a sample sale worth going to

I have clothes, lots of them, but I am missing a category of clothing.  For lack of a better expression, I’ll call it casual chic.  Whenever I meet up with my sister and her family for dinner or a special occasion, I have nothing to wear.  Winter is easier because I can always look in my closet and find a black skirt, black boots, and a cashmere top or white blouse with a wrap.  But spring/summer is more problematic, and Mother’s Day is this weekend.  We are all going to my sister’s club and already I am thinking, I have nothing appropriate to wear.  Last year I wore a black pantsuit and felt like I was on my way to work at an accounting firm.

All that as a way of rationalizing what I do today.

I am on the phone this morning with someone who tells me about a sample sale at Lafayette 148. 

Tomorrow the sample sale is open to the public.  But today it’s open for Friends and Family.  That’s an extra 20% off.  My name is added to a list and I am told to give my name to Jean who’ll be at the door.

My day is wide open, and the heavy rain has finally stopped.  I get to the sale about 12:30, and Jean isn’t at the door.  There is no talking my way in here.  It takes about fifteen minutes to locate Jean before the imposing security people in the lobby of the building will let me up.  But what a treat awaits me when I am finally allowed in.

I have never been to a sale quite like this one.  For starters, it’s in a big warehouse, so people aren’t trampling on top of each other through narrow messy aisles.  It is very civilized.  There is even a cordoned off area for trying on clothes, unlike most sample sales where people just strip down everywhere. 

The prices are pretty unbelievable.  80 to 90% off everything, and everything includes clothes still being sold at Bloomingdales and Saks.  Lafayette 148 sells gorgeous paper-thin leather jackets, but most of them are gone by the time I arrive.  But throughout the five hours I am there (sick, I know) pieces get put back, and I grab them if they are within range of my size. 

I end up getting two gorgeous leather jackets for $116 each, down from $700. The first is a shimmering white short jacket in a soft, buttery leather.

 The second is a beige, zippered leather jacket.

I can't resist an adorable little white coated cotton canvas rain jacket with a blue inside lining for only $56.

I find a short, fitted jacket that looks great on, and is also only $56, from $398.  

I easily pass the sweaters and blouses in bright pinks, oranges, greens, and reds, and gravitate to the whites.  I find two beautiful cotton/linen cardigans for $44 each.  The first is originally priced at $298, the second at $328.

 It’s an exhausting but satisfying day.  Until I get home and the guilt sets in.