I headed into the City bright and early this morning dreaming of Charlotte Olympia's playful heels. My game plan was to look for the cheap stuff and maybe splurge on one iconic piece. When I got there a little after 8 AM I was pleased to find that I would be waiting on an indoor line at the Roosevelt Hotel. I came fully prepared for the rain with boots, a trench, a cap and an umbrella, and luckily I didn't need any of my gear. Even better, the VIP portion was a bit of a bust so they started letting the general public in super early. Some people got there as early at 6 AM and I wasn't too far behind them. On Instagram I shared this pic of my freshly repaired Balenciaga from the line this morning - it really wasn't too bad. I'd say I went thru the doors before 9 AM, a full hour before they were supposed to even let us in.
No cameras were allowed inside and they had several security guards watching to make sure no one snapped a pic with their phones. They also made you check your bag and coat. I did see a guard stopping someone who took a pic on the sly - he watched as she deleted the pic. I probably could have snapped a few but I decided it was more important for me to not piss them off so I could try to get the on VIP list for next year. Racked has a full report with pictures if you want to see more.
I spent a good 2+ hours inside looking around, editing, helping other people edit, and just chatting with other shoppers. Because it was their first NYC sale I didn't know what to expect price-wise. I did my due diligence and read a few sample reports from the past UK sales and they said it was cash or check and mostly $50-$250. Here it was credit card only so right after the sale I ran to the bank to deposit my giant wad of cash LOL. For shoes, green dots were $100, but by the time I realized they had cheap kitty flats they were cleared out. The flats in general, which I skipped because they weren't my thing were mostly $130-185. Tax wasn't included in the pricing so I really only would have taken the flats if I found the $100 ones - and I would have taken extras of those too. They had a 10 item limit and the pricing wasn't cheap enough for me to grab extras for you guys. Sorry.
I just wanted to give a shoutout to my friend A who asked for the Betty & Veronica heels - they only had size 40 which was too big for me and way too big for you (she's a size smaller). They had the blue, red, and comic book patterned pumps. But eat your heart out because they were only $170.
For the most part shoes were priced $100-350, with a few priced upwards of $500-650. Their boots were gorgeous but they went fast. It was $240 and up for ankle boots, and $300-450 for taller ones. I was being good so I passed but I do have to say that they cut really nice and narrow in the calf - fit me like a second skin. Maybe next sale...
By the time I left after 11 the line was insane. People, #1 rule for sample sales is GET THERE EARLY or don't go. Even by the time I left a good portion of the inventory was gone and they were not restocking. On the way out I snapped a quick pic looking into the sale but it isn't the best because I only had a second while the guard looked away.
So I shared a couple shots on Insta of what I got - now see the closeups :)
I skimmed the bags and the best deals were the pouches (all around $100) and some $70 totes (from $795) but they weren't interesting enough for me. I wasn't going to get a bag until I spotted the lips. It was $115 from $545 and ridiculously cute. My girls went gaga for it.
I also got the $895 6 inch Agent Provocateur Bellatrix for $150. Makes my legs look a million miles long. Love the zipper details :)
And finally, after debating for an hour because I was feeling cheap, I splurged on these $1295 Parasol heels for $265. I probably really need a 39.5 in these but of course they didn't have them. Several people complemented me but when even the security guy came over and told me how beautiful they looked on me, I knew they were going to be my iconic piece from this sale. I noticed them when they first came out and they were on my wishlist ever since. I can't exactly run in them (my key factor in buying heels) but I can do a slow sprint LOL.
My new friend V met me there and picked up these super cute kitties for $130 (or were they $135?) I found that you had to size down with the kitty flats and 39.5 cleared out quickly (or maybe just low stock in that size) so there really wasn't any for me to buy. Size 40 had tons of shoes so I did better with heels.
After the sale we walked down to the Rack and they gave me a dress for free, literally. I spotted this slightly big $396 Parker 'Blanche' dress. I knew it was old and I was right when it rang up $.01 :) When I went to pay I pulled out a quarter and she gave it back to me and told me that people leave extra pennies all the time so it's covered. Woohoo!
The sale is now over in NYC but they are doing one tomorrow in London (see details above). Next time plan wisely! And don't worry, I'll be sure to share about my Balenciaga repair saga shortly :)
XOXO
Shoppinggal
