Today

The average British woman steps out in £31,680 worth of shoes in her lifetime, new figures show.

A survey by Churchill Home Insurance also found that the average woman spends a total of three years on the hunt for the perfect must-have accessories to complement her outfits.

The survey revealed that aside from clothes, 44 per cent of women admit that shoes are their biggest weakness when they hit the shops, with 86 per cent of women saying they buy a least one new pair every month.

But it's not just shoes that women go wild for - belts, handbags, hats and jewellery are also must-have accessories for the outfits of millions of women, according to the survey.

Martin Scott, head of Churchill Home Insurance, said: "This is a great example of how people purchase items, and then forget about the accumulative value of them once they are in the wardrobe."

A third of women admitted to having 25 pairs in their wardrobe, totalling a value of around £1,000, while a further 1.3 million women own well over 30 pairs of shoes.

Over a lifetime, the average British woman will shell out a total £15,840 on other accessories like handbags and jewellery, Churchill said.

Sixty per cent of women say they currently own ten handbags, while some have a serious handbag habit - 3 per cent admitted to owning at least 25 different bags.

The research also found that 80 per cent of women admit to having ten belts in their wardrobe.

Martin Scott, Churchill Home Insurance: "This is a great example of how people purchase items, and then forget about the accumulative value of them once they are in the wardrobe."

Two in five admit that they regularly splash out on accessories even though they don't really need them.

And most women started shopping for their own clothes at 14 years old.

Mr Scott added: "Shopping is the fun side of this. The practical and essential side is that householders should make sure that their home insurance will cover the replacement value of all their possessions."

Unsurprisingly, a guilty one in five women hide their shopping from their partners, and another one in five lie to their partners about how much they spend on accessories.