Sales: time to unleash the hyenas

The January sales have been a Miss Thrifty-free zone this year, partly because (as you may have noticed) I haven’t been around much, and partly because I like to hold off until the last possible moment, when the pickings are heavily discounted.

Some people aren’t keen on sales, because they feel that (a) you can go overboard, splurging on rails of worthless tat; (b) why bother with the dregs that nobody was prepared to buy at full price?  Personally, I am not convinced by these arguments. If it’s rubbish, why buy it at any price? As for the “dregs” defence: this presumes that all the people buying stuff at full price have good taste. Ha! I think not, if the frock horrors falling out of Mayfair nightclubs and WAG boutiques are anything to go by.

Now is the best time to go sales shopping, in my book. Two of my recommendations:

1.  Hennes (or H&M, as they insist on being called these days): the sale rails are still there. Most of the items appear to have been marked down to a fiver – including the Sonia Rykiel stuff. To be honest I was surprised to find any Sonia Rykiel , because it was supposed to be flying off the shelves. Not that I’m complaining: I snagged the designer’s striped footwear (above) for a bargain bucket price.

2. Kaliko:  a terrific sale on at Kaliko at the moment. I am not sure if this has anything to do with its parent company’s woes: Bay Trading , another clothes brand under the same corporate umbrella,went into administration last year. Kaliko concessions are found in stores such as House of Fraser and Debenhams; you can also buy from Kaliko’s online store. The brand has something of a mumsy reputation, which is undeserved in my opinion.

Anyway, at the time of writing a lot of the items are marked down by 70 per cent – including the cashmere. I picked up a little lavender cardigan, marked down from £90 to £27.

Now all I need is for Marks & Spencer to mark down their cashmere. Come on M&S, you know you want to…