June 2014 | Le Hoarder
Le Hoarder

A NYC -ish* Style and Shopping Blog

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

They're real and they're spectacular! My first Chanel bracelets :)

Not sure if you saw my teaser on my shoppinggalnyc Facebook page...

Took this pic in the Express dressing room - they have 40% off clearance right now. Got a cute skirt.

And for those who couldn't figure out what rhymes with Michelle...

Yep, it's Chanel :)

I reported last week about the pre-sale at Neiman Marcus and made the mistake of skipping it. I saw some pics of what others scored and had to take a look this morning. The few bags/wallets they had left were unimpressive but they had a tray of cheap jewelry (all gone now, sorry). Most was 30% off but I found a few pieces marked 75% off!!! These were my finds:

This glitter camellia cuff totally works with my $2 thrifted bracelets that I was wearing. As always, I have on my Crocs sexi-flips. I'm all about high-low mixing :)




I also got these two cute bangles - one with pearls and the other with rhinestones.


These are my first pieces of Chanel jewelry and I'm so excited!

Neiman Marcus also has an extra 25% off clearance in the shoe department - not including Chanel or Louboutin. Spotted these pretties in my size but I'm waiting for another markdown.

I love pointy shoes.


I just wanted to take a moment to clarify something for my new readers or those of you who don't know me. I am a personal shopper and wardrobe stylist. I'm actually a Certified Image Consultant but I usually keep that under wraps because it sounds so stuffy LOL. I was born with the fashion gene and I love to shop. I'm pretty good at finding the best deals out there (especially on a shoestring budget). I've dressed and built wardrobes for girls/women in size 0 thru 24+ and I'm pretty good at it, just ask any of my customers or friends. I take great pride in my work. Sometimes I share my intel and sometimes I don't. The point of my blog isn't just to show you all my amazing deals - it's to show you what I'm capable of - and why you should hire me :)

Shoppinggal
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Saturday, June 21, 2014

And now for the rest of my week...


Happy first day of summer everyone! I sliced open a watermelon the other day and this is what I found - isn't it beautiful?



We had such a brutal winter (and spring) that it's nice to finally be able to go out in a cute dress and sandals. My "uniform" has evolved to a (usually thrifted or Rack) dress and my Crocs Sexi Flips - yes that's their name LOL. I have them in black and bronze. I know a lot of people can't handle flip flops or anything between their toes but if you can, these are the perfect everyday shoe. They are light as air and easy to tote in your bag (when you've had enough of your heels). And unlike my Reef flip flops, they don't turn my feet black.



On Crocs.com they retail for $29.99 and are buy one get one half off - so they come out to $22.50 with free ship for 2 pairs. Don't forget Ebates or Fatwallet for an extra 4% back. I got mine in the winter when they were on sale for $14.99 each :)

Tonight I just ordered a pair in Dahlia (purple) from Kohls for just $13.97 plus 6% cashback from Ebates. This deal only works if you have a Kohls charge card  - which I got for deals just like this :)


This color only is on sale for $19.97 before the additional discounts. They have other colors on sale but not as cheap. During checkout, apply coupon code GREAT30 for the 30% off discount and free shipping with coupon code FREEMVC. Again these codes only work with a Kohls card.

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I started the week with a bang with my City adventure but I had to take it easy for the past few days. Between my new diet and increased exercise I've been pretty wiped. Plus my kids finished school this week and it's harder to do what I do with them. That didn't stop me from finding a few goodies despite my extra "baggage" in tow.

I stopped into H&M to finally return a bunch of the sale pieces that didn't work for me. Naturally I re-checked the sale racks and came home with the following:

Black high-waisted skirt with suspenders, just $5.


Black knit dress with suspenders - great midi length.

Just $5 so I got two LOL

Not sure what I'm going to do with this piece but for $30 from $349, I figure I can always Ebay it.





Big Bird's kid sister.

I spotted this jeweled top and I really wanted to love it but the fit was off for me :(



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On the Rack front I found a few interesting designer pieces this week. I'm been trying to rebuild my wardrobe with edgy designer pieces to mix with my discounted and thrifted goods.

This Marni top caught my eye - and the price was hard to beat. I'm not 100% sure but the good thing about the Rack is that I have 90 days to think about it. It was 92% off, $79.90 from $970.









Stock photo


One of my SILs keeps taking about a Dolce & Gabbana dress that one of her friends has. I've repeatedly asked her to send me a pic so I can track one down for her. Fashion detective is one of my favorite pastimes :) This dress must have been returned recently as I remember it from a few months ago so I took a chance and scanned it with my iPad using the Nordstrom Rack Stores app and it came up cheaper than marked so I grabbed it. It retailed for $1875 and I got it for less than $300. Unfortunately I'm not sure this one will fit my SIL - it's a size 38, which is a US 2 and she's thin but I think she takes a 6 for her broad shoulders. So if you're a 2 and you're interested, contact me.








And then there is just something about this 80% off Balmain denim and leather jacket. When I saw it I had a feeling I'd seen it on a celeb before - maybe a Kardashian...

Pierre Balmain jacket, retail $915.

When I googled it I saw it on him. Ugh.


So as of now I have the same "cool" jacket as the Biebs. Pretty sure this piece isn't unisex. I wanna know who put a girl's jacket on him.


Cute, right?

I've been checking out the sale racks too. The trick to look through everything as they wheel it out - that's how I've been finding some of my best deals of late. 

This top is cute, right? Even cuter for $2.49!



Sometimes I need a little more coverage for when I see my super modest mom. For $12.97 this seemed like a fun "tzniut" (means modest in Hebrew) top. Plus she hates when I just throw a cardi over my sleeveless or short sleeve dress - she knows I'm just going to pull it off at some point LOL.



Front may be all covered but I get to show some personality in the back :)

The Rack had markdowns on accessories this week. Lot's of pieces for under $3. Found these cute studded purple stretch bracelets for $1.49 each.



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I popped into Century 21 to check on the status of the upcoming sales. I was greeted by a rack of Prada :)

Hello, lovelies :)


As I proceeded I began to notice all the pay half signs :) I stopped when I saw the Zac Posen dresses. Most were marked down to $300-500. When things hit 75% off (goes as high as 90% off at C21!) I'm going to revisit that T-stand.



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And last but not least I hit the thrift store with all three kids to treasure hunt. Kids filled up the cart with lots of toys, books and clothing - it took almost an hour of negotiating to edit down to one toy per kid. My 9 year old son found the box set of the Hunger Games for just $6 and started reading on the spot. He literally plopped himself down on the dirty floor and started to read LOL.

Here are the girl pieces we took home. Everything but blue and red tickets were half off. Of course most of what I took was red.

Clockwise from top left; Un Deux Trois dress $4, Bobs shoes $3, Justice dress $4, Gap skirt $4, Gymboree Equestrian Club cap $2, American Girl McKenna dress $4, Fit flops for DD $10, swim top (brand tag cut off) $1.50

If you're an American Girl doll fan you should be able to identify the dress in the middle :) My daughter got McKenna for her 5th birthday from my brothers. It's one of her favorite AG dolls and now she has the dress to match! When we found it I think we both may have screamed a little.




This dress retailed for $60 (not including the leggings) and we got it (in her size!) for just $4. And that's why I thrift :)

For myself I grabbed this cute bracelet for $1, These BCBG Max Azria jeweled flats for $3 (a little big so if I can't pad them I'll pass them on to my bigger footed SIL or sis) and this AX Armani dress for $15 (half price). The size was covered by the sensor so it wasn't until I got it home that I realized it was an XS. That would explain why it was a little snug (but wearable) across the chest and super short. This store has mirrors in the back and no dressing room so I have to try things on over my clothing. If it's a little snug I figure it's okay because if I buy it I probably won't be wearing it on top of another dress.



$15, half price for Armani!

Close up of bracelet

I saw this large Big Buddha bag for $15 and it reminded me of my SIL. I think this is the 5th bag I've purchased for her this year LOL.



My favorite thrift store my not be as cheap as your thrift stores but it always has nice stuff and I rarely leave empty handed. I'm all about shopping efficiency. I actually made business cards for my personal shopping business years ago and I called it Fashion Efficiency LOL. I want to go to a place where I know I'm going to score. At any given time I have a handful of favorite stores and I shop there frequently. That's how you find the good stuff. I focus my time on these places and more often than not, it pays off. Don't get me wrong, I'm always willing to scout for a new location in case one of my favorites run dry (it has happened...) but my #1 rule of thrifting is go where you know :)

For those of you who work all week be sure to get out and shop some of the killer sales going on (H&M, Zara, most designer & departments stores...) I shop all week so I'll be taking it easy with the fam. Either way, enjoy the rest of your weekend!
-Shoppinggal



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Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Yosca sample sale haul and City finds :)

We have a winner! Congrats Nancy S. on winning my first giveaway. I'll have your package in the mail tomorrow :)

After living in Manhattan for 14 years, it's been an adjustment moving to the burbs. NJ isn't that bad (I'm right over the bridge and can be in NYC in minutes) but several times a month I need a "fix" and head into the City. I've been going to Gerard Yosca's sample sale for YEARS and have followed him to several showrooms. I got married about 12 years ago and wore Yosca earrings and hairpins at my wedding - it's gotta be 15-16 years now that I've been a Yosca fan.

I got in a little early so I popped into H&M by 34th and 7th. Another reason to leave the suburbs to shop. H&M has much better stuff in the City! I find an occasional collection piece on markdown by me (I did score a $350 top marked down to $30 yesterday locally) but they had racks and racks of the good stuff on sale! If I had more time I probably should have headed to 5th too.

Here are a few silhouettes that caught my eye and I'll be patiently waiting for them on the sale racks :)






I grabbed a few things and headed to the dressing room. When I saw this dress I fell in love. It's so romantic and the shape is very flattering. Thing is, it's completely sheer. I asked the dressing room attendant if it was missing the lining and she said this was how it came. When I asked her how to style it, she said to wear it sheer as a swim cover or with a slip. So now I need a black slip...

ETA - decided to return it. I tried several dresses under and nothing worked :(






I was in such a rush to get to the sample sale that I ran out of the dressing room with my dress inside out. Luckily I figured it out at the checkout and ran back to the fitting room to fix it. A couple people said "I was going to tell you" yet NOBODY did. Thanks people.

I got to Yosca a few minutes early and was there just in time as they opened the door. I checked my bag, grabbed a tray and got started.




My shopping strategy is to load up on past season stuff which is a fraction of the current lines. Then I grab inexpensive pieces for gifts from their lines for stores like Banana Republic. I gave myself a budget of $100 and filled up a tray.




Here are my finds:

Everything in this picture cost $3! I got a few duplicates for gifts :)




These are my silver pieces. I tend to buy 90% gold but I always look for silver for a little diversity. Bracelets were $8 each and necklace was $5.



Mod shot of bracelets stacked

These are my gold chains - plain was $5 and $10 for pearls.





And last but not least, these were my past collection earrings for $20 each. (Current season earrings run for $75-40.) I'm sure you've noticed that I chose a lot of green this time. Had I realized while I was editing I probably would have skipped the ones on the top right, especially because they remind me of my Argento Vivo earrings I just got at TJ Maxx.




There were women grabbing up his collection pieces for $100-$150 left and right. I used to select a special piece and then a few cheap ones but I have so much (I should probably show you guys my jewelry collection one of these days...) that now I just go for the bargains :)

If you're interested the sale is still on tomorrow, 6/18 from 10-16 at 246 West 38th Street. If you have some time it's worth popping in. PLUS tomorrow the Alexis Bittar sample sale (143 W. 19th St.) begins so you can hit both.

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After loading up on jewelry I headed back to H&M to see if I could find anything else. I didn't. I even went to the other 34th Street store and nada. Zara was next door so I peeked in but they don't have a sale right now, and I'll be back when they do :)

I started to head down to 14th Street to visit Nordstrom Rack and I passed by the Rebecca Taylor sample sale (260 5th Ave.) I went in and out in 2 minutes. No samples, all stock for reduced prices which wasn't all that impressive.




I kept walking south and had to pop into Crossroads (24 W 26th St.) to see what they had. Honestly, I have not seen so many beautiful things there in a long time. Unfortunately their air conditioning is broken and it's a sweat house in there. I'm guessing that's why they had so many designer pieces - it's too hot to shop. After 15 minutes of shopping I headed to the dressing room because I had to stop before I passed out. I saw Chanel, Gucci, Pucci, Leger, Burberry - it was insane!

I regret not having them pull this Pucci dress (center) down for me to try on but it was too darn hot and I couldn't think straight.




I did purchase a couple black dresses. Hey, I'm a New Yorker and that's what we wear.

First is a Elizabeth and James dress that I'm guessing is a sample. No size or care tags and the sleeves were insanely long - and I have really long arms. At first I thought it was PVC but when I looked closer I realized it was leather insets. Scored this beauty for $37.50.





I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the back - it's pretty open. I really don't want to wear a layering shell so maybe I'll have a piece put in. When I was taking pics I noticed that the hem fell but I think I like it this way. If I do any alterations I'll shorten the sleeves as well.




I also got this Jessica Simpson dress for $9. I just noticed a belt loop so I guess it's missing a belt. For now it drapes nicely so I'll wait to loose more weight before I belt it. Last week my health conscious brother yelled at me and helped me put together a diet plan. As of Friday I've been eating clean and I increased my workouts. So far, so good. All I can say is that I've been dropping a pound a day :)

ETA - I wore it and it needed to be belted.





By the time I finally made it down to the Rack I only had 10 minutes to shop. They didn't have any designer bags on display and I didn't see any refurb shoes so after a quick stop at the dress racks and the water fountain I headed back to pick up the kids from school.

So that's all folks! A little birdie told me that Chanel at Neiman Marcus is starting their pre-sale Thursday morning. It will probably be 30% off the seasonal bags and jewelry so if you're in the market make sure you are online outside the store by 9 AM. I'm waiting for second markdown before I even hit the stores - I don't want to be tempted by what I can't afford. Plus I think I'm a little dehydrated from today and I should probably take it easy for the next couple days.

Happy shopping!
Shoppinggal
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