Erdem

Sarah Murray, owner of Edinburgh boutique Jane Davidson, sure stole a march on Harvey Nichols by stocking one of the very hottest designer names of the moment, Erdem. Although available online and at Browns in London, with Erdem's stunning prints and sumptuous fabrics you really want to see them in the flesh. The even better news is that Jane Davidson is currently holding a fairly dramatic sale – but not for much longer, so be quick – including discounts of up to 80 per cent. The nude lace Lavinia dress by Erdem above is £517 down from a stonking £1,725, while the Angelica swallow-print dress, hot off the autumn/winter 2010 catwalk, is £274, also 70 per cent off. There are also silk Tucker blouses (see post 22 January) from around £70 and some leather-look J Brand Agnes cropped jeans for £88 instead of the hefty usual price of £295. When's the next train north?...

Jean genies

There are some good sales on already, and best of all you don't need to trudge out in the snow to browse them. Trilogy (great website by the way) has some top jeans on sale – usually in sales you'll only find the really duff shapes and odd colours discounted, but here you'll find the best J Brand skinnies (for example, black skinny jeans, above, at £125 down from £170). My-wardrobe also has some good jeans discounts, and so does Matches (eg high-rise grey skinny jeans, below, £135 down from £195).

Maybe you're keen to follow trends and go with flares in the new year. J Brand tend to lead the way in jeans shapes right now, and the word is that their Love Story flares are the look of the summer. For me, flares are a flash in the pan trend that won't last more than a few months. They might look cool on, say, the Olsen twins, a flattering, laidback look paired with a white T-shirt and a Starbucks – but they live in sunny LA. But here, who who wants trousers that drag through the rain/mud/snow? I've tried Hudson flares and the truth is that all that fabric flapping around is kind of annoying. They absorb all sorts of stuff from the pavement, but you can't roll them up out of the way. They only look good with a very neat silhouette on the top, such as a fitted T-shirt or top – otherwise everything just looks too big. And they make cycling positively dangerous. Skinny jeans have taken the high street by storm as they not only look slick and neat, but they don't trail and get ripped round the edges like long bootcuts or looser styles. Besides, the only reason flares are being plugged is that designers always head for the direct opposite, and for seasons now it's been about the rock-chick, sprayed-on trousers, thanks to labels like Balenciaga and Isabel Marant with her bold red biker numbers. Maybe it's just that they're too 70s for me, bringing back lurid memories of maroon, cord and velour.

What do you reckon? Skinnies all the way, or are flares worth a go?

It's hard to beat Burberry

Long double-breasted peacoat, £1,195, Burberry

The thing about summer clothes is that a) they tend not to be black and b) they tend to be flimsy, very short and sleeveless. Trying to find a half-decent summer dress can feel like mission impossible unless you want to wear something that's about four inches long, or something from Jigsaw. (Was Jigsaw always so expensive, by the way? Some of their maxidresses are pretty, but most clock in at the £100-150 mark; when bolder brands like Acne and American Vintage, Whistles and Cos are doing something quite a bit cooler, this feels like too much).

Anyway – now the sun's gone again and so I'm looking ahead at the new collections. They look so classy and investable next to the garishly colourful pieces clogging up the rails right now. Wouldn't you rather save up for one fabulous coat than waste cash on dresses from H&M and flimsy sandals that you'll get to wear for just a week or two? It's a rhetorical question, clearly, when you come face to face with the new coats at Burberry. The cut, the shapes, the fabric – these are classic with a capital C and yet completely of the moment, with military-style double-breasted versions (see above). The enduringly cool peacoat (£395) stands out as the hottest shape for autumn/winter for both boys and girls. Designer Christopher Bailey continues to keep Burberry at the very top of its game.

Burberry autumn/winter 2010. Photo Marcio Madeira / FirstView.com

Expensive, yes, but the cost-per-wear argument stands up to serious scrutiny here – because each of these coats and jackets are made to last and last. It's not like buying into the latest trouser shape, which will change surely and inevitably. Currently, magazines and websites are breathlessly telling us this season's 'must-have' is the Houlihan by J Brand, a cargo pant/skinny jean hybrid with unflattering hip-side pockets (striding in at a hefty £245). It's true that J Brand trousers are beautifully soft to wear and have a flattering cut. And that, thanks to Balmain, skinny trousers are here to stay a while, having ousted anything boot-cut or flared to the dark dustbin of fashion. But I still reckon that anything remotely cargo will be consigned to the sale rail before the year's out, particularly those in GI Jane-style khaki. Just remember how quickly we all went off cargo trousers the first time round. Because they looked rubbish.

A Burberry trenchcoat still looks as good as new a decade, two decades later. Versatile, practical even, it lends the wearer a touch of understated style and elevates the rest of an outfit to its level (or, at the very least, covers it up). Likewise, next season's wool and cashmere coats with their military twist are truly covetable, and there will be a million high-street copies – but none of them will look quite like this...

Three-quarter-length trenchcoat with princess sleeves, £650, Burberry