A new survey by consumer research firm Attest has found a decline in spending on clothing, shoes and accessories among UK consumers over the most recent six month period.

In the platform's latest UK Spending Trends Report for 2025, Attest addressed the question of whether financial uncertainty was causing shoppers to hold off from making purchases. The site compared a survey it held in September 2024 to a one run in March 2025 to formulate the data and assess whether there had been an impact on spending behaviours since the beginning of the new government in the UK.

Among the categories examined was that of personal grooming and clothing, both of which it notes “often suffer in an economic downturn”. As of March 2025, according to the data 51 percent of consumers say they spend on clothing, shoes and accessories every month. While still reflecting regularity in spending, this was a decline from six months ago, when the figure stood at 56 percent. Average spending remained modest, meanwhile, sitting between 25 and 49 pounds a month.

Most of those using their disposable income in this way were high earners, with just under 70 percent of those in the demographic stating they shop within the clothing category every month. This group said that they typically spend between 50 and 149 pounds on clothing.

Meanwhile, younger shoppers were deemed more likely to make regular clothing purchases than those over 50s. They were also found to be spending more, over-indexing for higher spend brackets, Attest noted. Between genders, however, there was more consistency, with both spending between 25 and 49 pounds per month on clothing. This slightly differed when it came to regularity, with female consumers were found to spend 54 percent on clothing compared to 48 percent of males.