The Perks of Shopping in NYC

It's a well known fact that New York City is pretty much known as the retail capital of the world.  Most any and every popular to semi-popular brand that is into brick and mortar retail has one or even a handful of shops in this city.  The New York market supports everything from multi-national retailers to smaller and still-developing fledgling brands.  In the more narrow scope of fashion retailing, New York is the place to find your niche shopper and in turn supports many niche design brands due to the sheer density of people and their own individualities and tastes.  In the world of fashion for the most part, every brand wants to bring their goods to market here.  Other cities that maybe can't support the unique fashion tastes of niche designers are welcomed in New York.  But that's not the main perk of shopping in NYC...

The greatest perk of being a shopper in New York City is the availability of Sample Sales! A designer sample sale or overstock sale is when brands take over warehouses, art galleries, and random abandoned looking locations to sell merchandise from previous seasons for discounts typically up to the range of 80% off.  They typically last a couple of days only though and for popular brands lines tend to form hours before opening and can wrap around city blocks.

Waiting on line to enter The Invisible Dog gallery for the A.P.C. overstock sale

I'm usually anti-hype and definitely anti-standing on line to spend money, however...when I checked my e-mail a few days prior and saw that A.P.C. was having an overstock sale and 80% off the upcoming weekend, I started planning an outfit for an early morning Brooklyn chill that may last about an hour of waiting.

Light but layered to last the morning chill

From Fall to Spring a scarf is always a key essential

Amanda and I arrived close to 9:30am in preparation for the 10am first day opening time and were greeted by a modest line.  I, personally, underestimated the popularity of the brand, or maybe the popularity of the idea of their overstock sale. 

Chaotic at times, the scene on the sales floor

After about 25 minutes or so of grabbing everything that I thought was around my size before somebody else could and then regrouping with Amanda in a semi-quiet corner it was time to find the price list and start choosing favorites. After several fit sessions and a quick conversation about raw denim and how both the men's and women's shoes were constructed with some of the most comfortable leather ever we settled on handful of key pieces.

I settled on a sturdy pair of black raw denim to continue in the essence of my raw denim art project. Additionally I picked up a pair of white leather sneakers with subtle suede accents and a Parisianesque nautical striped shirt.

Items in detail:

Amanda managed to get her hands on Spring's most desirable fabric, linen, in the form of a lightweight blue military inspired dress. She also, jumped on the raw denim project with me by picking up a staple pair Japanese selvage indigo denim. The shoes were a no brainer once she felt the soft leather insoles.

Amanda's Picks:

This was a successful shopping experience for me because I was able to pick up some key essential pieces for some non-essential prices.  Whenever you're looking to do a wardrobe refresh or just acquire some new pieces, definitely check out sample sale schedules each season.