How to shop the end-of-2015 sales for your 2016 wardrobe

The key to resisting being baited by desperate retailers is to approach stores with a clear wishlist

The traditional mindset of shopping the post-Christmas sales is to hunt for that expensive piece you have been lusting after all season. But the ever-increasing speed of the fashion trend cycle means that buying a trophy piece of 2015 fashion when the year has only days to go is increasingly a false economy – however eye-catching the discount. The new breed of sales shoppers are applying next year’s style rules to last year’s collections.

Many of the trends thaat dominated the spring/summer 2016 catwalk shows – the clothes which will go into stores in February – can be found in the collections now being discounted. The key to resisting being baited by retailers desperate to offload the clothes with the most pressing sell-by dates is to approach the sales with a clear wishlist.