Fashion hoarders: the women who only wear 20 per cent of their wardrobes Just 20 per cent of clothes in a woman's wardrobe ever get worn - and the most stylish are often the most guilty hoarders The unofficial figure is 20 per cent. That is apparently the proportion of clothes women actually wear regularly - or even at all - from their over-spilling wardrobes. As a buyer, personal shopper and wardrobe consultant, as well as writer, I'm forever coming across such clients, with closets full of garments, many unworn. It's why, before I do a "wardrobe management" session with someone, I ask them to separate out the clothes they haven't worn for two years. It's often a tottering tower. READ: How to detox your wardrobe Why cling on to them? Some don't fit, some are damaged, some are being kept for sentimental value, some are just too beautiful to bear the thought of another person wearing them. Sometimes we just want to own things. Perhaps we feel guilty about throwing away an expensive piece. Or perhaps we just wish we were that person who could wear that gold brocade vintage dress. We're complicated souls. Even the most stylish among us. As these three fashion insiders demonstrate. DENISE TAVERNIER, 49, commercial director at a fashion showroom Denise is a fiercely minimalist dresser. Let's just say that if I wear earrings my colleagues notice. In fact, it is so unusual for her to accessorise that she is often mistaken for a man. My wardrobe probably looks a bit like Colin Firth's. Boring. Mainly just navy and grey. She has access to a wealth of contemporary brands through her job and seeks out the cleanest, most understated items she can find. At work she favours jeans, a shirt and a jumper or a simple shift dress - all in black, white, navy or grey. Her look is androgynous but smart-casual, rather than strictly tailored. It comes as a surprise to hear that she likes print and colour and in the past she has bought both, but never actually worn them. When it came down to it I just didn't feel like me in them. Last year, though, she shocked herself by wearing two printed shirts relentlessly: a green camouflage print by Rose & Rose and a blue and pink floral by Local. I should throw it away as it's gone grey, but I can't bear to. I always wear my stuff until it's worn out. READ: How to avoid 'stuffocation' She insists that buying mistakes are rare nowadays and that her wardrobe is uncluttered, as she knows what suits her and sticks to it. Even so, unworn pieces still languish there. One is a "gold beaded jacket from Denmark that my business partner Lucille made me buy. She said I should make more effort, so I bought it. It sits in there except when it gets loaned to friends. I keep thinking I might wear it as so many people love it, but I never do. For me, it's too obvious. Another piece that should have worked well, as it is within her limited palette, is a Bellerose velvet jacket. I already have one in navy that I wear constantly, so I bought it in cream. I feel like I stand out too much in it, so I have never worn it. It's silly, really. I need to get over myself. Denise's '20 per cent'... Trousers James Jeans navy pin-cords Nobody classic denim "Mod" straight-legs Nobody coated black skinny jeans Tops White shirt by 0039 Italy Rose & Rose camouflage shirt Local pale-blue floral shirt Laurence Doligé black and white shirt Diega polka-dot navy blouse &Daughter navy Guernsey sweater Bellerose navy cardigan John Laing black roll-neck Dresses Laurence Doligé black zip dress Rabens Saloner black drape jersey dress Rabens Saloner bone dress (I have eight black dresses - all strikingly similar!) Accessories The Jacksons camo boots Outerwear Navy velvet blazer by Bellerose PASCALE PINXT, fashion designer, 30 Pascale Pinxt admires the laid-back style of Felicity Kendal in The Good Life - that "carefree, thrown-together feel." As a designer for a British clothing label, she spends an inordinate amount of time combing vintage markets for creative inspiration, which influences how she dresses. Nevertheless, she says that she has a '"uniform" of black trousers and denim, punctuated with a vintage find or, if she is feeling uninspired, a classic Breton top. But if her daily outfits are so orderly, why is her wardrobe bursting? The answer is that it is full of rejects, things she loved on sight but has failed to wear. "I have lots of second-hand kimonos from Japan I thought I'd wear as jackets, but I haven't even tried one on, not once," she admits. There is a patchwork jumper from Spitalfields market in London, but whenever I consider it I decide it's just too bright. I've got an amazing jacquard polka-dot skirt from Antwerp, which I thought I could work into my look, but I got home and realised there was no way I can pull it off! It's the thrill of finding something unusual that drives her spending. And yet she doesn't have the courage to wear some of these daring pieces, even though the feeling for the garment is there initially. She is prepared to part with money for them, but if they require too much styling or effort to construct an outfit, she gives up and falls back to something safer, something easier. "My wardrobe is bursting with bright prints that I have never worn," she says. It's sheer laziness too, as I am really passionate about clothes but at the same time I just can't be bothered. And I really want it to be natural, never try-hard. Pascale's '20 per cent'... Dresses Vintage floral-print jersey dress APC burgundy dress with Peter Pan collar Accessories Bright-green cotton scarf from Spitalfields market M Williams custom-made jodhpur boots Crossover tan sandals by Margaret Howell Cherry-red Dr Martens shoes Trousers High-waisted vintage Levi's Acne skinny black jeans Acne cropped tailored black trousers Tops Chinti and Parker Breton knit Vintage striped T-shirt Vintage psychedelic striped top Margaret Howell white shirt Outerwear Toast burgundy suede jacket Margaret Howell trench coat ANGELA QUAINTRELLE, 62, fashion consultant and lecturer Angela loves shape and craftsmanship, and cites Dries Van Noten as a favourite label. She introduced Van Noten to Britain when she was head buyer at Liberty. In summer I wear a green linen jacket with embroidered collar from his debut collection, for winter a huge black knit that wraps multiple times, and his beautiful scarves all year round. She is a planner, laying out outfits the night before and wearing the same at the weekends as she does for work. This is someone who truly cares about clothes. I often order at industry previews [six months in advance], and on the spur of the moment I ordered a zip-through unitard and a pair of leather leggings by Jena Theo. They arrived and I thought, 'What have I done?' But they are both fabulous and I live in them. A typical outfit consists of the leather leggings, a black Stills mohair knit, and a Haizhen Wang coat. The fit on the shoulder is amazing. Angela always accessorises with real diamonds. In winter she only wears black. In summer she switches to lighter shades - beige or white, peppered with a touch of colour. Regulars here are Anglomania dresses with a linen knit, McQ printed jersey skirts ("I don't do bright prints but the McQ skirts are away from my face so it's not hard") with a plain top, or linen trousers with a Majestic T-shirt. She is an experimental dresser but the pieces languishing in her wardrobe are usually too much of a statement, even for her, such as the conceptual Issey Miyake dresses and jackets. I have about 10 garments from my Liberty days when I was a lot bigger - they are real 'pieces'. I could sell them on eBay, but I don't want to. Tailored pieces don't get worn, nor items deemed "too bright" and high-heeled courts. Last season I bought a pair of gorgeous Chie Mihara grey suede courts. I loved them in the shop but they feel strange on - wrong, somehow. These "mistakes" are driven by a desire to dress more sexily, to buy things she thinks she should or merely to inject some colour. I should really wear colour so I buy it, but when I put it on I just feel too exposed. Angela's '20 per cent'... Winter Three pairs of leather trousers (Helmut Lang, Annette Gortz and Sylvie Schimmel) Stills mohair knits, cardigan coats, T-shirts and simple round-necks McQ jersey intarsia-print skirts M&S cashmere jumpers Jil Sander ankle boots, Robert Clergerie knee boots and Rupert Sanderson riding boots - all in black Three pairs Marsell black shoe-boots Summer Anglomania dresses - two striped and one patterned Linen trousers Cream, white and black Majestic T-shirts Long cardigans by Stills in fine linen Marsell and Ancient Greek sandals