borrowing clothes we are shocking at giving them back

EVER lent a scarf, some jewellery a dress or handbag to a mate and never got it back? As it turns out, we’re crap friends. Here’s why.

EVER lent a favourite scarf, piece of jewellery, dress or handbag to a mate and never, ever have it returned?

Well, yes to all of the above from my humble wardrobe and for some mad reason, the longer time goes on, the more reticent we usually become to ask for what is OURS back!

Anyway, some stats have come to light proving we are a country of, well, fairly forgetful and lazy peeps when it comes to returning clothes we’ve borrowed from our mates.

A desire to always be ‘on trend’ and decked out in the latest threads is driving style-conscious Aussies to borrow, lie and steal in the name of fashion.

New research has revealed that while 53 per cent of Aussies generously open their wardrobe to friends and family, 21 per cent never see their clothes returned.

One in five sneaky Aussies doesn’t even bother to ask before borrowing clothes.

Check out these stats:

• 40 per cent of clothes borrowers have not returned borrowed items because they had stained, faded,

stretched or shrunk them.

• 46 per cent simply wanted to keep the clothes for themselves

• 57 per cent of women are more likely to lend items in their wardrobe compared to men, at 34 per cent

• 75 per cent of women are more likely to refuse to share because of size difference, while 20 per cent of men are more likely to say it’s because they don’t like sharing

• 41 per cent say never getting clothes back is the most annoying thing about lending clothes to friends, followed by 35 per cent of peeps who get something back that hasn’t been looked after.

The research was conducted for by the independent research body T Garage, for Radiant, with more than 1,100 Australians surveyed.

But not all the news is bad.

With the influx of fast fashion retailers to our shores and constant style advice filling social media feeds, fashion-minded folk are going to great lengths to ensure they never break the cardinal rule of ‘repeating’ an outfit. Yup, they’re buying more for much less.

Where wardrobe repeat is unavoidable — it’s called having a budget to live by — style-conscious Aussies are spending more time ensuring their wardrobe pieces are staying in better shape.

Also, social media is making it increasingly difficult for serial style-stealers to slip under the radar, with 14 per cent of those surveyed having been caught while wearing borrowed clothing on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Let’s hope our days of being slightly slack giving back things we’ve borrowed will soon be gone.

Originally published as New survey shows when it comes to borrowing clothes we are shocking at giving them back