Fashion fanatic Gabrielle Whyte has so many clothes and accessories she's had to move to a bigger house and has filled SIX wardrobes with her favourite items.

The shopaholic cleaner only buys things from charity shops but has still spent thousands of pounds on her obsession over the years.

Gabrielle started hunting for designer pieces when she was 16 and she is now 59.

Her collection includes 50 pairs of gloves of every colour, more than 100 hats and a huge array of evening bags and brooches.

She accumulated so much during the past four decades that she had to move home for extra wardrobe space.

Her home in Shellbridge Road, Slindon Common, near Arundel, is bursting at the seams with outfits, some dating back to the early 1940s.

Gabrielle said: "I have always been a forager and love rummaging through things.

"I think it was born out of necessity and not having much money.

"I have always loved clothes and wanted them but this seemed to be the only way of getting them in large numbers.

"I have to keep moving house to accommodate it all.

"A lot of it has gone to Worthing Museum including a Dior top and skirt I got for £15.

"The curator of Amberley Museum took the evening bags and gloves for display for a short time but I would love to have a permanent home for the clothes."

Gabrielle's favourite bargains include a Vivienne Westwood skirt she got for £20, a Zandra Rhodes cashmere cardigan for 50p and a £15 Caroline Charles suit she wears every Christmas.

She once paid £7 for a Burberry raincoat worth £700.

She said: "The shops have started to get to know me and will put things aside if they're in my size.

"Sometimes I buy things which are not my size because I admire that designer.

"One of my favourites is Paul Costelloe because I am part Irish.

"These second-hand items express me and what I've been and who I am.

"I would never buy anything new it would do nothing for me.

"I have bagged them up and they fill six wardrobes in the house."

Gabrielle, a volunteer worker at Arundel Castle, found some of her best pieces at charity shops in Brighton and Worthing.

She said: "My husband Ian is not interested in clothes whatsoever. I once came away from a jumble sale with a Karl Lagerfeld coat and I was so excited I could hardly speak but he wasn't bothered.

"He objects to having little or no wardrobe space. He just has a pile of clothes on the wardrobe floor.

"He says he can't put down a single thing. We've got things hanging from the ceiling.

"He doesn't notice what I'm wearing. I could walk in with green hair and he wouldn't notice. But this is me. I go to clean people s houses in an Armani jacket.

"I like to remind him that while it may be annoying, I have never spent more than "20 on anything and have probably saved us thousands."

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