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June 07, 2007
Sample sales
I've been going to sample sales for about ten years now though I probably haven't been going as much in the last few years in part because my current job isn't close to the Garment District (or the Meatpacking District). I love sample sales though--I actually bought my wedding dress at one. I had immense luck at the Cynthia Steffe sample sale last year so when I found out there was another one this week I really wanted to go. The only problem were the hours (12-5 today, 10-5 tomorrow). I do manage to slip out of work early sometimes but I had already left early once to go to a doctor's appointment and I'm cutting early tomorrow to prepare for a dinner party and leaving early on a third day would have looked bad. Had I realized that this week is prime sample sale season and foreseen the madness of the Cynthia Steffe sample sale, however, I probably would have considered taking a half day off.
I got to the Cynthia Steffe sale less than five minutes after they opened and it was already a madhouse--lots of women darting around bearing large piles of clothing, many bearing articles that I eyed enviously. I tried to go through the racks quickly and started trying on clothes when I could carry no more. While I had grabbed a bunch of items, nothing really stood out and I suspected much of what I would have coveted had already been taken (plus, I didn't have access to a mirror, which made things difficult) and I got on line to pay with only three items, considerably less than what I had come away with last year. While waiting, I noticed all the girls on the line were dressed really well and suspected that most of them worked in the area. The cashier line was long and I left with only fifteen minutes to spare (though, seeing the line outside, I was grateful I got there early). I debated about whether I should head down to my meeting or whether I should try to go to another sample sale I wanted to check out down the block and I decided to try the latter, dashing over to my next destination. The problem with the Garment District is that it can be really hard to dash since the Garment District is almost as bad as Chinatown in terms of pedestrian congestion and the elevators are really slow and the amount of people waiting for them significant. I only had five minutes left when I made it to the next sample sale so I quickly went through one rack, tried on the items I pulled and paid for two of them. Needless to say, I was late for my meeting (no thanks though in part to the MTA) but I still think it was worth it.
Posted by Jennifer at June 7, 2007 09:30 PM