For the past couple weeks Century 21 has had 90% off finds hiding all over the store. Last time it took longer to hit 90% from 70% off so I didn't know to look so soon. Again, most of the good stuff was transferred out of the store but they still had bits and pieces to hunt for :) Some were tagged and some weren't. They don't have a scanner in the store so after my 15th trip to the register an employee finally clued me in what to look for on the tags.
As always, lets start with the shoes I teased on Instagram :) I know these pale in comparison with my new Tamara Mellons, but these French Connection Ivy Sandals that I scored for $8 are pretty darn cute. If you look at the code on the tag you'll note number "14" - most of the sale shoes were 14.
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| French Connection Ivy Sandals, retail $150 |
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| Frank Sarto Unify Sandals, retail $99.99 |
Scored these Kelsi Dagger Nuevo flats for $5 as well - I got myself a 9 and a 9.5 for her.
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| Kelsi Dagger Nuevo flats, retail $100 |
These Jil Sander Navy platform wedges were just $14. They are a little dingy but I have a hard time passing up cheap designer shoes. They remind me of the chunky sandals I used to wear 15/20 years ago. I was thinking of turning them into a DIY project - maybe painting or strassing them...
In addition to shoes they had a small rack of 90% off clothing in the women's section that I checked daily for returns. My most spectacular find (there were a few...) was this Zac Posen sequined skirt that they were selling for $899.99 - I had a $20 reward that I used and this $2790 skirt came out to just under $70. Pretty awesome.
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| closeup of pattern |
I tried to look it up online and I couldn't seem to find it anywhere. I wonder if it was a sample. I'd like to see how Zac Posen styled it so I'm going to contact them and see if they could send me a picture from a show or lookbook. I figure with basic black I can't go wrong but I always like to see how the designer envisioned it before I try to make it my own. It's missing a sequin here or there and it's either the ugliest or the most beautiful piece you've even seen. The jury's still out on that one.
That magic rack has since disappeared but last week I still spied a few sale shoes that were not my taste. As always, it's worth a look.
I also found a few 90% off belts for under $2 each. Not as cute as my belts from last sale but cheap is always good.
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| Top to bottom, Vince Camuto $1.98, Calvin Klein $1.78 x2, Ivanka Trump $1.98 |
Kids and Mens departments were marked down at the Rack last week so I hunted down a couple penny finds. I always feel like a failure when I walk out empty handed LOL.
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| Jenna & Jessie and Joe's Jeans |
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NY Fashion Week started up this week and for the first time in years I was invited to the Nelson Tavarez fashion presentation by Cliff, an amazing makeup artist I met a while back. He did all the makeup for the show so he got me on the list - and I wasn't going to turn down an opportunity to play dress up :)
I pulled out my $80 (75% off from Century) Costume National dress, Yosca sample sale cuff and earrings, my $10 Zara leather clutch and my trusty Jimmy Choo Pekabo $90 sample sale sandals - I figured it was the last time I could take them out for a spin this season. In hindsight I wish I went with my new $8 French Connection shoes - they would have given the outfit an edgier vibe.
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| Costume National dress, retail $1190 |
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| Jimmy Choo Pekabo, retail $595 |
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| Zara cracked leather rolled clutch from sale, retail $90 |
Time for one of my rare selfies. Please ignore the mess all over my nieces apartment. I later took down my hair but I kept it up for as long as I could because it was so hot that night that my makeup literally melted off. No joke.
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| Closeup of the dress - pardon the spots on the mirror. |
I now have two gorgeous nieces living in the City so you'll be seeing a lot of them and their messy apartment. I dragged "T" along and gave her a taste of NYC living. Plus I like hanging out with them - keeps me young. This week my 28 year old brother came to Nordstrom Rack with me and one of the sales associates thought he was was my son. I would have had to have been 11 years old and pregnant for that to be true. She later insisted it was because he looks 16. I still haven't quite forgiven her.
Anyway when I walked in to T's apartment, she was adorably, but casually dressed in a button down and A-line midi skirt with a neutral wedge sandals. Luckily I had a few tricks up my sleeve. I pulled out these Casadei silver sandals that I scored at Century for 90% off - they were a whopping 26 bucks!
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| I forgot to take a pic of the tag before I gave them to her so she later took a quick pic with her phone and send it to me. Note it's marked 1/3 off but they rang up 90% :) |
I worked her outfit around them - I went to her closet and grabbed her bejeweled navy chiffon pleated skirt and luckily she had a lightweight navy sweater to kinda match. It just occurred to me we could have paired it with the $1 denim shirt I found (and gave her) from Nordstrom Rack a little while back. We borrowed her sister's chunky watch (she doesn't own any fun jewelry...yet) and off we went.
This was my favorite look for the show. I just like how wearable and cool she looks. And I'm a NY girl - I love a little black dress.
Afterwards we walked down to meet up with my other niece who had just finished class. Feeling touristy we took a couple pics and had a NY moment.
We ended our evening by going out to eat at Colbeh on 39th street and it was beautiful - I've only ever been the the one in Queens years ago and it wasn't much to look at. I also get bored with food easily so I'm always looking for new flavors.
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| Pretty wall @Colbeh |
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And on a far less sexy note, I randomly popped into CVS to print out pics of my daughter for school and I noticed a few 75% off clearance tags in the store. Back in my couponing days I frequented CVS and always walked out with several bagfulls for pocket change. I'm still living off my stockpile from 5 years ago LOL. A single trip could take a couple hours of planning, collecting and cutting coupons, etc. These days I really only do specific couponing deals as I'd rather spend my time fashion hunting.
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| Yes, the dates were good - one was for 12/15 and the other 3/16 |
I also noticed the summer clearance hit 75% as well.
On the Target front, as of last week school supplies hit 30-50% off. Keep an eye out in the back to college dorm stuff isles. I've picked up desk chairs, bedding and the like for 70% off in years past. A couple years ago I missed out on a mini fridge - I decided if I find one this year I'll be taking it home.
And that's all folks :) I heard Zara did another round of markdowns and I may need to pop back in to the Tamara Mellon sample sale (see my report and haul here) to see what's left today. We'll see...
-Happy shopping!
-Shoppinggal
which nordstrom rack do you go to that has a kids dept!
ReplyDeleteHi! Paramus, NJ has a kids department.
DeleteHi! I'm the girl on TPF who went to the Tamara Mellon sample sale because of you :) I was wondering if you could explain how C21's sales work, in a future post or otherwise? I'm guessing they're over for this cycle--I went this morning and almost everything was full price. I'm just moving back to New York after a year away, and the last seven years I was here I was a student/grad student (e.g. way too poor to shop regularly), so C21 is sort of mysterious to me. Are they twice yearly sales? What's the markdown structure?
ReplyDeleteAlso, this may be getting too detailed, but it would be really cool to see how you structure your shopping budget--not necessarily $$ amounts, if you don't feel like sharing, but percentages/proportions of your budget. You do a TON of shopping and don't seem to spend much, which is crazy cool and I would like to be you when I grow up. :)
Aw thanks! I should first explain that as a personal shopper I'm shopping with other peoples money so it's not all for me LOL. For shopping I don't have a budget - I do have numbers in my head for what I think is reasonable for any given item. For example I won't ever spend more than $30 on an H&M dress but I'll easily spend $100 on a $2000 dress that I find at Nordstrom Rack. I know what I can afford and what I can't. I also believe in buying it when you see it (for a great price, of course) so you don't overspend later on when you need it, can't find it on sale and blow your budget... I made a lot of shopping mistakes when I was younger but over the years I've honed my shopping skills to get to where I am today. But I am a little bit of a hoarder and I'm probably not the best role model LOL.
DeleteAs for Century I've been shopping there for years but it's only recently that I starting tracking their sales. The sale seems to happen 2x a year (January and July) - and the sale stuff goes really fast in NYC. People buy it at 1/3 off so I'm guessing not much makes it to 90% off. I've been frequenting the NJ store and I did better at the last sale because this time they switched it up and transferred out a lot of merchandise. It starts out at 1/3 off to 1/2 off to 75% off then 90% if you're lucky. In January it took much longer to hit 90% off but this sale it went quicker but there was much less.
Feel free to ask any questions. Good luck!
Thank you!! That is very informative/helpful. I definitely notice that the stores in NY get picked over VERY quickly. Last year, I lived in the Midwest (Twin Cities) and you could get AMAZING deals, which was a nice consolation prize when I was otherwise dying of frostbite lol. The Tamara sale, tho, was worth coming back to New York for.
DeleteAlso, you are an absolutely amazing personal shopper! Your clients/friends/family are so lucky to have you. And I adore the blog, I read every post! It's so weirdly satisfying to read about all the amazing deals you get. I am a secret hoarder, but I have to be good because of my husband's job (we'll be moving every year for the next three years, having already moved twice in the last two years...no joking matter hauling my shoes lol), so I've managed to keep my spending/hoarding habits down by buying only stuff that I really love, that's very high quality, that's at a very good price. Otherwise our tiny little 400 square foot apartment would just be overflowing with my stuff.
Anyway, I want to add that I also love the way your personality shines through your writing, you're adorable and it's so fun to read your posts. Lots of love and good shopping mojo, and I'll be reading!