Sample sale/flash sale/designer sale…..literally any phrase involving the word sale is liable to get the pulse racing in any clothes loving fashionista. I am writing this following a rather exciting morning in which with promises of designer goodies from the outlet site www.theoutnet.com (sister site to designer mecca www.net-a-porter.com) for a mere £1 fashion savvy buyers logged on in their droves.

What inevitably occurred was a disastrous crash of the servers which were unable to handle the crazed demand. So what is it about sales that make us women go slightly crazy? Obviously this mornings’ example is an extreme one, a Marchesa dress for £1 anyone? In general the mentality is the same, ever been to the French Connection sample sale in Camden….there is more elbow shoving and dirty looks than at a Jonas Brothers concert. Really there are two elements that explain this particular type of madness.

Firstly it is the promise of perfectly good items at a sizeable discount. We all know it is hard to resist shopping at the best of times but when there is the added incentive of money off whether it’s a whopping Outnet style discount or a mere 10%. We all feel slightly better about our purchase knowing we didn’t pay full price and of course it helps that we can justify the purchase to ourselves/partner/parents on this basis. Who hasn’t sulked home guiltily from a shopping trip and found themselves reciting the fashionista mantra “but it was on sale.”

The second essential part of the sale shopping phenomenon is a type of hysteria that overtakes when we glimpse those four letters put together. Our bodies go into some sort of hyper alert state, a new hostile demeanour overtakes us and we are unwilling to let anyone or anything get in the way of our purchase. There is a type of adrenaline rush one experiences when purchasing any fabulous fashion item, this is only increased when the said item comes with a sizeable discount.

So imagine the combined level of hysteria and adrenaline that must have been coming from residences around the country at 7.30am this morning when the eponymous outlet email went out. Those with successful purchases will surely be high for days and those without disappointed for even longer.