By ManhattanMataHari
A change in ownership almost always means a change in sale strategy and Richard Perry’s purchase of Barneys is no different. Official word is that Barneys will no longer extend the bi-annual warehouse sale to women’s merchandise–we doubt it. Brands like Alaia would pull their merchandise if it ever showed up on BarneysWarehouse.com. Hence, there will always be a place for a good old-fashioned sale.
Enough with our hypotheses and onto sale talk. Unfortunately, you will need to work harder than ever to find great deals at this sale. Starting in shoes, we couldn’t help but notice vast amount of CO-OP leftovers from the previous few warehouse sales. The markdown for the high-end designer shoes is still just around 50% off retail and “irregulars” are 70% – but they are likely to be worn or damaged. The smaller and larger sizes have the best picks. There are no iconic styles but we did find $1200 Prada snakeskin sandals for $598, $865 hot pink snakeskin Manolo pumps for $349, and $1175 Chloe boots for $469. There were smaller numbers or one of each pair of Rochas, Theysken’s Theory, Jil Sander, Hader Ackermann, Pierre Hardy, Marni, Fendi, Derek Lam, Alexander Wang and Balenciaga. By contrast, the online sale has a number of popular styles including Yves Saint Laurent Tribute and Tribtoos, Sergio Rossi platform pumps, and Miu Miu’s glitter peep toe pump all around 60% off retail.
After our underwhelming experience in shoes, we were pleasantly surprised by the accessories tables that were actually better stocked than sales past. Expect to find lots of Marc by Marc Jacobs iPhone (3G) and old iPad cases, as well as some Prada printed iPad cases for $149. The scarves are also plentiful and include some Etro style for $319 and Dries van Noten for $299. The belts selection really stole our attention with all Alaia corset belts in black and white that ranged in price from $359 to $479. 3.1 Phillip Lim and Ralph Lauren collection belts rounded out the selection but were still a bit pricey in the $120 to $160 range.
Honestly, the clothing racks are pretty terrible. It is mostly CO-OP, diffusion lines and contemporary designers. With some searching you can find better labels only to be disappointed later when you see the damages. On the high-end we found a Boudicca cap sleeve sheath dress for $569 from $919, a multicolor wool Jil Sander number is $709, a brocade Zac Posen dress is $349 and a bright red L’Wren Scott dress is $679.We also found an A.L.C. orange silk shirtdress for $319 from $794, and a Diane von Furstenburg colorblock dress for $209 from $345. Our favorite finds were a Thakoon Addition for Barney’s blue silk dress for $219 from $550 and an awesome Rodarte top for $919. The best items were often those without price tags on them.
Additional markdowns should happen later this week and the last few days of the sale will have the best discounts. We don’t anticipate much to be left by then but maybe there will be a few items without price tags that go unnoticed.
Barney’s Warehouse Sale
255 West 17th street (between 7th and 8th Avenue)
Monday, February 18 – Friday, February 22: 10am – 9pm
Saturday, February 23 – Sunday, February 24: 9am – 8pm
