A new survey has found that employees dress best on Monday mornings.

British women have been found to take up to four times as long on Mondays to prepare for work than on Fridays, while British men also make less effort as the week progresses.

The research was undertaken by leading UK retail chain Debenhams, which found it clear that as the working week wears on, so to do the wardrobes of the workers.

The survey revealed that on Monday mornings, women across the UK spend an average of one hour and 16 minutes on getting ready for work. Around one-third of this time was dedicated to achieving the perfect hairstyle, with an additional 18 minutes spent on applying make-up and a further 16 minutes on trying out different clothes combinations. The remaining time was predominantly spent in the shower or conducting morning chores.

On Tuesday mornings, this figure dropped significantly to just 40 minutes of total preparation time, with a steady decline seen on remaining days. By Friday, a mere 19 minutes were dedicated to appearance. Ed Watson, spokesman for Debenhams, said that workers should make the most of Monday mornings because that was as good as their colleagues were going to look all week.

Men too were found to let their standards slip as the week progressed, with the Debenhams survey – of around 100 customers who use the group’s personal shopper network – discovering that British males took 28 minutes to get ready for work on Mondays. This figure dropped to just 11 minutes on Friday mornings.

Tags: clothes, Debenhams, employees, Fashion, hair, make-up, Mondays, survey, workplace