In the January sales, there are winners and there are losers. Success requires strategy and grit. But forget the sharp elbows, because the other shoppers are not your opponents: in this mind game, it is the industry you are playing against.
The purpose of discounting is to get rid of all the so-last-season stuff; fashion that’s past its sell-by date. Now, while I am gung-ho about sell-by dates when I look in the fridge, I’d never buy fashion that was even slightly on the turn. The thrill of the new is as crucial in the fashion industry as it is in newspapers.
So the mind game works like this: the industry wants to sell you one thing, but you want to buy something quite different. Because, alongside last month’s Christmas party cliches, there will be gorgeous, classic pieces, though these are – deliberately – hard to find. All the tricks of consumer psychology will be used against you in an attempt to snare you into buying what you don’t need. The moment you walk through that shop door, you will be rugby tackled to the ground (metaphorically speaking) by a silver metallic pleated midi skirt and a cropped sweatshirt. (Like, totally November 2014.) They will be very cheap. And very shiny. And artfully displayed next to jeans and sweaters and other pieces that will give the impression they are useful. They are not. Dodge them.
What you’re after are pieces that will be in store again next season – at twice the price and possibly in slightly different colours. We can do well this January, so I’ll return to the subject next week, but number one on your hit list should be a long-sleeved shift dress. The one I’m wearing was a new arrival in store in late autumn, so will now most likely be discounted. And the January drops will include different versions. All of which goes to show that the long-sleeved shift dress, while amply represented in the sales, is definitely not past its sell-by date.
A long-sleeved dress that you can wear to work is properly useful. Jackets are annoying and end up on the back of your chair; cardigans are twee and meek (Michelle Obama being the exception that proves this particular rule). A dress that needs only a coat is a winter-morning winner. Winter will be around for a while, but the sales won’t, so sharpen your wits, not your elbows.
• Jess wears dress, £59.99, zara.com. Courts, £110, kurtgeiger.com.
Photograph: David Newby for the Guardian. Styling: Melanie Wilkinson. Hair and makeup: Sharon Ive at Carol Hayes Management.
