20% off at M&S – for one day only!

Short notice, I know, but on Thursday Marks & Spencer is holding a one-off, one-day sale with 20 per cent off.

The Times reports:

Tomorrow’s sale at M&S, which starts online at one minute past midnight, is its biggest pre-Christmas promotion for four years and will include all clothing and home lines in addition to wine and Christmas food gifts.

As many as 24 M&S stores will trade until midnight on Thursday, so shoppers can make the most of the discounts. A spokeswoman for Marks & Spencer said: “We are trading competitively in what is a very volatile market. We want to make sure that we get our share of every £1 spent.”

Now, if I hadn’t mainlined all my spondulicks into a Target store in Mesa, Arizona last week – a prolonged afternoon of consumerist ecstasies that cost relatively few British pounds sterling, and necessitated an additional suitcase on the way back home – I would be at M&S on the dot, lungeing for the cashmere rails.

I love M&S cashmere. I don’t bother anymore with the cheap-as-chips cashmere from Tesco, Asda et al: in my experience it’s fine for the first couple of wears, but soon takes on an all-round shabby appearance. Nothing says “cheap cashmere” like moulting sleeves and bobbled armpits!

The M&S stuff, on the other hand, is a little more expensive but a the quality is superb. Come winter, I still live in a soft little sweater bought in 2002 – with nary a pill or a bobble in sight.

Snug V-necks like the one pictured above are retailing at £49.50 full-price (and can also be bought online); that 20 per cent discount reduces the price to £39.60, which is pretty good in my book.

If you’re going to pop along, the black Christmas party dresses in the Autograph Collection are also worth a look.