Attitudes to the sales generally fall into two camps. There are those who, no matter how seductive the prices or how beguiling the objects of their desire, would rather give the bunfight a miss, thank you very much. Then there are those who regard them as a regular treat. They love the challenge, the appalling ruck and, above all, they relish the opportunity to stock up on all the goodies that they’ve been eyeing up all year but haven’t had the nerve or the money to buy.

Would it to be too boring to suggest the Blairite option – the third way? The third way, you will remember, was the sensible middle ground. This depends on a rational realisation that the sales really do represent a great opportunity to buy things that you either madly love or really need. If you neither love them nor need them, don’t even think about it.

This year the sales are likely to be a heaven-sent chance to buy some truly delicious things. A little swan around some of the more beguiling stores reveals that prices seem so high as to be almost delusional. My friend Henrietta and I spent a happy hour trawling a chic emporium shrieking with disbelief as each desirable garment we fingered seemed more vertiginously priced than the next. Lanvin dresses seem to go for £2,000. Chloé blouses for nearly £700. Chloé dresses for anything between £1,100 and £2000. I could go on . . . Since they were hanging on the rails a week before Christmas the chances must be good that in just over ten days they’ll still be there – just as desirable but, with any luck, at half the price. With mortgages rising, debt at an almost historic high, consumer spending down, it seems likely that this year’s sales will offer some fantastic buys.

Annabel Hodin, stylist to the stars as well as to all sorts of very sensible women with ordinary budgets, says that the secret of making the most of the sales is to make a list. The list should consist of two parts – first, the gaps in your wardrobe. If you’re not an avid follower of fashion you may begin to realise only quite late in the day how much the right belt, scarf or shoe would up-date the wardrobe you already have, and the sales are the ideal time to find them at much reduced prices. The second list should consist of those things that you really, really wanted but you could either not afford or not justify buying at the price they were.

To start with the first list. The sales would be the perfect time to find the shoe that would transform almost any outfit. If you have a plain black party dress, then instead of the black shoes you probably already have it could look more interesting if teamed with a deep jewel-coloured shoe, preferably with a shine – much more fun to buy it at half-price in the sales. You may not own a shoe boot, one of the key accessories of the season, so if you now think they look rather nice and funky, see if you can track them down in the sales. Ditto, the platform sole.

Belts this season were wide and often shiny – if you don’t own one and have a good waist, seek one out. If your waist isn’t your proudest asset, look for a narrow one but to make it seem fresh and modern buy a shiny version. A really good scarf can cost a surprising sum – look in the sales for Prada lookalikes (Prada did them in brilliant colours in a furry texture). A big clutch is another key accessory this winter and come the sales the counters should be full of them. Oversized chunky knits have been another huge hit so if you’ve shied off the look, you could experiment with something much cheaper in the sales. Other things, says Annabel, that are always great buys are cosmetics, perfumes, gloves (which should be long this season), scarves and ski jackets. And, organised person that she is, she always buys lots of presents for the coming year – photograph frames, boxes of soap, lovely socks – but “they should always be the sort of things you would like to buy anyway and that don’t seem like second-best”.

Last words come from another stylist friend, Amanda Platt. “If you really, really want something that is a little out of your price bracket at full price, ask when the sale starts. Don’t be afraid to ask if there is any possibility of the shop putting the garment on one side for you. Sale ‘previews’ are always worth asking about.”

Finally, never be seduced by the word reduction. If you didn’t desire it at full price, then you won’t love it any more simply because it’s cheap.

Annabel Hodin 020-7431 8761; Amanda Platt 020-7229 8109

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