But fashions change, and it appears that quality is finally fighting back over quantity.

While sales of "fast fashion" items, such as skinny jeans for £3 and dresses for £10, are rising at their slowest rate for a decade, high-end retailers from Harvey Nichols to Harrods report soaring demand for premium labels.

Analysts believe consumer fatigue may be setting in as women tire of wardrobes bursting with ultra-cheap fashion items.

Luxury brands such as Burberry and stores at the top end of the high street, including Reiss and Hobbs, are set to see trade growth of 13.9 per cent for this year, according to figures from the market research company Verdict.

By contrast, the value clothing sector will manage only 8.9 per cent, hardly on its last legs, but the lowest growth figure for 10 years.

"There comes a time when no matter how cheap something is, you are not going to buy it because you just don't need it, and consumer fatigue is definitely starting to creep in with very cheap clothing," said Richard Hyman, the managing director of Verdict Research.

"Women, particularly, are moving towards wanting something better and being prepared to pay for it."

The change comes at the end of a year in which the rise of value fashion had once seemed unstoppable.

In April, frenzied queues formed on Oxford Street when Primark, the cut-price fashion label, opened its flagship London store, offering Marc Jacobs-style jackets for £12, skinny jeans for £10 and ballet pumps for £3.

Anthony Siggers, the head of research at Execution, an investment research organisation, has also seen a shift in consumers' attitudes towards fast fashion.

"We carry out a quarterly clothing retail survey which looks at shopping habits and trends, and we have consistently found that price is becoming less important and quality more important," he said.

"As a result, there has been an upturn in trading for quality retailers."

Joanna Jeffreys, the fashion manager at Harvey Nichols, said the unprecedented availability and improving quality of cheap clothes meant that women were looking increasingly for something a little different to set them apart from high street shoppers.

She said: "The quality of the designer copies that you now find on the high street means that customers are looking for more exclusive one-off pieces to wear.

"So they are more likely to invest in a £3,000 dress from a label like Rodarte for special occasions knowing that it is unique, and that it is unlikely they will see anyone else wearing it."

Marigay McKee, the fashion director at Harrods department store in Knightsbridge, London, said that disposable fashion is beginning to lose its chic appeal.

"Until quite recently, it was considered trendy to wear something from the high street, but it has been completely overdone and there is now a definite move away from fast fashion towards buying fewer, but more expensive 'investment' pieces that people don't have to dispose of after a couple of months," she said.

"There is no doubt that customers are becoming more discerning and want to buy less cheap clothing than they used to."

The Verdict findings underline the changing mood of shoppers, who, it is predicted, will spend £785 million through premium fashion retailers this year compared with £697 million on value clothing.

Hannah Sandling, 31, a fashion stylist and former fast fashion enthusiast from London, recently invested in a pair of £295 leather boots and a £500 designer jacket. She said that the novelty of cheap chic had worn off.

"Like everyone else, I went crazy when we started seeing £2 vest tops on the high street, but after a while of buying loads of cheap gear, it just doesn't feel special any more," she said.

"I recently cleared out my wardrobe and was horrified by how many cheap items I had bought but never even worn. These days, I'm more prudent about wasting money and buying cheap just for the sake of it.

"Instead, I want to stick to buying fewer but classic pieces that I know will never go out of fashion, and that I will keep for ever."