I hate to mention it because I know we’re all painfully aware of the fact, but we are in the middle of a recession and news that women wear 20 per cent of their wardrobe 80 per cent of the time prompted me to think that something must be done.

There must be some way to counteract this wasteful state of affairs, I thought, and I know I am guilty of the syndrome, having ‘uniforms’ that I bring out for everyday wear and also ‘going out’ outfits.

Even though I have not one, not two, not three but four wardrobes filled with clothes, I also have bags of clothes that I’ve had for years and have been threatening to go through every weekend, it seems, since I was 13!

A recent survey revealed that last year women spent £470 on clothes that they will never wear again. I’m afraid I do this all the time.

Buy something, think it’s gorgeous then get it home and realise that I must have had a momentary lapse of taste because actually it’s the antithesis of ‘gorgeous’.

I have reams of clothes with the labels still on them and I know for sure that I’m not the only one.

During these waste-not-want-not times we’re realising that renovating and remaking much-loved pieces in our wardrobe is the way forward.

Just look at Lady GaGa and her team of seamstresses — average age 22, so it’s no longer the stomping ground of your granny.

A good seamstress with a bit of creativity is the first step in changing the way we use and utilise our wardrobe and ladies and gentlemen, I’ve struck gold.

Lucy Smith, from Newcastle in Co Down, recently started up Tailormaid. She graduated in fashion design in 1991 and her alteration business, Stitch, was established in 2000.

Her breadth of knowledge in both design and garment con

struction, covers all areas of both ladies and menswear and this girl is amazing.

Initially I was unsure. I didn’t want some of my ’90s’ wear just being revamped with a few new buttons.

Lucy has brilliant ideas, takes into account your body shape, what colours and styles flatter you most and what you’re actually willing to have revamped.

By no means are you compromising on quality, on the contrary, with Lucy’s creativity, it means you can have exactly the clothes you want made from what you’ve already got and for a fraction of the price. In a nutshell, Lucy works one-to-one or with small groups. She’ll personalise and customise your wardrobe, giving you advice on key styles, show how clothes can evolve to keep up with the latest trends through tailoring and adapting pieces to suit individual body shape and bringing new life to dated looks.

Lucy told me: “A garment can be tailored to fit an ever-changing figure. It also can be easily customised in many different ways to carry the wearer from day through to evening.”

She breathes new life into your ‘forgotten fashions', through the ‘rescue and resuscitation' of what could end up being maybe 80 per cent of your wardrobe.

We only need to look at the increasing popularity of frock-swaps to see that as part of beating the recession, people are changing the way they look at consumerism and are starting to go green and trying to make the most of those ‘bad buys’ by swapping them with other people.

I have a wardrobe bulging with 90 things crammed on to the one hanger and mostly, it isn’t even a decent hanger.

They’re usually on the verge of snapping from the massive weight on their frail, plastic frame, or else it’s one that’s meant for trousers with the two clips leaving their mark on every item wrongly slung over it.

I have shoes on top of bags, coats rammed in with scarves and it’s just a total packed mess. I haven’t a clue what’s in there most times. My mum despairs when she takes a nosey around. I try to steer her well away from the spare room.

Cue Lucy. She arrived at my house and it was like a whirlwind of efficiency.

We immediately went through every piece in my wardrobe. Did I like it? Could I give it away?

Would I like it altered and if so in what way? So we would then discuss the various things Lucy could do with the piece and then decide which was best for me.

She was brilliant — her energy, speed, ideas, creativity and complete understanding when I said ‘no’ — I don’t want that top, coat, whatever — was touching.

It was one of the most cathartic experiences, not to mention unbelievably cost-effective. Lucy has, in a very short space of time, revamped about eight items for me.

Some are small but extremely effective touches and others are just unbelievably fabulous — there’s no other word for it.

She took two dresses that I’d never worn, with the labels still on them, and shortened them a bit, then took them in and...voila!

Two gorgeous tops which I can’t wait to wear. She took a coat that again had never seen the light of day and completely revamped it and added some beautiful touches that have transformed it into a classy-looking, treasured item.

She spruced up several tops, modernising them, customising them and totally enhancing them. A yellow jacket that I used to love and wore a lot but had grown a bit tired of, had funky zig zag stitching applied.

Beautiful flowers added to the cuffs and new buttons gave it not just a fresh appearance, but turned it into a unique piece with a vintage feel.

For more information go to tailormaid.info or contact Lucy on 028 4372 3264.