Sample sale mania! Again!

Tis the season. For sample sales. I've been staying away. Still recovering from JCrew spring sale that took YEARS off my life!
That being said I'm on a jewelry kick lately. My former favorite designer Alexis Bittar (a he, by the way) let me down the past few seasons.
A friend bought me earrings a few years ago for a milestone bday and I was addicted. But during the following few seasons I lost interest.
Then come this fall, I fell in love with two pairs of earrings at Bloomingdales and bought them both.
Today I learned Alexis Bittar (www.alexisbittar.com) had a sample sale and ran down to Chelsea to see what I could score. 30 minutes to push and shove and pile gold and silver gems onto my tray. The prices were discounted but still pricey. $290 later I had a gold link necklace, turquoise and crystal earrings and gold link drop gemstone earrings. What gemstone you ask? I have no clue! But I have some cool discounted designer gems and had male sample sale worker tell me how fabulous my earrings were. Bring cash,fortitude, your own mirror (they have none) and a hot cup of Starbucks to splash on your competitors as there are many "one of a kind pieces"you won't want anyone else to take!

Black Friday , Fuschia Thursdays ,Cyber Mondays..Succumbing to the Sales or Not?

Tis the Season. It used to begin the day after Thanksgiving.  You put up your tree, holiday decorations miraculously appear in the department stores, and the 5th Avenue windows are resplendent in all their Christmas glitter and glory. All before you can even digest your turkey and unbutton your pants.

But what truly mark the beginning of the holiday season are the mega sales on Black Friday.

The term  originally was coined because the retailers make up for lost revenue with the onset of Christmas shopping by discounting prices for the early bird shoppers and are  “back in  black". What is a shopaholic to do? Luckily, I shop all year long. Black Friday is really not a trigger for me as it is not worth my time and effort. My favorite time to shop is a weekday, when I have an entire store and their staff all to myself.

 Plus reading stories about people, who bring pepper spray to Wal-Mart to keep away the crowds from their coveted items, really scares me. (click here for story). Not that I shop at Wal-Mart, but it makes me wonder if shoppers at Bloomies carry Tasers to guard against the last Chloe Bag in this year’s color?

 I recently learned, however,  Black Friday no longer begins on Friday. It begins on the day before Thanksgiving. At least on-line. “Fuchsia Thursday” my email read. "Beat the rush... 20% off, but only till midnight." The Wednesday edition of the NY Post had an insert on how to navigate black Friday, by on-line sites, early opening specials, discount codes and neighborhood!

Seriously when did you have to take a course on how to shop?

Maybe I don’t want to be trampled to death in a sale … but to shop and get an early discount from the comfort of my own home on Thanksgiving, while my pants are unbuttoned? The temptation was greater than that pumpkin pie! I mean there is nothing worse in my opinion than fighting with others of over the last large size pair of skinny jeans. (Yes, I ate too much pumpkin pie, this year, so sue me).

The family was saying grace and I was shopping! With my smart phone under the table during the meal, I filled my shopping bag with coveted items; Anthropologie had 40% off, on the very items on my fall wish list in my last post! Trina Turk – had 20% off the dress I loved, finally in my size! And Milly, don’t even go there…

When I got to my desktop and went to submit my order Black Friday Eve (formerly known as Thanksgiving Night), my bag was empty. Everything was out of stock! I lost out on the sales. Except for one. Bloomingdales offered 25-40% off select items and had some good deals. Not great but good. Not good enough I say…until I saw an early bird email with a special code that allowed an extra 25% of the sale prices IF YOU SHOP BEFORE 4 AM. Online!!!

I’m a night owl; I would rather stay up all night than get up at dawn, even to shop! No sleep tonight!

There I was, at the stroke of midnight, on Black Friday, seduced by sales and a tall dark smooth Italian pair of boots for 50% off. No lines, no broken ribs, no pepper spray. Just one click and Salvatore Ferragamo was on his way to my house! I literally saved hundreds of dollars. My husband however would argue that when you spend ANY money you are not saving anything because you spent it. Ah, the philosophy of shopping.

Friday is when the big box stores cash in. I however got to sleep in! Having spent all my cash on Friday, I had none left for Small Business Saturday, where consumers are encouraged to support local small stores, (which is where I did all of my Christmas shopping last year). Now I am obsessing if even better deals are to be had on Cyber Monday…which is tomorrow.

You know I‘ll be checking my emails to see how much I can really save -or is it spend? Happy Holiday Shopping to all!

Very Good Old Things!

I know, I know, it’s been a while since I blogged. A bad cold, a trip to Florida, holidays and a day job had me distracted. But I am back. Since I have been gone, I fell off the wagon a bit. I did end up getting some new trendy Hunter rain boots and those over the knee Julia Roberts boots, (which really don’t look all that whorish when you pair then with a twin-set and pearls, although I have to admit I did get some second-glances in Starbucks).

 

 I also had to have a new pair of everyday black leather boots because my old ones left me in crippling pain. Three pairs of boots are a bit much in one season, I admit, although they each have different functions. (A work attire function, a function to protect against the elements and the function of getting noticed in Starbucks). I also bought some fabulous resort-wear at a Sample Sale. Never mind the fact I don’t even have a vacation booked. So now I am stuck with the realization that I don’t have a new coat to keep me warm, and my hat, gloves and scarves are all mismatched. I guess I am going to have to spend the frigid winter months wearing linen dresses and hooker boots with clashing winter accessories. I made my wardrobe, and now have to live in it; which brings me to the topic of this post: “Very Good Old Things”.

American culture dictates that we always have the latest and greatest; the newest lightest fastest computer, the trendiest most inventive cell phone, the just–released tiniest camera with the most mega-pixels in the world.  I don’t really care all that much for technology. But fashion is my middle name. I hate wearing last year clothes. And even worse, I hate wearing accessories from seasons past. Maybe it is because I live in Manhattan where the sidewalks are virtual runways. People are wearing the latest collections and trends, sometimes before they even hit the stores. I feel like my fellow fashionista Manhattanites can just give me a four second once over and declare “She is soo 2007!”  So historically, I update my wardrobe. Every season. Then someone pointed out to me how ridiculous this is. Not to mention expensive.  So alas, this season, my main shopping destination… was in my closet!

I found some pretty interesting stuff. Like a Diane Von Furstenberg wrap dress I bought last year for a pretty pricey penny. It looked pretty dated to my fashionable eye. But then I realized the dress was a re-issue of a 70’s print and part of her 2009 “vintage collection.”  I had a classic vintage dress! I put it on, and remarkably it still fit…and if the dress fits…wear it! So I did. Oddly, I got dozens of compliments. It was a real show-stopper. Same goes for a lovely grey wool dress by my favorite designer Michelle Smith. A coworker sent me an email saying my outfit was an “A+” and thought it was a Halston! Really who needs Bloomies when you have a walk-in closet full of very good old things?!

Then there were the three-year-old waterproof Merrell leather boots, I forgot I had. They were almost in perfect condition. So I tried them on. And they hurt like hell. Maybe because they were a size 8 and I have not wore a size eight for years. Apparently our feet get wider as we age (I wish someone sent me that memo before I splurged on ill-fitting shoes). I was about to toss them when my husband (who buys everything except maybe used underwear on EBay) suggested that I sell them. So I list them on EBay and a minor bidding war ensued. I ending up walking away with eighty bucks! One woman’s garbage is another woman’s treasure.

Who knew the things in my Goodwill pile would fetch me both compliments and cash?  My austere new year’s budget looms ahead. My goal for 2011 to clean out my closet, try on and try out some old things and see what happens when history repeats itself. And if the experiment fails, here is to hoping there is money in my mistakes. Happy 2011!

Bed Bugs at Bloomingdales? Part Two

My fall wish list. New Hunter Rain Boots. A warm (but not too warm) fall coat. New Boots. Suede, Leather. Maybe a wedge heel. Maybe above the knee, despite the fact that some people think the OTK look is very Julia Roberts a la Pretty Woman, or in other words, "Slutty". Maybe I will get all of the above!!!

Why? Because of Friends and Family Sales. Lord and Taylor gave their friends 25%. Saks 20%. (not that much when you think of the price of the store items!)Overwhelmed by the opportunities, and challenged by a low credit limit, I was debating where I can seek my coveted items.

At the end of the day, one my colleagues asks what I have decided. Easy answer: the place with the “Secret Sale.”

“Bloomingdales! I am going to Bloomingdales!” I announce proudly with decisiveness.

Bob, another coworker, looks up, as he is putting on his coat and matter-of -factly says:

“They found a beg bug in Bloomingdales."


"There are bed bugs in Bloomingdales? Impossible!"I screech in horror.

“Not Bedbugs. A bed bug." He says.

“ONE, singular (AND if I may add, not so sensational) BED BUG?” I ask.

“That’s right. One single bedbug. It was in the news.”

I tell him that is BS and I don’t believe it. It is in a nice neighborhood!

He tells me to check out bedbugregistry.com

Bed bugs have registries? Huh? Well, I guess, if I registered I Bloomingdales, so could a bed bug. I mean they do have a great home section. I research it and lo and behold there is an article, that states a beg bug was found and removed from Bloomingdales. One bed bug.

I will be damned if one bed bug prevents me from shopping in a high –end store. I mean does one fly keep you out of your favorite restaurant?

So I trek out of the office chilled to the bone in my spring coat to Bloomingdales. Vermin will not deter me from my mission. No way and no how!

So I saunter through the gold doors and bask in the bright lights of my favorite store. I caress the cashmere sweaters, linger longingly over the leggings and stroke a pair of suede boots like it is my childhood pet. I even drape my arm with a carload of items to try on. (So what if I don’t have a car).

So, I get to the dressing room and am frozen. I can’t go in. I have visions of nasty little bloodsucking critters devouring me. What if there was more than one? What if I get welt-like bites all over my body? What if I bring them home and have to throw out tens of thousands of dollars of mission furniture?

So I left Bloomie’s empty handed, vermin free, several hundred dollars short of my credit limit and without hooker boots.