Women spend more than an hour getting ready for work on a Monday, but by the time Friday rolls around this figure has dropped by three quarters to just 19 minutes, a new survey shows.

By contrast, men take 28 minutes to get ready on the first day of the week, dropping to 14 minutes the next day and 11 minutes by the end of the week.

The study, involving 1,000 people, discovered that women spend an average of 76 minutes on their appearance on a Monday.
This breaks down into 23 minutes spent on hair, 18 minutes on make-up, 16 minutes deciding what to wear and 19 minutes showering.

On Tuesday, the average women spend 12 minutes on her hair, nine on make-up, nine minutes choosing an outfit and 10 minutes showering.

By Friday, time has become even more concentrated with six minutes on hair, a minute on make-up, a minute spent choosing clothes and 11 minutes showering.

Ed Watson, from Debenhams which commissioned the study, said: “Many women clearly experience a major fashion deficit as the week goes on.

“For some it’s a swift journey from Cheryl Cole to Nora Batty – in just five days.”

Mr Watson said men were even worse than women at keeping up appearances.

“It’s clear that most men can only pay attention to their appearance for a maximum of two days before opting for an acceptable level of dishevelment,” he said.

“Women try to keep their dress standards higher for longer, but by the time Friday comes, they too have gone down a line of least resistance.”

Caroline Gammell