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    Madison Avenue Movers

    While you’ve been swimming, sunning and sailing, Madison Avenue boutiques have been shifting and renovating. Last week, The Feast published a wonderful series on what’s new, what’s out and what’s renewing.

    To break it down, Torneau and Joie opened. Tory Burch, Calypso St. Barth, Alain Mikli and Celine are opening. Roberto Cavalli, Solange Azagury-Partridge, Peter Elliot, Theory and Devi Kroell are renovating. Vilebrequin moved. The Bank of New York building was purchased by Marc Jacobs Inc.

    You can bet there are lot more transitions come and we’ll be scoping it out all month long.

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    Alexander Wang Sale Review

    The famous Erin Jeen gives us a first hand account of the Alexander Wang sample sale: You can continue to follow Erin’s shopping exploits on Twitter @ErinJeen.

    I couldn’t be more excited waking up this morning. I decided to get up bright and early–9:30am–to head down to SoHo and prepare for hours in line, with hopes of snagging some amazing deals. The sale is known to be epic, with deals ranging up to 90% off. The sale was not supposed to be open to the public until 3pm today. To my surprise I waltzed right in the sale.

    I headed straight downstairs for the bags. There were three maroon Darcy bags going for $350. I was quite tempted but I’ve been saving for a Celine Luggage Tote!. There were a few Brendas going for $300 and Jade Trunk wristlets in white for $250. This was quite the bag selection considering the lack of nice bags at past sales. I was even more amazed at the plentiful assortment of shoes ranging from $170 to $300 and they had more than one size of each, unlike at past sales.

    While i was sorting through the women’s selections, my boyfriend was canvasing the menswear section. T by Alexander Wang items started at $35. He really made out– scoring shirts, sweatpants and a pair of cargo shorts for $225. Men, this sale definitely a go! There were leather paneled varsity jackets, but they were a bit pricey.

    I then found myself over 15 pieces in hand: a pair of leather shorts screamed at me, and for $200 I couldn’t resist. There was a nice amount of leather vests and leather blazers for $240 and $350 respectively. One thing you can always say about this sale is that they have quite the stock. Girls are on hand in the fitting rooms and willing to check in the back to see if your size is available. RTW ranged from $60 to $260, with most items from $120 to $200. They have complete looks on hand, so review the runway before you shop.

    I completed my journey in the T by Alexander Wang section with prices of either $35, $60 or $100, most being $60. There are adorable long black and grey maxi dresses for $60. I spotted lots of shorts going for $60, some were silk. I was disappointed in the lack of basic tees and tanks.

    The sale is AWESOME, but also notorious for crazy markdowns. My advice is to go now if you want a bag or shoes, and maybe hold off on the more expensive ready-to-wear. Also, the lines right now are ridiculous.

    Alexander Wang Sample Sale
    97 Greene St btw Prince & Spring
    Wed 3pm-8pm, Thurs-Sat 10am-7pm, Sun 10am-4pm
    Credit cards accepted on purchases over $200

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    Gap Friends & Family

    Gap has so many sales it makes you want to kick yourself when you make a full price purchase. It’s much better to anticipate your future needs and shop during a good promotion.

    Speaking of good Gap promotions, the company is offering customers 30% off for friends and family. The sale runs from Thursday, August 4 through Sunday, August 7th.

    Looking for ideas on what to buy? Madison Avenue prep-school moms swear by the uniform basics. We often proselytize about the 1969 jeans collection and have given up all other brands. Perhaps throw out all your socks and start fresh. After all, you know those mates weren’t showing up anyway.

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    Alexander Wang Sample Sale

    It’s officially August, which means the Alexander Wang sample sale is under way. The sale officially starts this week but if past experience is indicative of future discounts we know that the shopping will be great.

    The sale always begins with press and employee shopping and opens to the public in the mid-afternoon. That means that the chances of finding a $300 Darcy or $250 Rocco are quite slim. If you really want to catch the good stuff we suggest going early. We will let the definition of early remain vague.

    If you can’t make it to the sale at the “start” we suggest you set your attention to the “real” samples, which have been found for as little as $10 and basics from T by Alexander Wang that have started at $20. Dresses from the designer collection started at $140.

    At the last sale, the promotional materials touted prices up to 80% off. This season, the flier says prices will be up to 70% off. That slight change may indicated that the discount might not be as good as prior seasons. At least, you can always depend on the price cut that comes as the sale progresses.

    Alexander Wang Sample Sale
    Wednesday, August 3 to Sunday, August 7
    Wed 3pm – 7pm, Thurs-Fri 10am to 7pm, Sunday 10am to 4pm
    97 Greene Street (Btwn Prince & Spring)
    Credit Cards accepted for purchases above $200

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    Christian Siriano Sample Sale

    By: ManhattanMataHari

    Fans of Project Runway winner, Christian Siriano will be thrilled to learn that the reality show designer is hosting his first sample sale. The one-day sale serves up fiercely fashionable pieces at a fraction of the retail price.

    We went to the sale early today to preview the merchandise and found the best deals on Christian Siriano’s sample rack. Chiffon tops started at $40 and dresses were $65. On the racks of Siriano’s ready-to-wear, we found wool-cashmere blend coats for $400 and textured silk skirts for $150. There were a number of cute cocktail dresses with ruffles and draping details for $375. The pricing for separates pricing for pants ($150), blouses ($200) and jackets ($275) may be hard to justify since most of the designs aren’t exactly practical for everyday wear.

    In addition to Siriano’s closeouts, the sale includes samples and overstock from designers Lyn Devon and Karolina Zmarlak. At the time we previewed the sale, Zmarlak had not set up her fashion but we did find a lot of great deals from Devon.

    We spotted a number of Lyn’s pieces from the spring 2011 collection and samples from her current (or not yet in stores) fall 2011 collection. Our picks were a lovely burgundy leather skirt for $125, classic lightweight knits (in black, green, blue, and pink) made of Loro Piana fabric for $75 and the “Ella” dresses in a variety of fabrics for $275. Lyn’s dresses normally run about $1000 at department stores, so we are going to consider $275 a great bargain.

    Christian Siriano, Lyn Devon and Karolina Zmarlak Sample Sale
    Friday, July 29th
    8am to 6pm
    463 Broome St near Greene and Mercer Sts, suite 1B (downstairs)

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    Intermix Extra 40% Off

    By: TJKennedy

    We may have officially reached the dead of summer, but the sale at Intermix is still alive and well. The back section of the store is dedicated to sale merchandise which is an additional 40% off and includes an array of white flowing dresses and colorful jeans.

    Tank tops range from $49 to $120, the most expensive being a pale pink silk top by the new addition to the store, Theyskens Theory. Blouses that were usually $220 were down to $100 and long maxi dressed were down to $108 from $300. Knit tops by Theory were plentiful and range from $78 to $149.

    One of our favorite pieces was a printed fringe Z Spoke dress that retails for $450, discounted to $180. Tons of cropped jeans in a plethora of colors filled the racks by J Brand, Rag & Bone, and Current/Elliot, all around $70. There were a few select sizes of high waisted, wide leg jeans by J Brand marked at $80.

    There were silk scarves for $99 and about 10 styles of shoes by the likes of Sergio Rossi, Pour La Victoire, and Brian Atwood. The only flats were a couple pair of bedazzled flip flops by Giuseppe Zanotti. The one tray of jewelry was slightly disappointing but pieces ranged from $25 up to $115. Cut off shorts were only around $60– why do it yourself when you can buy a perfectly symmetrical pair to throw in your weekend beach bag.

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    Milly Markdown

    The Milly boutique is offering customers a modest summer savings off most items. Milly Minis, the brand’s adorable children’s line is 30% off and women’s clothing is 40% off. Jewelry is discounted 30% and the store is also offering an additional 30% off these items for a total discount of about 50% off.

    With a bit of searching, you can find many of the same flirty items on sale at Saks for 60% off. For instance, on Saks online we found the combo bustier dress for $150 but it’s still $225 at the boutique. A Milly Minis party dress is $97 at Saks but $135 at the store.

    Sizes are running low at both stores. That bustier dress is only available in a size 12 at Saks online and the boutique only has a size 0. If you’re in between, you may have to do a bit more legwork.

    Jen 212-395-9100

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    Tom Ford Half Off

    There were a lot of firsts at Tom Ford this season. The master of sexy launched his first women’s collection under his own label. The collection was presented in London to a small group of privleged a-list celebrities, fashion insiders and selected press. Unlike most fashions shows, there were no photographers and no pictures of the collection were circlulated to the media.

    Depending on your perspective, this marketing ploy may have backfired. Without images and press hype, customers were never given the chance to explore the collection and become comfotable with spending thousands of dollars on a single piece of fashion. Shopkeepers and boutique managers swore up and down that the “maiden collection” would not be marked down. But we knew better…

    Guess what? The collection is now 50% off!

    For the first time, the entire Tom Ford women’s collection is now 50% off. That includes shoes, bags, jewelry and clothing. Unlike the men’s collection there is still a lot of merchandise from which to choose. For those who have not shopped the Madison Avenue boutique, shoes are regularly priced at about $1000, bags at about $3500 and clothes are $1500 plus.

    Unfortunatly, we still can’t find pictures of some of the best pieces of the collection. For now, we will just have to wait until our shipment arrives and post pictures later. At least we can enjoy the fact that our fashionable purchases haven’t been overexposed. Now that’s another first we can enjoy!

    Diane: 212-359-0300

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