Saturday Night Fever

Winter has definitely made its presence felt in the last few weeks but it would seem coats and jackets are yet to start shifting on the high street. That’s because a new breed of lady has evolved, who live and shop for the weekend, fashion’s newest and most powerful force. There’s a type who will regularly drop £50 on a new dress. She buys a coat or jacket only on pain of death (and we’re clearly not talking death from the cold, as any visitor to a British city centre on a Saturday night knows, coats, even at the height of winter, really mess with your look)

Maybe you’re a weekend girl; maybe you live and shop for the weekend. High-street chains and websites such as Asos.com, the sort with rapidly changing stock and young clientele, estimate that 40% of their customers shop weekly with a night out in mind. Now I’m sure most the ladies reading this can relate; you’re going out, you need to buy something new so you feel special and you definitely can’t wear the same thing twice!

For the weekend girl Saturday night is her catwalk, and the rest of the week (bar Sunday: rest and recovery) and about the anticipation. According to Selfridges Thursday nights and Saturdays are the busiest times for shops. This kind of shopper can spend all Saturday looking for the dress she needs for that night. These are young professionals working hard or in education and living for the weekend.

All Saints staff admit that, apart from London and Paris, most of their stores are catering to this sort of consumer, and they aren’t necessarily proud of them. “They can be a bit orange,” said one referring to the fact that fake tan is a standard adjunct to glamour now.

This isn’t about snobbery, though. Let’s be honest, for those of us who get a thrill from going out, we’re weekend girls at heart, even if we prefer to think of ourselves as more sophisticated, mature or adventurous in our shopping habits. By now I know that kneejerk shopping is a bad idea: you buy things that work specifically for one event but don’t necessarily blend into your wardrobe. Still it’s hard to fight the instinct to get on Asos and buy a joyful electric blue dress for the upcoming occasion- and oh how those purchases add up when you develop the habit.

But it’s exactly these purchases that are keeping fashion afloat. At River Island – which just filed a healthy company report, given the current retail horrors – Sarah Walters, the head of communications, estimates that that nearly half the customers shop at least once a week. “it’s very focused on going out, it’s about Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, festivals in the summer and parties at Christmas.” Above all she says her customer wants “to look sexy, show off her tan and her legs”.

Most the ladies we asked do American Apparel, Top Shop, Miss Selfridge, Zara and All Saints, but never designer, “It’s far too expensive because we never wear anything more than once or twice.”

Going out is a huge ritual for woman. The bonding begins with the shopping, then they all watch X Factor together whilst they get ready to go out. It's also about so much more than an outfit. Selfridges knows this and has homed in on consumers by setting up the ground floor fashion and beauty section in the London store. The hall forms the perfect setting for London’s divas and glamour pusses: hair irons, hair pieces, glitter tattoos, manis, pedis, make-overs, and style advisors can have you ready to walk the walk.

LY: Up on the new 3^rd Central Floor space, the young designers have been grouped together to encourage this kind of shopper to have a field day. Thursday night is “small bag night”, customers throw their old clothes into the smallest yellow bag and leaves in her new purchases, this is a customer who comes out of work feeling ‘bleurgh’ and leaves feeling ‘aaah’

In January, Harvey Nichols will too be jumping on the band wagon, with a new 4^th floor of young affordable women’s fashion, from All Saints to Alexander Wang