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8 Shocking celebrity shopaholics
Britney Spears
Shopaholic rating 8/10
The Princess of Pop has an estimated £100 million in the bank and she shops when she?s depressed. `I can be in the dump of dumpsters and go buy a pair of new shoes, and then it?s okay,? she says. `Even if it?s just for the time being, for that moment it?s what I need.? Like all girls, Ms Spears has her favourite labels `I like Bebe, Armani Exchange, and Rampage is really cool and cheap? and she is also known to shop at The Gap. Psychotherapist Cindy Grant says `Britney may be going out on exorbitant buying binges as a quick fix to cure her emotional pain.? In May 2002 when her parents, Jamie and Lynne, separated after 30 years of marriage, Britney went shopping to ease her pain. She bought a $20,000 bed from Domaine - and a $4.5 million estate for her mother in Kentwood, LA.
Victoria Beckham
Shopaholic rating 9/10
Victoria Beckham is in a league of her own when it comes to burning the plastic. The fashion-obsessed former Spice Girl is believed to spend £100,000 a year on her wardrobe, and has turned shopping into her main occupation. `I can?t help it,? she says. `When I see something I like, I buy it in every colour and I buy shoes in every colour to match, as well as handbags. If I could, I?d go shopping every single day. I?m definitely a shopaholic.? After splashing out £8.5 million in her first year of married life, Posh announced she was giving up designer labels - but it wasn?t long before she crept back into Harvey Nicks. One marathon binge involved Victoria spending five hours raiding some of the most expensive stores in Los Angeles. She spent an hour in traffic before emerging with her first purchases. Then she crammed two more shopping bags with dresses, tops and trousers at hip store Rampage, before moving on to Foot Locker for some upmarket trainers. Next she bought a $150 bikini at Canyon Beachware before hitting Diesel and DKNY. The entire haul - which will join her £2,500 Gucci catsuit, her £1,600 Gucci jacket and her horde of shoes which have never even left the box in her bulging closets - was estimated to have cost at least £5,000. `Spending like this is time-consuming,? says Professor George Gaskill, an expert on consumer behaviour. `That?s when you hit the realms of official shopaholic, which is an illness.?
Cameron Diaz
Shopaholic rating 6/10
It's VIP treatment all the way when Cameron hits the town. Whether it's celebrating her birthday at Nobu or partying all night with her friend Drew Barrymore at Suede, Cameron does it in style. The star enjoys spending her time jet-setting with toyboy pin-up Justin Timberlake. From a $20,000a -week stay in an oceanfront condo on Waikiki beach to a $4,800 ?a- night stay in the Loews hotel in Miami, the pair always rest their heads in luxury. When it comes to fashion, Cameron has a thing about sweaters. `Frequent shopping sprees is the way to keep stocked,? she says. `A woman can never have enough.? Cam?s new year?s resolutions included curbing her shopping habit. `I'll stop smoking, I'll stop shopping and I'll wear a bra,? she resolved.
Jennifer Lopez
Shopaholic rating 7/10
Strutting around in Gucci and Versace is second nature to J-Lo. On a recent shopping spree at Madison in Beverly Hills, she snapped up Andrew Pfister beaded mules with crystal buckles, Miu Miu sneakers and Prada mules. `I?m a little bit of a shopaholic,? admits the diva. `I don't have to call the hotline or anything, but I definitely enjoy it. My biggest extravagance is probably shoes and clothes. I'm over the top with it but I love shopping for clothes, (and) trying on different outfits.? Jennifer says her curvaceous body is one of the things that encourages her to shop. `I think it's fun to wear great clothes period, and obviously if you're a woman and you have a few curves it's a great feeling to put on a dress that makes you feel very attractive,? she says. `That's the whole point of clothes to me. You wear things that express who you are and make you feel good about yourself as much as make people stand up and take notice of who you are.? Lopez also loves the way certain clothes help her to seduce men. `I love clothes that make me feel very feminine and drive men crazy, especially sexy underwear,? she says, `it's a game that women play.?
Madonna
Shopaholic rating 7/10
She came to New York City with $35 in her pocket and made $2.90 an hour. Now she pulls in $43 million a year with an estimated net worth of $315 million. Second only to J.K. Rowling, the brains behind the Harry Potter books, Madonna is the highest-paid woman in England. When it comes to shopping, she has invested her wealth in homes around the globe and extravagant art collections. Madonna and Guy Ritchie's week-long wedding extravaganza in Scotland included $1,000-a-night rooms for everyone for a week. She paid for Jimmy Choo?s publicist Marilyn Heston to deliver eight pairs of the designer?s wedding pumps to Scotland for her to choose from on her big day and on a daily basis she has an array of shoe designers at her beck and call. The queen of pop spends more on private Pilates sessions annually than a minimum-wage worker makes all year. Instead of shopping in stores, Madonna browses through special `look books? that designers send her. She has been known to spend $60,000 in a single flip-through. When it comes to designers, Madonna is a fan of close pal Stella McCartney and her favourite trousers are `my low-rider linen pants that Stella McCartney made for me.?
Gwen Stefani
Shopaholic rating 5/10
Gwen bucks the Hollywood spendthrift theme by taking an interest in discovering kooky second-hand outfits and altering clothes for herself. `I always loved shopping and making up my own outfits,? says Gwen. `When I was young and my mom said `?let?s go to the mall?? I always said `Can?t I just have a hundred dollars and go to the thrift store? You get really cool stuff,? she says. `I would buy the clothes and then alter everything because we had a sewing machine. My bedroom was always the room you didn?t go into unless you wanted to get pins stuck in your foot. I was always doing projects and making my own clothes.? But Stefani now finds herself going for hip designers when she visits the UK. `When I?m in London I act the way people think I am supposed to act as a star,? says the pop star. `I splurge on Vivienne Westwood?s clothes and come home with bags full of her stuff. I?ll buy whatever I can because I love her clothes and they fit me really well.?
Beyonce Knowles
Shopaholic rating 6/10
`I love shopping?, says Beyonce, who once expressed a penchant for British high street store Topshop. The Destiny?s Child singer may like to dabble with street fashion but she also exhibits diva tendencies. This is where the star puts to practice her phenomenal organisational skills. Beyonce?s mother, Tina Knowles, is employed as her (permanently on-call) fashion and hair stylist. While Beyonce buffs her face and body, Tina spends the day scouring the racks of Versace and Gucci for clothes. The pop diva says her shopping weakness is earrings, which she buys in bulk.
Sarah Jessica Parker
Shopaholic rating 10/10
She?s known for being a down-to-earth star who?s careful with her money, but Sarah Jessica Parker has one serious weakness - shoes. `I have far too many shoes - I mean really, really, really too many shoes,? says the Sex And The City star. `I?ve been wearing Manolo Blahniks for 16, 17 years. I?m not proud of my habit, but it?s what I do with my disposable income. I can run a marathon., I can jump puddles, I can do anything in heels - the higher, the better.? SJP dates her shoe obsession back to her childhood, when her hard-up mum bought her just two pairs of shoes a year and dressed her in jumble sale outfits at 60p a go. `That?s why I have such a weird relationship with money,? she says. `It?s why I can be profligate or super-frugal. It comes from this desire to save yet, on the other hand, when I have been working so hard I think - why can?t I have another pair of those Manolo Blahniks?? She is estimated to have around 100 pairs of the shoes, which range from $300 to $1,000 and she wears them at all times, even though they give her bunions and Achilles injuries. `I?ve virtually destroyed my feet, but I like what a high heel does to a person,? she says. `My feet are so abused by shoes that they?re numb. They?ve given in.?
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