Sample sales are as hot in New York City as mesh hair ties were in the 80s. After all, why pay hundreds of dollars for sophistication when you can spend only half that price and then later pass a little fib about it to your envious friends?
For New Yorkers, the hippest place to shop this winter is not any store, but the private, strictly A-list "Billion Dollar Babes" sample sale, the city girl's ultimate fashion secret. Invites for this one-day-sale go out by e-mail or by word-of-mouth to celebs, runway regulars, industry executives and those of us who can appreciate the luxury of sipping champagne while shopping for top designers discounted as much as eighty percent off wholesale prices. Labels like Tufi Duek, Alice Roi, La Perla, Joe's Jeans, Grey Ant and Ella Moss have all been brought together under one roof to cater to the obsessions of the city's most notorious shopaholics. This year I was lucky enough to have a place among them.
The frantic shoppers, outfitted from head to toe with smart accessories that scream sleek city dresser, gather around tables crowded with strappy jewel-studded stilettos, ruffled handbags and saucy pastel lingerie that looks as tempting as chocolate raspberry truffles. Even the security guards by the entrance wore dark Moschino shades and carried around glossy leather clipboards. This made the Express warehouse sale in the Von Canon Center, the closest thing Duke has had to offer, look like last season's Pashmina shawls.
Started in Los Angeles by fashion gurus Shelli-Anne Couch and Kate Nobelius, the "Billion Dollar Babes" sample sale has not looked back since its mega-successful launch in 1997. Over fifteen hundred shoppers, including Heather Graham and Portia de Rossi, showed up at its premiere to rifle through piles of designer purses and sweaters. Apparently, not even Hollywood could resist a good bargain. Soon enough, the largest sample sale of the year became an annual event in both Los Angeles and New York City.
Unlike us at Duke, most New Yorkers would faint at the idea of choosing J.Crew flip flops over a pair of trendy Chinese Laundry ankle pumps. So for those of you who are looking to bring a little urban posh into the conservative South but can't afford to raid Bloomingdale's racks (at least not until that Economics major finally pays off) sample sales are the way to go--if you can snag an elusive invitation. Potential cat-fighting with other deal snatchers aside, it truly defines the New York shopping experience.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.