Men, Stripping, Sample Fatigue, Sticker Shock: Sample Sales 2010 in Review

The Men - are they all out of work, or turned into jobbers? They are running amuck at sales - Vivienne Tam - so many it felt like a construction site, and at Cynthia Steffe - men appeared, like apparitions hoarding with abandon. Would you like us to storm your sales while you are down to your skivvies or Man Spanx?

Most Improved Sale - Thanks to Cynthia Steffe for installing guards.  Boo to women who had no dignity and insisted on stripping as it was against the rules and the pleas of male security who begged women not to display their Victoria's Secrets.

Pushing and Shoving - More women MUST be working out. Wouldn't sample sales be a better place if it was a little bit more "Glee," Gwynnie Paltro guest appearance and a little less "Jersey Shore"?

Sample Prices? - Just so we're clear, a 60% off retail reduction is simply not an old-school sample sale (off of wholesale), especially when Fifth Avenue stores were already offering the same.
Leifsdotter was the swankiest sample sale setting, but not deepest discount!

Professional Place Holders - Everyone has a thousand friends on Facebook, but at a sample sale, 1-3 max.
Are people setting saving spots for cash like Merchant of Venice tickets at Central Park?
Beware the angry shoppers behind you.

Bragging Bloggers - Stop the line blogging about how you clocked the sample sale at a preview before the die-hard devotees! And how they won't be restocking.

Best Insider Access - Kudos to Gilt City for offering early access for $5 to Catherine Malandrino and others. It’s worth the investment.

True discounts - The $20 for anything and everything Cynthia Steffe and the Lafayette 148 with $40 skirts along (props for plus size finds) with the $50 Shoshanna samples, $5 intimates at Natori are just about the deepest discounts.

A-List Designer Treatment - Rebecca Minkoff, Isaac Manevitz, Kokin, Colette Malouf, Vivienne Tam treated discount-divers like full-price customers.

Indie designers - No not the ones plastered in Vogue.
Patronize smaller ones that sell in boutiques like Anni Kuan that are well-made and priced.

Consignment shops - Sample sale-aholics worked themselves and their credit cards into a frenzy will be probably be dumping their sample sale slip-ups in the consignment shop after-market.

Soon we'll need a clock keeping track of the number of samples sales, like the one for National Debt... hmm any correlation? The unofficial count was 200 sample sales in the last week causing sample sale fatigue to set in. Stock, but fewer real samples.

Women feeling pressure to buy after they've waited in line in extreme weather, fought off opponents, defended their finds and held in their bladders. Even if a friend tries talk you out of buying a La Perla bra with feathers at a “steal" of $80, it can be easy to make rash decisions on a post-Starbucks bladder, an empty stomach and exit waving a “V” sign to the nearest blogger interviewing you for her VLOG.

~Nancy Brenner

Rebecca Minkoff VIP Sample Sale Night from 4-9 Tonight

Courtesy of the purseblog.com . "Because of her huge PurseForum fan base, Rebecca continues to open up a VIP night for the members." Bring your first aid-kit, if it's half the battle that the Botkier sample sale was last week. Note to men: skip the bars and head to the stylish line of women waiting around the block to snag a boyfriend bag or a morning after.


155 5th Avenue. Good luck and report back!
 
/Nancy B.

Shoe Lovers Small & Tall Rejoice: Preview Report from the Front - Nordstrom Rack, Union Square

Jeez, I barely even knew this store had opened, and Nancy's already there!!

Four racks of size 12 for women alone nestled among the 25,000 pairs of shoes including a pair of stylish red Steve Madden gladiator flats priced at $49. Famous for shoe size ranges, 4.5-14, men from 7-16, the hard-to-fit New Yorker can check for new styles including Stuart Weitzman, Alan Edmonds, Cole Haan, as five trucks with new merch arrives each week.

For Women: You may be able to skip the maddening Rebecca Minkoff sample sale crowds this week as a selection of bags are reduced from $595 and $550 to $249, $259. A one of a kind red leather with zipper jacket from Alice & Olivia at $219.95 down from $695. Missoni skinny scarves at $59.95 and $69.95. Find everything from Spanx Power Panties to Strivectin in the wide-ranging women's department.

For Men: Looking for an economic rebound shirt? Try the Hickey Freeman blue and white pinstripe shirt with white collar $49.95 from $135. Blazers from Hugo Boss $239 from $593. Joseph Abboud blazer $229.97 from $495. A check-me-out black leather John Varvatos jacket $699 reduced from $1,995. For Father's Day, job interviews, or casual shirts, it's worth a trip.

Remember the old Century 21 before it became jammed with tourists and you could discover a one-of-a-kind items or basics? Well the magic is at Nordstrom Rack.
Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m.-10 p.m; Sunday, 11 a.m. -7 p.m. 
One Union Square South (14th & Broadway)

Sample Sales Next Week: Rebecca Minkoff & Showroom Seven

Rebecca Minkoff info above; Showroom Seven info below....

Showroom Seven Sample Sale
May 10 - 22, 2010
10 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Closed Sunday
263 11th Ave. (between 27th-28th St.)
3rd Floor
Featuring: Erickson Beamon, Orla Kiely, Charlotte Ronson, Issa London, and more.

Rebecca Minkoff Prices Pared (report from the Front Coterie)

says the designer (via Nancy Brenner) at Coterie Show at the Jacob Javits Center today.  Minkoff may not be just for starlets and their celestial budgets anymore. The Morning After bag is one in her classic collection you'll see at a lower price point for Fall 2010. Since the core consumer price index fell for the first time since 1982, so did wholesale prices. Numerous designers at Coterie today said they trimmed prices, or held stable, the key word- affordable.  Why the reduction?   "We listened to our customer," says Minkoff.  How can they do it? By making small changes to the collection that won't be visible to the consumer and by committing to larger purchases. A standout in her new Fall collection - the metallic "boyfriend bag" good for both getting a boyfriend and keeping one. Finally, an night-out bag not big enough to carry around an ex around, but can fit a cell, lipstick, Purell and other essentials, was the size I've been trying to hunt down for several seasons.  It was made with a peach black wash to deepen the distressed look over time. Good seller so far for Minkoff was the "Lust" a small cross body messenger suede bag with antique brass studs.  Personally, I coveted the two-texture "Rapture" in electric blue suede and leather and their five zip bag in violet with studs on the handle.  And if you are one of those people already planning gift items for next year, keep an eye out for the two trends in one leather bracelet -  red with gold grommets. Minkoff mania will be bigger than ever this year - stake out your spot on the sample sale line now!

Botkier Bags No Bargain at $175-$275 - but better than Minkoff prices...

Nancy Brenner, when does she sleep?:

...and sample sale sections bags were $150 and still leftovers last night - because $150 for samples is pricey - last year you could find a slightly damaged bag for $50. They will be adding new "sample" bags - but get there when they replenish stock in the morning. This year a puny nothing tagged for $75. One man guarded his stash of about nine bags like they were Chanels.  Can you spell eBay? Last night there were fresh eBay postings - probably straight from the sample sale - of course those prices are closer to retail, but if you don't feel like dragging downtown to Lafayette Street in a hit or miss expedition, and don't mind paying a premium try eBay or some of the upscale online boutiques that are slashing prices bringing them close to (or in some cases lower) than sample sale ones.

Battle of the Bags: Rebecca Minkoff vs. Kooba Report from the Front

It's Nancy Brenner's bag, baby...

Bring a helmet to today's Rebecca Minkoff's sample sale. If you like the feeling of masses exiting Madison Square Garden post sold-out Madonna concert, head right over to this sale, which had its VIP preview last night.

Space is small, checkout slow, prices high -$350 for best bags (for a ss). Most Minkoff minions did seem happy to drop major moola - perhaps they dropped by the bar next door for a margarita during the more than half hour wait to gain entry.

Better prices at the Kooba sale - where you can find bags in the sample room - if you don't need this year's IT bag, score a real deal for $25 - if you can handle an '04 model. Ask the knowledgeable sales staffs for the provenance.

If you can hold out, wait and see if Botkier ishaving a sample sale this year where I scored a $50 bag that retailed for over $600 last year), or just wait for Black Friday or CyberMonday.

17 West 17th Street - Minkoff 10-8 thru Sunday
141 West 36th Street - Kooba 0 today and tomorrow 10-8 (closed 2-3)