How women spend a staggering 312 hours getting ready for their Christmas bash

The average woman spends the equivalent of 13 days shopping, getting in shape and beautifying themselves in preparation for the office Christmas party, a new study revealed today.
The research, commissioned by Clothes Show Live, showed that the festive occasion is the most important event in the female social calendar, ahead of friends' weddings, dates and New Years Eve parties.
On average they will spend 72 hours shopping for an outfit, 96 hours getting in shape and 23 hours beautifying themselves.

Festive spirit: The office Christmas party is the high point of the female social calendar, and many women spend hours preparing for the occasion

Women will also spend 63 hours taking advice from friends, 48 hours shopping for accessories and 12 hours on hair styling, including cuts, dying and blow-drying.
Two in three women will even begin their preparations as early as the end of September.
The study revealed that 10 hours are spent looking through magazines for inspiration and six hours spent preparing and perfecting the right make-up look.

 

Another two hours are spent exfoliating, moisturising and tanning. Final style changes take up two hours and one hour is spent waxing.
Gavin Brown, Managing Director of the Clothes Show Live, said women look forward to the Christmas party because it is a perfect opportunity to end the year with a bang.
He said: 'The Christmas party is the highlight of everyone's festive calendar.
'As the last party of the year, where people get a chance to let their hair down with their colleagues and forget about their troubles for an evening, the Christmas party is the perfect excuse to shake off those winter blues and hit the dancefloor.
'Magazines, shops and brands know Christmas is an important time for retail, with people willing to spend more money on their friends and family than at any other time of the year.
'Similarly, the fashion and beauty brands go all out by releasing new winter ranges just in time for the annual Christmas party.
'With all this to contend with, women have more options than ever before when deciding what to wear, meaning they are likely to take even longer than usual.' 
Nearly 1,000 women aged between 18 and 45 were interviewed, with the '18-25' age group taking the longest to get ready.

Dress to impress: Style guru Caryn Franklin advises women not to expose too much flesh

When asked how they would reduce their time preparing for their Christmas party if they had to, 46 per cent said they would shop online.
Four in ten said they would copy a complete look from a magazine, 12 per cent said they would hire a personal stylist and two per cent admitted they would wear the same outfit that they wore at the previous year's Christmas party.
Fashion and beauty guru Caryn Franklin, presenter of Clothes Show Live, said: 'For a woman, the office party is a chance to show more personality in her clothing than she could with a restrictive workwear policy.
'However, a sensible employee may be looking to dress to impress and communicate other aspects of herself that are promotion-worthy assets.
'So, the desire to dress up in a fun or dramatic party dress has to be tempered with the knowledge the same outfit must conform to an unexplained dress code about suitability in front of superiors.
'Party dresses are often revealing and provocative but not necessarily the best solution for a confident display of flair in the workplace.
'My guidance here would be less flesh, more chic restraint.
'Think power dressing cocktail dress with bold accessories as opposed to skimpy figure hugging short slip.
'If budget is a problem, you can buy a plain simple LBD and spend all your money on a large statement necklace that focuses the attention towards your upper body.'