This week, Madison Avenue will be blanketed with all the culture represented by the Union Jack. Over 20 boutiques, galleries and hotels will celebrate Great Britain with a series of events, tastings, discounts and freebies scheduled from Thursday, November 5 to Sunday, November 8.
Some celebratory highlights include Agent Provocateur offering customers a 10% discount and samples of Prestat Chocolates, Mulberry is offering customers a 15% discount off purchases and Molton Brown will be hosting free afternoon tea and customers who spend more than $55 will be given a Union Jack Hand Cream. Jeeves, the famous dry cleaner, is offering 15% off the dry cleaning of British brands and Anya Hindmarch will be sampling Rococo Chocolate and offering customers free embossing on in-store purchases.
Many of the events will benefit Historic Royal Palaces, which conserves and maintains iconic buildings as the Tower of London and Kensington Palace. You can see the full roster of in-store events and activities right here.
Exactly one year ago today Manolo Blahnik swung open the doors to their sample sale to the general public. We were very excited by the last minute decision because it allowed us to shop for $100 Manolos without the crowds or the wait.
This year, we are doubtful the New York public will be so lucky. That is, unless you’re willing to take a road trip. Mark your calendars! On Saturday, November 14, Manolo overstock and samples will be available at UConn’s West Hartford campus. The entire inventory was donated by Blahnik execs, George Malkemus and Anthony Yurgaitis. The money raised will provide financial aid for UConn animal science students interested in dairy production or manufacturing.
We are told that prices will range from $150 to $450 and include an assortment of runway-ready stilettos, slides, slip-ons and boots ranging in size from 4.5 to 13. The sale follows a wildly successful sale in August in Bantam that attracted more than 1,000 shoppers.
We did a bit of research and suggest that you top off your Manolo hay-day with a weekend at Winvian Farm. The property is a five star, Relais & Chateaux resort that includes 18 individually-designed resort cottages, a luxury spa, a five-star farm-to-table restaurant and an extensive wine cellar. For reservations, contact Steele Luxury Travel and receive a free upgrade, complementary breakfast, a spa credit and lots of other special perks.
Here’s to sample sale priced Manolos and a beautiful Fall weekend!
Manolo Blahnik Sample Sale
Saturday, November 14
9am to 4pm
85 Lawler Road (in the UConn School of Social Work)
West Hartford, CT
Cash & credit cards accepted
Gucci is hosting an invitation only sample sale at Soiffer Haskin. The sale, which runs through Sunday includes employees, press and friends and family.
As of 4am this morning there was already a line of more than 50 people standing in the chilly fall rain. Employees who were given early access to shop on Wednesday say that prices are nearly 90% off on many items. “There is an amazing assortment of shoes and loafers,” said one sale attendee. The selection of bags is pretty “spectacular” too with prices starting at just $100.
We are told that Gucci employees submitted their invitation lists two weeks ago. So we don’t even know if it would help to start harassing your friend’s friend who used to work at Gucci.
There are rumors that the sale will open to the public but after the Hermes fiasco, we imagine that organizers will be squeamish about attracting large crowds. We are waiting for confirmation and will update this post as soon as we hear back. You can follow along on Instagram for up-to-the-minute updates.
In the meantime, we hear that shoppers are swarming Barneys for the 10am launch of the newest Yeezy collection. If you had lunch plans at Fred’s you might want to consider an alternitive.
Gucci Private Sample Sale
Thursday, October 29th through Sunday, November 1
Thurs-Sat 9am-6:60pm, Sun 10am-2pm
317 W. 33rd St. (Soiffer Haskin)
The Balmain collection for H&M is slated to go live on November 5th and the buzz is huge. We wouldn’t be surprised if this launch is akin to the madness of the collaboration launch between Lagerfeld and the mega-store.
Prices of the collection start at $35 for tees and goes all the way up to $550 for a more ornate dress. (You can click here to go to Racked and see the full collection and prices.) Before you consider making a major investment in Balmain-style clothing we thought we would be wise to track down bonafide Balmain that’s on sale.
Over on Yoox we found some Balmain items reduced 80%. This graphic tee is $143 from $716, a blazer is $856 from $1861 and heels are $655 from almost $1200. From the worldwide boutique, FarFetch, there is a chevron pattern skirt that’s $500 from $1230 and pants are reduced by half and are now $642.
Even Neiman Marcus has a few Balmain pieces reduced up to 60% off.
If these prices are still too steep for you, pre-owned and vintage is always a good alternative. Remember that not everything on resale sites is used. On TheRealReal we found these jeans that still have the tags and are priced at $200 and this skirt with tags comes to $640 from a retail value of almost $2300.
On eBay Balmain x HM items are already posted at several times their prices. This crystal blazer is priced at $2000 and the iconic mini-dress is $1700. Alternatively, you can side step the HM items and snag these pants from off the runway for $600 from $2800 or a sweater for $200.
We would prefer any of these options rather than go through the trouble of hiring a line-waiter or –heaven forbid– waiting in line ourselves. After all, isn’t one piece of authentic Balmain worth more than several pieces of a designer imposter?
This sale hasn’t been promoted yet. That means it’s the perfect time to start cherry picking before the crowds start snapping up everything in your size.
Over the weekend Saks Fifth Avenue started a clearance sale where a selection of reduced merchandise is eligible for an additional 20% off. Most of the selection looks as if it’s from this past summer’s collection but the discounts top 75% in some instances, making it worth checking out.
The prices are reflected as marked. These discounts are available through Monday and then prices go back up. At least, until the next weekend when they run a summer clearance sale.
We’ve already established that the Hermes sample sale has turned into a disaster and is best to be avoided. On the bright side, there are lots of other store discounts and sample sales. Below is a list of our favorite upcoming sales and promotions.
Feel free to add any we missed in the comments below or follow along on Instagram for updates.
Scoop Friends & Family Sale
Save 25% off full priced merchandise online and in stores. Sale runs through Tuesday, October 27. Exclusions include 3.1 Phillip Lim, Missoni, Helmut Lang, IRO and Rag & Bone shoes.
Cynthia Rowley
Head to the village, or as we like to call it ‘Marc Jacobs Way’ to find huge discounts on the designer’s girly fashions. Merchandise is reduced up to 75% off retail prices on women’s ready-to-wear apparel, accessories and one-of-a-kind samples. Thursday, October 22nd through Sunday, October 25th 10am—8pm daily 376 Bleecker St between Charles and Perry
Duckie Brown
Men can capture some real samples at the Duckie Brown sample sale. Prices will range from 60% to 80% off retail. A baseball jacket will be $200 from $650, cotton shirts will be $100 from $400 and a pocket jacket will be $300 from $1200. There will be open stock too but we suggest heading to this sale early because there is only one of each sample. Typically, a men’s sample sizes are a 40 jacket, 32 waist trouser and a medium size shirt. Saturday, October 24th through Sunday, October 25th Sat 10am—5pm, Sun 12pm—5pm 321 W 13th St $3A (btwn 8th Ave & Hudson)
C&C Children’s Sample and Stock
The showroom carries popular brands like ADD Down, Aletta, Eddie Pen, Loredana, Imps & Elfs, and Val & Max, is hosting a sale where prices will be under wholesale. The sale begins Monday and runs through Wednesday. Expect to find prices 50% to 90% off retail. Sizes range from zero to 16. Monday, October 26 through Wednesday, October 28 9am to 5pm daily 12 West 32nd Street, 9th FL
The Hermes sale opened to the public today and drew the biggest sample sale crowd EVER. Some shoppers waited 8.5 hours and were turned away when sale organizers told them to go home at 5:15pm.
“We were the first people on the line and we got there at 1am,” says Robert Samuel, the owner of the line-waiting service Same Old Line Dudes. After three years in the business Samuel agrees that this was the longest shopping line ever. “It was like the iPhone line from hell.” In addition to Samuel’s video above, he sent us a montage of pictures that can be viewed in the link here.
At one point the queue spanned the equivalent of six blocks– 33rd Street West to 9th Avenue, across the span of the post office and back around there-quarters of the way to 8th Avenue. Samuel had 12 of his staff waiting in line throughout the day and was on-site keeping track of the situation. He estimated that only 50 people were being admitted at one time and it took about an hour for each group to be let in.
One Madison Avenue Spy reader wrote to tell us that she used one of her four vacation days and waited for over 8 hours. She was heartbroken not to have gotten into the sale. “The people manning the line throughout did not communicate any time expectations or that they would be shutting down early,” says the self proclaimed Hermes fanatic.
“I’m a huge Hermes collector and wear a different scarf and bracelet everyday. This requires me to save all my discretionary $$ so the annual sale is something I look forward to all year,” she wrote. “My husband had also given me the go ahead to buy my xmas gift and I was hoping to find some great boots and a cashmere and silk sweater.”
Samuel says that one woman standing in line admitted to taking her last vacation day of the year to attend the sale. She left the line crying after waiting several hours.
We reached out to Soiffer Haskin, the organizers of the Hermes sale, but didn’t receive a reply.
Despite the exorbitant wait times, we are told that the entire process was orderly and emotions were held in check. Shoppers who did get into the sale early in the day report that supplies were already diminished.
Despite rumors to the contrary, we hear reports that there will be no restocking. Samuel says that several of his guys are already booked for tomorrow morning. His plan is to get there at 4am and “swap out” at 7am.
Our advice is to skip the sale. If this event continues to draw huge crowds, organizers are going to have to implement an appointment system. For now though, Hermes lovers are better off planning a trip to Paris. Prices along with the currency conversion will afford you a savings of about 40%.
Feel free to follow along and share comments and questions on Instagram and in the comment section below.
Hermes Sample Sale
Thursday, October 22nd through Saturday, October 24th
Thurs & Fri 9am-7pm, Sat 9am-6pm
Soiffer Haskin: 317 W. 33rd St. (near 8th Ave.)
