By ManhattanMataHari
Usually the thought of shopping at the downtown Century 21 fills us with dread. A renovation has turned the formerly cramped chaotic floorspace into a much more pleasant shopping experience, taking the edge off from dealing with pushy tourists.
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Be sure to stop in at the new sunglasses display on the first floor where there are a whole slew of $130 Tom Ford (in mainly one aviator-esque style) along with over sized $100 Chloe, $120 Tod’s, as well as less expensive Marc Jacobs, Dolce & Gabbana and Versace.
Head upstairs to the women’s floor and you will find lots of popular wool Missoni scarves for just $79. All silk scarves are still kept in the glass display which has been relocated. Classic large Pucci scarves are $130, but we also noticed some smaller silk versions for $49.
On to the clothing, nearly everything in the European Designer area is on clearance with the exception of some new arrivals racks replete with loads of Lanvin (with some pieces marked as exclusives for RTW Charleston), Cacharel, Rochas and Derek Lam.
Just because the shopping layout is better doesn’t mean you will get to avoid picking through the sales racks. However, with some time and determination you will be rewarded with great finds like a $480 Jason Wu black and red lace dress or a Stella McCartney frock just over $500. We found Carven dresses for about $175, a $282 Balenciaga, and a great little black Celine dress came out to $268. It was quite surprising to find some $289 Agnona for Bergdorf Goodman “exclusive” dresses. There are also lots of diffusion lines like McQ, See by Chloe, Moschino Cheap and Chic and Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti.
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Shoe addicts should definitely head downstairs since there are discounted Missoni, Manolo Blahnik, Casadei, Lanvin, Oscar de la Renta, Dolce and Gabbana, and Tory Burch heels all 25% to 30% off the already discounted Century 21 prices. Oscar’s heels were heavily discounted at a top 65% off. Our favorite finds were $188 metallic leather Blahnik D’Orsays and black and jewel adorned Lanvin ballet flats for $268.
With the much improved shopping experience now we can actually look forward to heading downtown for our bargain hunting!
