Finally there is a definitive answer to the recurring question: "is fashion worth it?" According to www.handbag.com, the answer is not what you spend, but how often you wear it - it's all a matter of Cost Per Wear (CPW).

To obtain the CPW, www.handbag.com asked women across the country what they spend per item of clothing, how often they wear it and how many similar items they have in their wardrobes

We may be a nation obsessed with footwear but Carrie and her friends in Sex and the City would not be impressed to know that our CPW for today's favourite shoe - the pump - is just 8p[1]! The new findings from www.handbag.com reveal that 38% of respondents wear their ballet pumps at some point every day, so a pair of ‘French Sole pumps' that cost £60.00 suddenly become a bargain. What's more, having a pair in every colour can easily be justified! Equally, as women we know how to get value out of our handbags. Invest in this season's hottest bag, the ‘Chloe Python Bay Bag', use it every day between now and Christmas and it would cost you less then £8.80 a day. So what's stopping you from buying that dream bag?

And as for our knickers - they work out at just 1p per day, so there is no excuse not to give your drawers a spring clean every year!

Belinda White, Fashion Director at www.handbag.com says: "Take ‘Seven for all Mankind jeans' at £155 a pair. They may not seem like a bargain, but our findings revealed that the average woman wears her jeans twice a week, which over a year makes them a snip at 67p cost per wear. The golden rule when it comes to your fashion staples like jeans is spend a bit more on something that is really well cut that you love. If you look and feel great every time you put them on and want to wear them more and more and the CPW will go down and down. If you bear that in mind next time you're deliberating over whether you can afford something you'll probably find you really can. It's all about longevity, not flash in the pan trend items. Invest in classics and you can't go wrong."

When it comes to party dresses we like to splash out a little more - and based on these statistics, we deserve to! The average CPW for our party dress on a big night out (or even a normal Friday evening) is hardly breaking the bank at £47.50.

Continues White; "The same formula can be applied to celebrities too. We might be envious of Kate Moss's wardrobe but look closely and you'll the same basic ingredients are there over and over again (grey skinny jeans, black leather boots, black waistcoat), she just adapts her look with original extras and accessories. If you were to try and work out the cost per wear of her denim micro-shorts they'd be virtually free!"

So what are the top summer CPW's that no fashionable woman should be without...

For more information, on Handbag Amnesty, please contact:
Laura Holford-Walker
Tel: 020 7939 1469
Email: laura.holfordwalker@thespaway.com, chanelle.denton@thespaway.com

Notes to editors

About www.handbag.com
www.handbag.com took the UK by storm when it launched in 1999, as the first website dedicated to women's lifestyle. Now with over 1.5 million unique readers every month, it is very proud to be the market leader.

www.handbag.com is a stylish, glamorous, trusted and informative editorial title providing the inside track for busy women online on everyday important issues like fashion, beauty and celebrity news and relationships. With the luxury look of a glossy and the lightening reactions of a daily, handbag.com offers a breadth of coverage from expert writers, establishing a powerful reputation as the leader in a crowded field.

www.handbag.com was acquired by the National Magazine Co. in October 2006 alongside its subsidiary sites http://www.getlippy.com/, aimed at 18- to 30-year-old women, http://www.allaboutyou.com/ for women aged over 35. www.handbag.com is part of the company's Hearst Digital network.

About The Hearst Digital Network
The Hearst Digital Network, a division of the National Magazine Company', publishes the following websites: http://www.handbag.com/_, http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/_, http://www.getlippy.com/_, http://www.allaboutyou.com/_, http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/_

About the National Magazine Company
The National Magazine Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hearst established by William Randolph Hearst in 1910.

The business comprises the core wholly owned business, also called the National Magazine Co and interests in two joint ventures. These are partnerships with some of the world's best publishers as follows:
NatMag Rodale: A 50:50 joint venture with Rodale Inc. of the USA which focuses on health and wellbeing.
COMAG: A 65:35 joint venture with Conde Nast, one of the UK's largest magazine distributors.

NatMag publishes 14 consumer titles in the UK: Coast, Company, Cosmopolitan, Cosmopolitan Bride, Country Living, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Harper's Bazaar, House Beautiful, Prima, Prima Baby, SHE, You & Your Wedding, and Zest. The group publishes three large scale weeklies, Best, Reveal and Real People and also publishes a further two magazines, Men's Health and Runner's World, through NatMag Rodale.

NatMag division, Hearst Digital Network, publishes a number of community websites for NatMag magazines and also includes the Handbag network and http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/, the UK's leading consumer health site.

For more information please log on to www.natmags.co.uk

[1] Survey carried out on handbag.com during May 2008. CPW costed over a year's wear, unless stated otherwise.