Britain is a nation of trainer-lovers – a study has found
It’s official… Britain is a nation of trainer-lovers, a study has found.
Researchers discovered the comfortable shoe, once reserved for fitness and sports, has become a staple fashion item in the nation’s wardrobes.
Now, it has been named the UK’s most popular style of shoe, ahead of ankle boots, flat sandals and brogues.
London emerged as the nation’s stiletto capital, with Bristolians most likely to opt for ankle boots.
Meanwhile Brighton and Hove residents are the biggest fans of flip flops and trainers are most likely to be worn in Glasgow.
Cardiff is the home of the ballet pump.
The research, carried out by footwear retailer Deichmann, also found the average Brit owns nine pairs of shoes – with women owning an average of three pairs more than men.
In fact, millions of men have just a couple of pairs of shoes to get by, with half saying they only own two pairs of ‘smart’ shoes while a third have just a single pair of more casual footwear.
But while men own fewer shoes than women, they spend an average of £51.62 on a new pair – £8.68 more than women splash out on new footwear.
Simon Wilson, head of buying at Deichmann, said: “While shoes are a practical item we can’t live without, we still follow trends and have a favourite type of shoe.
“While some areas opt for comfort over fashion, there are other areas of the country who are quite happy to suffer for their love of a sky-high stiletto.
“We originally conducted this research to back up our anecdotal observation that certain styles of shoe were more popular than others across the rest of the UK.
“However, we thought it provided an interesting take on the traditional map of Britain and shows us exactly where the biggest shoe fans live.”
The study also found the average adult will buy three new pairs of shoes each year, spending a total of £141.33.
This is on top of the nine pairs they already have sitting in their wardrobes.
Those in London own the most pairs of shoes – an average of 10 pairs, while people living in Cardiff have the least.
And those aged 25-34 own the most shoes, with an average of nine pairs each.
However, rather than opting for bright and colourful shoes, ‘goes-with-anything’ black is the most popular choice of colour, followed by brown, then white.
The study, carried out among 2,000 adults on OnePoll.com also revealed that despite owning more than a pair of shoes for each day of the week, just 22 per cent would describe themselves as ‘shoe fans’.
And for the vast majority of the population, comfort is more important than style with 71 per cent saying they would choose a shoe because of how it felt to walk in rather than how it looked.
Just one in 10 put the style as the most important consideration when buying a new pair of shoes.
Despite this, almost four in 10 admit to wearing shoes they like the look of, even though they hurt their feet.
Almost half of women admit to donning painful shoes in the name of fashion compared to just 30 per cent of men.
Josephine Soei, from Deichmann added: “You will be spoilt for choice with Deichmann’s range of shoes where we value individuality and stock shoes from a variety of quality brands to suit all seasons and all occasions.
“We value different designs and we know how important it is for people to experiment and keep up with the latest trends; our fashion savvy buyers are always on the lookout for great up and coming designs in all of our ranges.”
Top 10 most popular styles of shoe:
1. Trainer
2. Ankle boot
3. Flat sandal
4. Brogue
5. Flip-flop
6. Heeled sandal
7. Ballet pump
8. Court shoe
9. Knee-high boot
10. Loafer
Top 10 cities who spend the most on shoes:
1. London
2. Edinburgh
3. Manchester
4. Leeds
5. Glasgow
6. Cardiff
7. Birmingham
8. Belfast
9. Southampton
10. Portsmouth