I think we all knew that lightning wasn't going to strike twice. Last sale, which was Tamara's first ever, was spectacular. Somehow I didn't hear about it until the end of the first day, but even on day two I still managed to make out like a bandit. For this sale I got myself on their press list to make sure I would not miss out again. I arrived almost an hour early (and first on line LOL) and waited in the bitter cold to get my hands on some of Tamara's goodies :)
You can read my sale report from her last sale
here.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Tamara Mellon, she is the former Chief Creative Officer and co-founder of Jimmy Choo and has since broken away to start her own eponymous line. As a diehard Choo girl I knew I couldn't miss this sale even if the prices went up. If you didn't listen to me when I told you to check out her online sale a week ago you may have made a mistake. I saw most of those shoes at this sale for more. Last sample sale shoes were $50/$55/$75 and this time they were $75/$100/$150. I saw several styles that I purchased last time for double and triple this time.
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Pretty sure I told you to get those yellow Addiction pumps for $50 at her online sale. Just sayin... |
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I spy flats and sandals that I saw online for $35-50... |
Bags also went up. Last time they were $50/$100 and this time they were $125/$200/$400. Those large "Speedate" bags (they had the grommet, leopard and solid black versions) are actually $400.
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The larger bags seen here are $200. |
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All the clutches and small bags are $125. |
However, this time I got to see the samples which were priced at $25 for shoes and just $10 for clothing!!! For sample clothing I saw mostly sizes 0-8 and the sample shoes were 37.5 and 39.5. They had very few sample shoes left when the doors opened and I'm pretty sure I overheard an employee say she took 7-8 pairs...
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Some sample shoes. |
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Sample clothing. Lots of weird jumpsuits for $10. |
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More $10 samples... |
Got these $25 sample booties for my nieces :)
Picked these samples up for me - although I left the white ones because the patent leather was too dirty.
Clothing pricing stayed the same as last sale - $50 for everything but leather and coats which were $100 (although last time I believe the furs were $250). I actually recognized a lot of the clothing from the last sale. The clothing was really the way to go but unfortunately most of it went and the organizers said that they would not be restocking clothing, just shoes (which they had an abundance of - plus plenty of backstock). I did see a lot of movement at the bag table despite the price increase but I do wonder how the increase will affect shoe sales. I saw people buying a pair or two but it wasn't the mad rush like last time when people were buying 10 pairs without blinking an eye.
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Complete price list |
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Blazers and coats - check out the $100 fur bomber jackets on the right. Still a few left... |
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Lots of pants :) |
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Dresses. |
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Tops. |
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More dresses... |
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Rack of $100 leather pieces. |
My favorite find of the night was this $395 grommet belt that I admired online and actually hoped to find. There was only one and they gave it to me for $15!!!!!!! Almost makes up for the $5000 fur coat that I really wanted and missed out on AGAIN. They had only one this time and somehow the lady who came in behind me snapped it up first. Drat.
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ETA this mod shot - I am so obsessed with this belt. |
I'll be sure to model the rest of my finds in upcoming weeks. In the end I took the red sample shoes, a sample yellow blazer, a sample yellow dress, the belt and a leather dress. I may have taken a bag too :)
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My haul! |
Bottom line - it's worth a look. If you're cheap like me head right for the sample area in the back by the dressing room then peruse the ready-to-wear and see if anything works for you.
I'm not sure if I'm going back this week so I won't be able to do any personal shopping for this sale. I did have a few advance requests from clients but I didn't get anything (for them) because the prices were more than I felt they should have been. In the future book me in advance so you don't miss out. The only extra I picked up this time were the cute sample booties for my nieces for $25.
Don't worry, I know I still owe you a report on all my Century 21 90% off finds but I knew you needed this post RIGHT NOW. It's coming...I promise!
Sale runs 2/26 thru 3/1 at 260 5th Ave. - but honestly I don't know what they are even going to have after the first day other than slightly overpriced shoes. Fingers crossed for markdowns and restocking!
Good luck and happy shopping :)
-Shoppinggal
Bless you for this post. Thanks for getting it up so quickly. Looks like maybe I'll check out the bags, the clothes, and one or two of the more interesting pumps. I have been hunting for great flat boots but I guess TM is not the place to find them, lol. Could use a black crossbody bag, looks like they had one of the styles I really like aesthetically, but I grabbed it in tan last time and the freaking clasp on it broke like 6 months in. Darnit.
ReplyDeleteYou are a goddess. Thanks and hope you get some rest! Will be watching instagram for your c21/TM finds!
Hahahaha. Thanks :) Good luck at the sale and LMK what you find!
DeleteIt was awesome! Thanks again for scoping it out for us.
DeleteThe increased prices (plus my huge haul last time!) definitely meant I bought a lot less, but I ended up getting the Pleasure watersnake bag (it's the one directly in front of the sales associate in that one pic of bags where you can see the hands and lower torso of an SA). I think it might be the exact same bag, since I was like 5th through the door this morning and it looks like there was only one in stock by the time you took that pic. I have it in beige from the last sale, as I mentioned, and the durned clasp broke after just a few months of use, but I just love it so hard that I got it anyway. It was supposed to be $200, but they ended up just charging me $150 for it. Since it was $100 last time, that's not the worst price increase ever!
I also got the Caress boots in suede (second boot from the right in your first pic). They retail for $1350 and though boots are pricier this time, I didn't see any non vampy boots last time anyway, and $150 is still a great deal, especially since boots can be challenging for me to find, so I went for it. (My legs aren't actually that thick, about 12 inches around the fattest part of my calf, the problem is I am very short-legged and I think my calf starts much lower than on a taller model-type like yourself, which makes boots an adventure to find.)
In addition, you look sooo good in the submission sandals that I tried them on (while feeling a bit bad that I didn't buy them online when you mentioned them, since they were so cheap!) but in the end I didn't get them. As I said, I am short-legged, and ohmigawd, Michelle, my legs looked like actual sequoia trees. I couldn't get out of them fast enough. So jealous that you look so amazing in them.
Also considered one of those super cool suede purple fringe skirts. Looked pretty good on me, but I had a serious heart to heart with myself and realized I'd pretty much never, ever wear it. You look stunning in that Tom and Linda Platt fringed dress, though, so I'll be keeping an eye out for a slightly better deal. Not that $100 isn't great, but it's still money!
Can't wait to see your finds, both here and at C21.
Btw, was thinking about what you said (either here or on IG) about writing shorter posts. I LOVE the longer posts and the storytelling, so I hope you don't give that up, but have you considered writing shorter posts but more of them? Like instead of writing about your entire sale haul, you do 2-5 items at a time, every day Monday through Friday, at around the same time each day. You can queue up a few posts in advance, too, so if you are busy or are having a slow shopping week you don't have to worry about it.
I used to write the blogs for a medium sized company and the first "lesson" I received from my boss was that we had to produce content every day, consistently, so that readers would come back regularly, because they knew to expect our posts (very Pavlovian!). Their blog had a huge readership, so it must have worked for them. Daily might not be the right model for you, but you can experiment with MWF or TTh or whatever works for you.
Obviously, you should do what's right for you, though. I'll be reading on forever. Thanks again for the great sales report :)
lots of love xoxo
Thanks but this one I didn't just do for you guys LOL.
DeleteMy initial plan was to pick up one or two special shoes (despite the increase) but my stuff from the last sale was so much better and cheaper.
And you know I'm not that tall - I do have long skinny legs and I'm short-waisted (so I look leggy) but I'm only 5'5", although my siblings who are ALL taller than me insist I'm not even 5'4". I grew really late and thru high school I was one of the shorter kids - and trust me I did not go to school with a bunch of amazons. I think I may even have 5'4" on my license because when I got my permit a million years ago I had not finished growing.
I did admire the purple fringe skirt at the last sale and if it was a different color I would have snapped it up. I love purple but it's not worth $100 to me.
I was thinking about it too and I agree that I should blog more often but as you know, life gets in the way. It's not like I'm a normal fashion blogger who has an editorial calendar (or gets paid LOL) - I blog when the sales/deals happen. Plus with small three kids, no nanny or housekeeper, and a messy house, time is a commodity so frequency is challenging. But you're right, I have to make an effort to do it more often because I really don't want to make them shorter. What I love so much about blogging is having a voice - not just showing a bunch of pretty pictures.
Thanks for reading and your input as always - it's so nice to have fashion friends (even if we've never met) that share my obsessions.
-M
OMG you're only 5'5"??? I am actually over 5'3", so it's just all a question of proportions, I guess! I seriously thought you were like almost 6 feet, you have legs for days. Anywhoo, you look gorgeous in everything you post, for real. Plz never stop lol.
DeleteLOL thanks :) And yep, I'm a shortie too - but I've mastered the art of dressing for my body shape. When I was heavier I was so good at hiding it, that most people didn't realize how big I was. The number one thing I focus on with clients is fit and dressing for their body - then we get into details like personal style and colors. If we ever meet up I can give you a couple tips how to optimize what you have :) I'm guessing that you have a great body you just have a couple issues like most women. It took me YEARS to accept my big butt - finally I realized that hiding it was just making me look bigger so now I just show it off and emphasize my smaller waistline. Always show your skinny and work with what you got!
Deletehi michelle
Deletei love your blog and i look forward to reading about your amazing deals! although i now live in europe, i do remember the amazing sample sales in the US and in Canada. I actually bought a few of Tamara's items on line as soon as you mentioned it because i really wanted the submission sandals that you had worn! i drooled over them for months! so happy that they will now be MINE! i also wanted one of the duffle bags but they were still so expensive that i had to say no.
You look much taller because your neck is quite long as well, 5´5 is not short especially here in the southern european countries. You look great either way!
Anyway, just wanted to say thanks for letting us know about these great deals! keep up the great work and I can't wait to see your C21 deals.
x
Thanks! I'm so glad you purchased at her online sale - her quality is amazing and I'm sure you're going to be happy with your new pretties.
DeleteIt's funny, I never thought that I had a long neck LOL. I know I'm not super short but as the shortest in my family (I'm one of 7 kids) and a late bloomer - I'll always see myself as a part of the short club.
Happy to share the deals - keep following for more :)
-M
There's a Kwiat sample sale coming up - would you be going to that? I wanted to see if you could personal shop for me there? I love the bargains you get!!! Email me at sanaenver@gmail.com.
ReplyDeleteThanks - I saw that sale but it's higher end then I usually do so I wasn't planning on going. I'm not sure if I can lay out that much $ in advance so I'm not sure how to handle it. If we had a previous relationship I'd probably do it but I would need to start off smaller with you. Feel free to email me at shoppinggal@gmail.com so we can discuss :)
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