A PINAFORE dress, a coat, a pair of shoesthey lie forlorn in my wardrobe, having never seen light of day.

To my credit, I own just a handful of fashion items I have never worn. A lot less than the average female who, apparently, wastes almost £13,000 on clothes and shoes she will never put on.

According to a survey of 2,500 people, at least four out of five women a whopping 86 per cent have fallen victim to an impulse buy. On average, claims research by a leading insurance company, women buy 14 items of clothing every year that do not leave the wardrobe.

This equates to an amazing £13,000 over a working life..

I am, it seems, unusual. In fact I think my husband has more unworn items than me a lovely linen jacket bought two years ago from M&S, a cotton jumper and an attractive striped shirt to name but a few .

However, I think for me and I'm sure the majority of the population clothing is secondary to all the ridiculous purchases I end up buying after flicking through those tat-filled catalogues which I have never requested but which come through the post anyway.

The real skeletons in my closet are: l Car vacuum cleaner Why, as the untidiest person on the planet, I felt the need for one of these is a mystery. I think I was pregnant and suffering some sort of compulsive cleaning imbalance in the brain. The purchase was reckless and foolish. Even when fully charged, it only ever sucked up enough to cover the bottom of a jam jar.

l Liquidiser/blender A ridiculous buy for a woman who only cooks when her husband is ill. Purchased from Argos when, in the first flush of parenthood, I had read too many articles about the benefits of feeding your child fresh, pureed food.

I used it once, to make a sort of carrot/swede mush that my child rejected in the manner of someone presented with a plateful of duck droppings. She was back on processed junk from jars before you could say "complete waste of cash."

l Trolley bag Bought from one of those catalogues that ply you with time-saving devices. Pictures of smiling shoppers, effortlessly fishing out their specially-designed bags from the supermarket trolley to the boot of the car had me whipping out my bank card. Unfortunately, it was just too much effort to take it in and pack it.

l Corkscrew Not your average simple grab bottle between knees and twist affair but a rather more hi-tech, state of the art, It looks fancy but is, in fact, a huge flop. To sum it up in three words waste of money. I can't remember where it came from but it's an ideal gift for those wanting to stay off the booze. Try as you might, you simply can't get corks out of wine bottles.

There are probably a dozen more items in the inner reaches of the garage, although I haven't lost my mind sufficiently to search for the leaf blower or pond vacuum cleaner (I kid you not) yet.

And as for clothes, the time to worry will be the day I order a little black dress in size 10.