Adam Ant Pic - Adam Ant aka Stuart Goddard leaving the Holy...

Perhaps this isn't really appropriate funeral attire, but my 80s style guru (and I mean that in every sense) is looking extremely...English and ready to be photographed...Adam Ant Pic 2817190 - Adam Ant aka Stuart Goddard leaving the Holy...

This Week: Glitter Shoe Sample Sale

Size Seven Sample Shoes for $60 (say that 10 times fast) at this sample sale featuring Butter (see pic of silver slingback), Tibi, Something Bleu (see pic of blue shoe) at 307 Seventh Avenue (near 28th St.) until 7p.m. this week.

No biting, scratching, hoarding or feuding here. Just high heels, flats in suedes, glitter, patent, and peacock colors. Not for wallflower shoes. They say glitter is a popular trend
and silver is outselling gold.

The non-samples are $100. Check out their styles on endless.com.

It's shoetastic!  Nancy Brenner

"Beat the Clock" at Flash Sales Without Breaking Your Budget

Five Tips to Gilt, Rue La La, Haute Look, Totsy and the ever-breeding flash sales, by Nancy Brenner

Put any items you might want immediately into your cart. Invite friends, family and foes to join (you can earn a credit anywhere from $5-$20 each time one person makes a purchase).  Don't want the UPS man to be your new BFF as you race around returning stress-triggered purchases? Send a pic to a shopping buddy and make sure items fits into your budget, lifestyle and CLOSET.

Best categories to buy: items where you absolutely know your fit, like lingerie, or fit is not an issue, like, luggage, baby clothes, picture frames, blow dryers.

Check color before you click - a trigger-happy shopper trying to buy a shoe before it's gone may not realize the switch from the picture in the color (black) to the one that's available (hence I have a Tory Burch nearly never worn pair of orchid hued flat with navy studs in my closet).

Absolute must have - or maybe not so much - if you're teetering, wait for the final sales, when you'll swoop in and get best buys (if there is something left in your size).

And lastly, flash sales can be addictive, someone told me she drops at least $100 every time she goes on Gilt, so try not to log on every day out of habit.

And for more insights, read today's USA Weekend article (GSNYC is mentioned!): http://www.usaweekend.com/article/20100507/MONEY/5090304/Online-flash-sales-offer-quick-savings

Shop It To Me, Unzipped: NYC

Shop It To Me, Unzipped: NYC

Posted using ShareThis

Shop It To Me collected and analyzed data they collected on the most loved brands in NYC. They've broken down which labels are most wanted in neighborhoods throughout the Big Apple: from the Upper East Side to SOHO. It's actually kind of interesting. 

May 8, 2010: Ike & Court Trunk Sale at Barking Lizards

This Saturday, May 8 (2 - 5 p.m.), swing by BARKING LIZARDS in Williamsburg for a Mother's Day trunk show featuring Ike & Court jewelry.  Mom's day gifts range from $38 and upwards.

Take the L train to Bedford and walk along Bedford Avenue to North 4th.

Botkier Preview Report: Yellow Tags Hottest Items...

...at this sample sale. "Damaged" discounted cousins ($150-$175), these samples are the best value at this expensive sale. Check the table in the back, or look for ladies holding an armload who may decide to save for a down payment on a house and put some back on the pile. Props to Botkier sales staff who posted a "no holding more than 4 handbag limit" sign.
Line started at 4:15 for a 6 p.m. VIP start. No one checked names at the door - guess everyone is a VIP these days. Discounted damaged bags will be restocked - few could be found today after a 90-minute wait to get in. Good luck to hearty souls tomorrow.
Save your soles and leave your Louboutins at home, Bring your kindle, or maybe start a novel... the wait will be long.

60 Mercer Street
11a-7p

~Nancy Brenner is everywhere

Botkier VIP report

Botkier from the front: VIP night with line curling around the block with more than 100 women and a few men wishing they had margaritas for what seems to be a long wait to get in. Get ready for your close up as fashion bloggers snapping pics of groups of friends hoping to bag a bargain, but wondering if they will make it in before the 8 pm close.

60 Mercer
 
Runs through Sunday
 
c/o How does she do it? Nancy Brenner

Report from the Front PREVIEW: Lafayette 148

Nancy Brenner braves the humidity in the name of fashion:

These deals were so sweet, it made me wish I was the size 8 sample size.

Forty dollars for a Swiss cotton sateen skirt w/golden studs that retails for $448 or a fringed tweed skirt retailing for $498 were seen at the preview of tomorrow's Lafayette 148 sample sale. Sizes range from 0 petite to 3X.  One of the best-priced sample sales of the year.

Leather jackets and skirts are $100, reduced from $698 and $595. Spotted the Mila charmeuse blouse for $35, retailing for $298, as well as the safari shirt, flower embellished cardigan, beaded tunics and other "where did you get that?" pieces. And if you are a seamstress, or know one, check out their fabulous bolts of fabric for sale too.

Ladies there IS a dressing room this year.  YAY!  

148 Lafayette Street; 9-7

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.

Hidden Treasures at Hester Street Fair: Report From the Front

I cruised through this spot a couple of weeks ago and was completely unmoved.  But leave it to Nancy Brenner to unearth that which should be treasured:

Open Saturdays and Sundays at Hester Street off of Essex Street, lots of booths looked like discarded junk drawers tossed on a  table and priced at whim.  Which is why one potential buyer mistook the price of a collectible Kenneth Jay Lane frog from the 70s at a $1plus change at Treasures & Pleasures.  Educated consumers and converts to collectibles will discern a fetching couture Jean Patou 1940s blue clutch from the 70s, a 50s lucite Koret handbag that evokes Fontainbleau poolside with cosmo in hand.  There was a 50s bronze beaded beauty with the original Saks tag still attached. Also spotted, Judith Lieber.  Vintage handbags and jewelry mainly from 40s through 70s.

Be prepared to splurge, as most items are $50 and up, but talk to Rafael, and mention you read the Guerilla Shopper... If you are in the market for an original Mother's Day gift, this is the spot. Prices are
lower than their uptown store at 1050 2nd Avenue (near 56th St.), Gallery 20. Check out their website at tpleasures.com.