Want a sure-fire way of getting past city firm security? Tuck a glossy carrier bag with tags under your arm. Doing the delivery rounds for our website LUX FIX I never got stopped once, the security guards just smiled indulgently "Another delivery for Miss X? Come right on through." Marry this information with Goldman Sachs London now having a whole mailroom devoted to Net-A-Porter deliveries alone, and it's starting to look like city girls could be in the grip of a full-blown online fashion addiction.
Let's think about why this could be. What happened to the nineties dream (thanks Vivian Ward aka Pretty Woman) of shopping as a very much offline pastime, stalking the streets dripping with bags?
Well the recession is an obvious factor - when women started eschewing signature Hermès packaging for plain white bags, the writing was on the wall for the classic bag touting shopaholic. She can still definitely be found, but now mainly in the form of WAGs and onscreen makeover montages (love those).
EU online selling regulations are another factor firmly on the online shoppers' side. They state that any online business must accept returns within a seven day period. Must. So our city girl could come back to her desk from a miserable meeting, max out her credit card, unpack the tissue and ribbons on a delightful consumer's high... slump in materialist shame when she realises none of it fits, and still completely avoid buyer's remorse.
Sitting in an office is quite the best way to embark on the send and return cycle too. Pick-ups and drop-offs are a thing of ease with an all day desk staff, and the stressful office environment provides every reason to treat yourself as just a lightening round up of friends confessions shows:
Case A: Miss X, year two of a highly stressful investment banking analyst program, "If I had a miserable day or someone shouted at me it made perfect sense to order something for myself, just to remind myself why I was bothering to undergo this"
Case B: Madam Z, PA to a volatile property tycooness "Every month or two I just go on a massive ASOS binge - I almost always send all of it back but it doesn't stop me"
Case C: Dr Y, after ten years in management consulting, "I can't wait to use your new website (at this point she has no idea what it sells), I am an official online shopping ADDICT."
Is it a bad thing this online fashion addiction? Full disclosure, as my fortunes are aligned with those of a fashion website, I am bound to say "No way! Keep those modish clicks coming", but from a consumer's perspective it really doesn't seem it is. As long as the internet vendor handles returns cheerfully and briskly, you can shop like a king but become the savviest, best dressed courtier when it comes to deciding what to keep.