Is it me, or is there something a little bit nuts about the idea of a January sale?

After spending the whole of December trolling round the shops, we’re all totally fed up with it – so what do we do as soon as Christmas is over? Head straight back in action, like lemmings with credit cards. It’s bonkers – and yet, I have to confess, I’ll be there too. I hate shopping, but I love a bargain, and with some shops offering 75% off this year, I can’t resist.

This year though, it’s going to be different. This year, there will be no impulse buys, nothing that would have been a bargain if only I had a different body/hair colour/life, and definitely, definitely, nothing that’s going to spend all year glaring accusingly at me from the back of the wardrobe, because it never really suited me but had 60% off (yes, fuchsia jumper, I do mean you).
So, I’ve done a Trinny and Susannah and been right through my wardrobe, to work out what I actually need. This is what’s on my list:

1. A good suit for work. For me, there’s something about putting on a really well-cut suit that lifts me straight out of ‘mummy mode’ and makes me feel like a working woman, and if it’s well made and in a good classic shape, I’ll wear it for years. That means it’s worth splashing out a bit, especially at sale prices, so I’ll be heading for the likes of Austin Reed or Phase Eight.
2. A stack of my favourite white shirts. Magazines always recommend buying investment pieces in the sales, but I think it’s just as useful to bulk-buy the basics. And having a good stock makes it so easy to get ready in the morning – one less thing to think about when I’m trying to get the girls out of bed, make breakfast and juggle the usual barrage of questions about lost book bags and whether God is in the larder of not!
3. Underwear. It’s not the best time to buy anything fancy – everything good disappears in the Christmas buying spree, so what’s left on the rails now is mostly orange, disturbingly scratchy, trimmed with feathers, or all three. But you can save a fortune stocking up on the everyday essentials at M&S or Debenhams.

Will I stick to it? We’ll see….but in the meantime, if you’ve got any great sales shopping tips, why not share them with all of us? Tell us how you track down a bargain, and where. And how about some confessions too – what’s the worst thing you’ve ever bought in the sales? It might make me feel better about that fuchsia jumper…

This entry was posted on Friday, December 21st, 2007 at 4:06 pm and is filed under Shopping. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.