Why Things End Up in My Clearance Section (And Why That's Good News for You)

Some of my favourite pieces I've ever stocked are sitting on the clearance rail right now.

That tends to surprise people, because there's a lingering assumption that clearance is where things go when they've failed. After twenty-odd years of running Kate's Clothing, I can tell you it's almost never that. The reasons a garment ends up reduced usually have nothing whatsoever to do with how good it is, and once you know what those reasons actually are, the clearance section starts to look a lot more interesting.

So here's the honest version. Here's what really sends something to clearance.

1. The sizing problem (and why I bring it on myself)

This is the big one.

When I order from a manufacturer, I make a point of taking the full size range wherever I possibly can. Not the safe middle chunk that I know will shift quickly, the whole lot. I've always felt strongly that everyone should get to shop the same collections, not just whoever happens to sit in the centre of the size chart.

The consequence is entirely predictable, and I walk into it every single time: the 12s and 14s fly out, and I'm left with size 8s and a fair few size 22s sitting on the shelf months later.

So if you're a size 8, the clearance section is genuinely where you should be looking first. It's usually very well stocked in your size, and a lot of what's in there would have sold out weeks ago in a more common size. The same applies at the top end of the range.

And if you're not a size 8 but you know someone who is, please send them this way. They are missing out on some absolute gems.

2. The photos don't always do it justice

Some garments simply refuse to photograph well.

The drape doesn't read on camera. A gorgeous texture flattens into nothing. Fine detailing gets swallowed by the background. Black on black, in particular, is the photographer's nemesis, you can have the most beautiful panelling and stitching in the world and it will vanish into a black rectangle on a screen.

I know these pieces. I've had them in my hands. And there are things I've had to reduce that are genuinely lovely in person and just never came across in the pictures.

If you're willing to use your imagination a bit (read the description properly, look at the fabric composition, zoom right in) there are some proper bargains hiding behind mediocre photos.

3. One bad review can flatten a product

I publish every genuine review. Good, bad, and everything in between, without exception. That's always been non-negotiable for me (right from the beginning in 2004), because you can't make a sensible decision if I'm only showing you the nice ones.

But I'll be honest about the effect: a single poor review can kill a product's sales stone dead. And often the complaint isn't really about the garment at all. Sometimes a customer was frustrated about something entirely unrelated. Sometimes the issue is very specific to that person, a fit quirk, a preference, something another shopper wouldn't even notice or would happily work around.

Once that review is sitting there, though, the item stops moving. And eventually it drifts down into clearance.

My suggestion is simple: read the review yourself and make your own call. You may well look at it and think "that isn't a dealbreaker for me", and walk away with something lovely at a fraction of what it was.

4. Sometimes I just get overexcited

I'll hold my hands up to this one.

Every so often a piece comes across my desk that is so beautifully made, so intricately detailed, so obviously the work of someone who really cared, that I order it without thinking hard enough about what it's going to have to retail at. The craftsmanship justifies the price. The problem is that the price is still the price, and it can sit outside what most people can reasonably spend on a single item.

So it lingers. Not because anyone dislikes it (usually the opposite, I get lovely comments about these pieces) but because it's an investment, and investments get put off.

Reducing it is often the only thing that lets it find the person it was always meant for. Which is a bit bittersweet from my end (I do have a lot of bills to pay!), but genuinely brilliant from yours: some of the most detailed, most special things I stock are only within reach once they hit the clearance rail.

5. Giant minimum orders

When it comes to my own brand designs (Necessary Evil), I have huge minimum orders to meet so that the manufacturers can produce them at a reasonable price.  In truth these are way bigger than little old me should be stocking but it's my labour of love (and a compulsion if I'm honest) and it's what it takes to bring these figments of my imagination to life. 

What clearance actually means here

It means the piece is discontinued, the size run has broken up, the photos let it down, one person left a review, or I got carried away at the buying stage.

It does not mean seconds. It does not mean damaged. It does not mean I've stopped caring about it, if anything I care about these ones more, because I want them to end up somewhere they'll be worn rather than sat in a box.

One thing worth knowing: most of what's left in clearance is down to one or two pieces. There are no reorders and no restocks. When they're gone, that really is it.

So have a rummage. Filter by your size, read the descriptions properly, look past a photo that isn't doing its job, and make up your own mind about a review.

There's almost certainly something in there with your name on it.

Kate 🖤