Fashion, beauty saw Christmas surge - Virgin Money spending report

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Jan 17, 2022

All dressed up and somewhere to go. Christmas 2021 turnout out to be a season of a return to socialising, albeit on a slimmed-down scale compared to 2020’s wider restrictions.

And that meant consumers upped their spend on fashion and beauty, according to a report by Virgin Money, backed up by YouGov findings. 

That was despite fears that the festive season’s social events would be a washout and party dresses and make-up would stay firmly on the shelves as the Omicron variant saw parties being cancelled.

In the event, consumers actually increased their spending on “style” by 32% this season compared to a year ago. The average spend on fashion increased by 10%, “so it seems we all enjoyed some new wardrobe additions this festive season”, the report said.

This was backed up by an increased wellbeing spend — cosmetics, health & beauty spas, hairdressers, dentists and healthcare professionals — rising 21%. Most notably, cosmetics store spending saw a massive 74% increase.

Of course, this has to be taken in context as the 2020 festive season really had been a washout due to Covid restrictions in place through the UK at the time. But at least the study suggests that 2021 may have been better than expected and it also suggests there’s plenty of pent-up demand for 2022.