Gemma Cartwright writes...
I remember being a teenager and waiting with bated breath for the sales to begin. The Summer ones in particular were heaven. We didn't go on holiday until late in the season, so I could snag all my beach clothes for half the usual price. Similarly, in January I'd buy cut price Christmas dresses to stash for the following year. Then something terrible happened. I grew up, I got a job in fashion and I had the unfortunate 'perk' of spending hours poring over new season collections long before they hit the shops. The result? Now, by the time current season stock hits the sale racks, I'm a bored of it...
I'm not dissing sales. I still love them. I'll never be one of those people who bypasses the sale rails with comments of 'it's too messy, and it's reduced for a reason'. I was raised by a mother who barely buys anything full price, so there's still a bit of me that's drawn to the big red signs and swing tags. You can get some amazing bargains if you know what to look for. I'm just more conscientious about what I buy now. So many old sale finds have sat unworn in my wardrobe, impulse buys based on price and not practicality, that I've had to learn from my mistakes.
This year, I can count my sale purchases on one hand. There's a black cap sleeved mini shift with origami style trim from Oasis for £20 (already worn once). Two Topshop dresses snagged in the Buy One Get One Free sale (both worn more than once). Two Primark dresses that were ridiculously cheap anyway, but reduced to £6 each (for my holiday). And that - literally - is it. This year my spending has been spread across the season. Most of the stuff I own has - luckily - long gone from stores and isn't loitering in shops for half of what I paid for it. Whether this makes me a fashion victim or a savvy shopper remains to be seen.
The problem with this year's sales is that on some days it's still hard to imagine ever wearing strappy dresses or hotpants. As I write this I'm putting off going out to get my lunch because it's pouring down with rain and I'm wearing suede trimmed ballet pumps. I'm still dressing in Winter dresses more than I am Summer ones. I've even (finally) given in to leggings and footless tights because they're so practical for layering when the weather is this unpredictable.
The sales have also given me a chance to gloat about all the things I didn't succumb to in previous months. Wet-look metallic fabrics (not good if you have a stomach), printed and coloured leggings, red skinny jeans, super-swirly faux Pucci prints on nasty synthetic fabrics, anything yellow. Playsuits are all over the place too, and after trying on about ten pairs of shorts and finding none that fit me properly, I decided - just out of interest - to give one a go. Well, it may have only been £8 in the sale, but there's no denying it made me look like a chubby toddler, and not the 50s retro beach babe I was hoping. Just say no, curvy ladies...even if it looks more like a dress than a romper.
My advice for sale shopping is to see it as a way to stock up on basics and try trends that you've been interested in all season but a bit scared to try. You still have a couple of months to be brave, and prices are low enough to risk it. Beware the passing trends though, the ones you weren't all that bothered about in the beginning. There's a reason there are so many voluminous smocks, childish pinafores and jumpsuits / catsuits loitering on the rails at ridiculous prices...we've all had enough!
