It might be the brighter weather urging me to shed my skin and acquire a new one. It might be the longer days, putting a spring in my step and a ping in my plastic. Or it could it be that shopping for clothes really is an attractive proposition again. A fresh spring palette of clean shapes and updated classics: the chic belted trench, elegant shift, modern wide-legged pants and crisp pin-tucked cotton shirt are calling me. After years in a consumer wilderness of neo-punk, indie kid, rock chick and disco biscuit, fashion is finally growing up, and for design and style-conscious women like myself, who appreciate form and function, quality and cut, it’s not a moment too soon.

While it feels like, fashion-wise, I’ve won on the horses, there is a bigger story going on. The sector of the fashion high street once unflatteringly called middle market has lost its flabby lack of focus and identity, and been given a fierce shot of retail Botox. It’s been upgraded and rebranded as something called Affordable Luxury or Masstige (that’s prestige for the masses; desirable things for everyone, not just the rich), and it’s meant to appeal to women, rather than girls, who appreciate youthful but don’t do teenage. Belinda Earl, Jaeger’s top woman, who has transformed the label into a fashion must-have and recently kicked off London Fashion Week with Jaeger’s first international catwalk show, is one of the movement’s forerunners.

“Today’s consumer is very discerning,” Earl explains. “Because of the huge amount of fashion information available through the internet, weekly glossies and TV, she’s aware of trends but wants them interpreted in a way that flatters her shape and is right for her lifestyle.” The ailing Jaeger label, bought by Harold Tillman in 2002, has been completely revitalised by Earl, who was wooed from Debenhams (where she negotiated the Designers at Debenhams ranges). “Our customer shops with her hands and wants quality fabrics that feel good to touch and against her skin.” Items such as the cashmere poncho and printed silk shirt have rapidly become contemporary classics at Jaeger. Since Earl joined, the number of stores has risen from 89 to 120. As a company, it has gone from losing £3 million a year to last year’s profit of £70.6 million. “When I arrived at Jaeger, I did lots of research and focus groups with our customers. They told me, ‘You must do this. There is nothing for us out there.’”

Earl is just one of the alpha women heading up an unofficial campaign that could be entitled Real Clothes for Real Women.

A mother and a businesswoman with a head for figures (both sorts), she loves fashion but feels what matters most is “relevance”: clothes that are relevant to women’s lifestyle, bodies, pockets and values. Ex-Topshop supremo Jane Shepherdson is no longer chasing the teenage dollar but heading up the Whistles chain, with a collection due to be launched later this year. It is hoped that she will bring her ethical credentials – of which she has been a vociferous advocate – to this sector of the market. As well as being able to empathise with the needs and values of their customers, both women also have a personal stake in the success of their labels, each with a 20 per cent share. Another fierce female driving a fashion label at confident consumers is Kate Winser, the Scottish retail tycoon at the helm of Aquascutum, who was recently awarded an OBE for her services to the fashion industry.

The “affordable luxury” market, into which all these labels fall, has, for a long time, been overshadowed. The big retail stories of recent years have ricocheted between the two extremes at either end of the middle band. On the one hand, we have seen the upping of the high-end, luxury market, rammed full of conspicuous designer statements from the big names of Vuitton, Gucci and Prada. At the other end of the scale, we have been subjected to an onslaught of cut-price fast fashion. What’s more nauseating, one wonders, a designer key fob fashioned from an exotic skin or a £2 T-shirt, toiled over by a child in the Far East? It might once have been clever party conversation to boast that your entire outfit cost £12, but such cheapskate-ism and skinflintery is ten a penny these days and not so clever any more. Added to this, the vacuum that once existed between these two polarities is filling fast, as more retailers get wise to the grown-up money.

British heritage labels, such as Aquascutum, Pringle (with a new collection by Clare Waight Keller and hot campaign by Steven Meisel) and Daks (recently revamped by Giles Deacon) are all hoping to grab some of the action seen by Burberry – a premium middle-market brand that has had incredible success. But it’s an increasingly crowded marketplace, and there is growing competition from America and Europe. Banana Republic, owned by Gap, opened its flagship store earlier this month to much fanfare and there is a rumour that upscale US chain Club Monaco is on its way to Britain.

Shops such as Cos (grown-up H&M) and Hoss Intropia, the Spanish label, have also arrived to service self-assured style lovers. While economists produce gloomy forecasts, for some the good times are still rolling – Ted Baker reported strong pre-Christmas sales, while L.K. Bennett showed pre-tax profits of £8.6 million last year and is currently on track to be sold to a new buyer.

For any woman who has felt left out by fashion’s focus on the teenager in recent years, there are halcyon days ahead. The kooky slogans, the cartoon characters, the sparkly, fluffy and ditzy are great if you’re the 15-year-old size 8 urban ideal (or Agyness Deyn), but try that stuff over the age of 20 and you’ll look like a deranged, post-modern Baby Jane. With retailers firing the latest trends from the catwalk on to the shop floor in nanoseconds, it’s hardly surprising that notions of quality and functional longevity sometimes get overlooked.

For David Reiss, the owner-manager of the Reiss chain, which opened a new flagship store in Barrett Street, London, last year and is now rolling out an expansion programme, the only feasible direction for fashion companies is up. “The bottom end of the market is saturated and there is an enormous void between that and designer. Women are waking up to the fact that a £10 jacket is a £10 jacket – it’s disposable fashion, no more. In this climate, they want mileage, not a one-hit wonder.” Reiss, a label worn by Nicole Kidman and Scarlett Johansson, prides itself on affordable luxury (ribbon-stitch skirt, £89; Thirties-inspired drop-waist dress, £129; nippy black blazer, £159) and is clearly a brand that speaks to consumers in a language they understand. Its elegant and understated womenswear has helped the company grow 30 per cent, year on year, for the past four years. “The taste level is paramount. Our customer aspires to beautiful, contemporary clothes. She wants to feel good and have a level of refinement. She knows we won’t suddenly swerve in a new direction just because fashion says we should.”

As we head into tougher times, the days of binge shopping and wrestling through jungles of poly-cotton for bargains may be over. In times of plenty, we can be relaxed about our purchases, have fun and be more experimental. In lean times, we think much harder.

Do I really need it? Do I even want it? Should I buy it? Is it worth it? In times of uncertainty, we are drawn to known and trusted formulas of clean modernity and elegant glamour. As stores pull out all the stops to get the cash out of our pockets and into their tills, expect a retail drama of high-quality seduction. Enjoy.

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