We have scouted all the sales in London and online to bring you the very best of what’s on offer. This week winter coats take centre stage.

It’s barely autumn, the weather is warm and the leaves are still on the trees, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t find this season’s winter coats with massive reductions. Don’t believe us? Well, here you’ll find five of the best offers from the high street just to prove it. We all know that buying a new winter coat can be risky business – put a foot wrong now and you’ll be regretting it until spring – so this year we’ve done the hard work for you. These coats are on trend and on sale now…

A classic beige trench makes a chic addition to any wardrobe.  Get this well-cut classic from Oasis. Was £100, now £60.

Take a walk on the wild side. This leopard print coat from ASOS ticks off two key trends for autumn/winter in one with its faux fur Peter Pan collar. Was £90, now £72.

Give your look for autumn/winter a colour boost with this blue swing coat from River Island. Reduced from £74.99 to only £25, it will give your bank balance a boost too!

The Heritage look is a huge trend again this autumn/winter and Hobbs have one of the best quilted jackets we’ve found on the high street – not to mention it’s got 25% off! Was £119, now £89.25.

Who doesn’t love black? This simple belted Mac from Warehouse will still look great in seasons to come, and it has been reduced right down from £85 to £45.

If you’re tempted, you’d better get shopping – offers this good won’t be around forever.

Have you found an amazing deal on a winter coat? Don’t be shy, share your SalesGossip with us!

Hannah Moss - Confessions of a Shopaholic

There is many a pitfall to avoid when out sales shopping and by far the biggest dilemma we encounter has to be the whole issue of how much wear will we get out of a particular item. ‘Am I buying something that is last season’s stock and will it be out of fashion before I even get home?’ One option may be to play it safe and stick to the classic pieces which are our wardrobe staples – a little black dress, a crisp white shirt, a well cut pair of jeans… but where’s the sense of fun?

This week saw London Fashion Week – the uber exclusive fashion parade where the front row is as much of a showcase as the catwalk itself, as style mavens cast their eyes over what we will be wearing for spring/ summer 2012. Designers and magazine editors work so far ahead that by keeping up to date you’ll have a good idea of how much life is in a potential purchase. So, if you are questioning whether that bright yellow dress you saw at half price really would be a sensible buy, the answer is a resounding YES. Yellow was the stand out colour of the week – soft lemon sorbet to acid bright, yellow was the colour of choice for Mulberry, Issa, Nicole Farhi – well pretty much every designer.

Here are a few more of the trends spotted on the catwalk this week:

A/W meets S/S: The amount of outerwear on show suggested that designers are preparing for a typical British summer – parkas, rain macs and trench coats all made their mark at Burberry, which is something to bear in mind when shopping for your winter coat. However, for spring/ summer trenches move away from ubiquitous beige to be seen in a riot of colours and prints.

Jewel Tones: If you have been buying into the trend for turquoise, rust and mustard this autumn, you’re in luck! They are still very much in favour for spring/ summer – just look at Roksanda Ilincic, Matthew Williamson and Amanda Wakeley.

Ice Cream Colours: Baby pink, powder blue, mint green and the aforementioned lemon, the so called ‘ice cream’ colour palette was to be seen everywhere from Meadham Kirchhoff to Christopher Kane and Richard Nicoll.

Metallics: Space-age silver at Giles to tribal gold at Topshop Unique, if you go for a bling party frock this Christmas, I promise you’ll still be wearing it come summer.

PVC: The likes of Mulberry, Aquascutum and Richard Nicoll have achieved the nigh on impossible, transforming this material from strictly stripper to so sophisticated by using a muted colour palette (those ice cream hues again) to create a more demure look.

Clashed Prints: Tribal, animal, floral – the choice is yours. Take inspiration from Holly Fulton and Mary Katrantzou.

To see catwalk videos and images, go to www.londonfashionweek.co.uk

Hannah Moss - Confessions of a Shopaholic

You don’t have to wait around for the sales to get a big discount on your shopping – there are great savings every day of the week at shopping outlets nationwide. You’re never too far away from an outlet village, offering massive reductions on your favourite brands – high street to high end designer.

As one of nine ‘Chic Outlet Shopping’ villages in prime locations around Europe, Bicester Village, Oxfordshire is a great example of how to get a designer wardrobe without a designer price tag. If you fancy a day’s shopping away from the London crowds, at Bicester you’ll find over 130 designer boutiques offering up to 60% off RRP! Check the website for a full list of stores – it reads like a who’s who of the fashion world; Matthew Williamson, Alexander McQueen, Mulberry – the top names go on and on.

With so much choice on offer, why not pre-book a complimentary style consultancy to help guide you? You’re not even limited by how much you can carry with the hands-free shopping service! Shop ‘til you drop, then stop to refuel in one of the cafes or restaurants on site so you can shop some more!

Although most shopping outlets tend to be located out of town, T K Maxx has become a mainstay of the high street. You really do have to search through the rails and rails of stock – but that’s half the fun isn’t it? Especially as there are gems to be found! I stumbled across some Stella McCartney shoes and a pair of Celine sunnies on one particularly successful shopping trip last year.

However, you don’t even have to leave the comfort of your own home if you should so wish. If shopping in your pyjamas is more your style, The Outnet is the outlet for you! From the team behind every fashionista’s favourite website, Net-A-Porter, The Outnet offers more of the same – but with massive reductions. For example, Balmain at up to 80% off arrives on 20th September. With regular pop up sales and giveaways, you’ll get a real thrill out of shopping.

If you are after discounted high street fashion, check out eBay’s fashion outlet where you can buy direct from great brands. Many of your favourite high street brands have outlet stores on the auction site. You’ll find House of Fraser, Jigsaw, LK Bennett, Lipsy and many more, all offering up to 70% reductions.

With so many options, you’ll wonder why you ever bought anything at full price!

An exciting event is happening in Fashion History last week, and it is happening in our very own Carnaby Street.

Carnaby Street is adored by thousands in London and also millions of tourists around the world. It is world famous for unique independent boutiques, and global fashion brands, which together make it one of London’s most popular and distinctive shopping destinations.

Anyway, back to the original point! The exclusive event I am talking about is in fact, the London College of Fashion launch of their first ever boutique shop, College Shop, stocking unique and one off creations from their array of multi talented students.

The pop up shop launched on Friday 9th September and is nestled among the 30 independent shops in Kingly Court, opening for approximately 3 weeks, stocking unique and one off creations.

In this exclusive one off event in a pop up shop, made for fashionistas, you can discover pieces by many of fashion’s rising stars, including this year’s BA collection of the year winner Nova Chui. As well as the more established and well-known LCF alumni- Beatrice Boyle and William Tempest.

The pieces are wearable but luxurious with prices ranging from £20 well up to £400, and also include one off designs from recent graduates in womenswear, menswear, footwear, accessories, jewellery, fashion photography and illustration. To prove that the designs are that good, they have been hand selected by an expert buying team including Angela Quaintrell who is a former buying director at Liberty.

There is a fresh aspect to this range, as new pieces are to be showcased daily and you’ll be able to view digital catalogues for further collections, made available to customers in the shop.

Although this isn’t technically a sale, we will be sure to keep our gossiping ears open and let you be the first to know, when there is! In the meantime check out the full list of sales that are going on in London this week.

This is your chance to buy a piece of affordable fashion history.
Visit: College Shop, Friday 9th-Wednesday 28th September.
Unit 1.3, First Floor, Kingly Court, Carnaby Street.
www.fashion.arts.ac.uk/collegeshop/

If you’ve just started uni this week you’ve got a treat in store. Not only are you going to have the time of your life, but you are eligible to claim amazing discounts at the same time. I have to say that one of the things I miss most about being a student is the NUS discount, especially now there are even more benefits. To be fair, with the massive increase in tuition fees students have never needed the scheme as much as they do right now.

The system now in place is called NUS Extra – whereby current students pay £11 a year to access hundreds of exclusive discounts. It may sound like yet another expense for a skint student to pay out, but in the long run you will make your money back times over, with savings to be made on everything from fashion to food. Check www.nus.org.uk  for a list of participating stores, but remember it’s always worth asking at the checkout to ensure that you never miss out. After all, you won’t fail to notice the bright orange card in your purse!

At this point in time SalesGossip is featuring 3 really great deals for Students. Get 10% from TopShop, Accessorize & Republic on everything they have in store,  just for being a student.

• 10% Off With Student Discount

  June 1st to September 30th

  
• 10% Student Discount At Accessorize

  September 1st to September 30th

  
• 10% Off At Republic With Student Discount

  July 10th to September 30th

  

Another benefit of NUS Extra is that you can sign-up to claim NUS Rewards. These are cashback offers, deals and discounts from over 1,900 retailers. Simply buy your items on a participating retailer’s website when accessed via the NUS Reward store to earn cashback, which will be paid directly into your bank account – saving you money on everything from your online grocery shop to your gas and electricity bill!

Planning on travelling? Well for a small fee NUS Extra can be upgraded to an ISIC (that’s an International Student Identity Card to you and me), allowing you to access 40,000 discounts worldwide.

After being truly spoiled by all these benefits NUS are making the transition back to the real world a little easier on Graduates, who can get a Graduate Extra card offering 1 year of career support and discounts for £15.

If you’re feeling a little left out, remember that discount schemes aren’t just limited to students. There are similar schemes out there for NHS staff and members of the Armed Forces.

Hannah Moss - Confessions of a Shopaholic