This sample sale will apparently offer "a very special stock" of J.Crew items. According to NYMag (click here):J.Crew is hosting a sale on cashmere, outerwear, blazers, shoes, and bags from fall 2009. The men's suede Macalister boots are $60 (originally $135), the women's Winnie peacoat is $99 (originally $245), and women's cashmere V-neck cardigans are $65 (originally $168).According to NBCNewYork's The Thread (click here):
In terms of clothing for women, there'll be a strong focus on fall staples -- outerwear, cashmere sweaters, and blazers; though it sounds like the men will get the better end of the deal in terms of apparel, as the sale will feature over 5,000 pieces of clothing (from button-downs to blazers).This could be great considering there will be: footwear for women & men, all sizes (not just sample sizes!) of clothes for women and men ...or it could be like every other {crappy} sample sale. ;)
The main focus, we hear, will be on the shoes -- Clothing Line (the host of the sale) is promising 3,500 pairs of women's shoes, including heels, boots, and weather boots. For the gents, expect over 1,000 pairs of lace-ups and loafers. All in all, a good reason to trek down to Chelsea during your lunch break tomorrow.
The location for the event is:
Clothingline | SSS Sample Sales
261 W 36th Street
(between 7th & 8th Ave)
2nd Floor
New York, NY 10018
261 W 36th Street
(between 7th & 8th Ave)
2nd Floor
New York, NY 10018
Will you be attending this latest sample sale? If you are, please let us know! If you could also share any information (e.g. merchandise selection, quantity, prices), it would be greatly appreciated. :)
Side Note: The Washington Post published an article (click here) recently about sample sales, called "The Rebirth Of The Sample Sale" by Leena Rao. She even mentions the older J.Crew (warehouse) sales.
I'm a 5 in the Macalister boots if anyone wants to proxy for me ;)
ReplyDeleteThis sale does sound like it could be a little better if they do actually have all the shoes they say they will. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm going to go this morning very quickly while my daughter is at school. I will report back.
ReplyDeleteI am headed out there...just for the shoes though. I will do my best to report back, although with all this publicity I'm expecting a you-know-what show.
ReplyDeleteLet us know how it is!!! I plan on going tomorrow. :)
ReplyDeleteDo report back! I might go after work today if it seems worthwhile. Do they have lots of pairs of boots, or only a few? That's mainly what I am interested in. Oh and prices would be wonderful to know ahead of time too! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI'm going today after work. Will definitely report back with selection & cost - hopefully someone else already has by then, though!
ReplyDeleteI'm planning on going after work tonight too! I'm keeping low expectations though.
ReplyDeleteHey, just got back from Manhattan! Good selection, but higher prices than the sale a couple months ago. For example, high boots are going for $149 instead of $99. Not a true sample sale, really.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jessica. That's a lot of money for something you pretty much have no option to return. I think I will still go but I definitely won't be buying anything. :) How much were rain boots? And sweaters?
ReplyDeleteApologies for the length of this comment!
ReplyDeleteI went this morning -- 4th in line in a line that was no more than 40 people. The shoe selection was fantastic right as the doors opened -- literally the whole right side of the room in every size beginning at 5.5 and up through at least size 11 plus another separate room of men's shoes! Sadly there were people there just grabbing EVERYTHING in sizes that they could carry. It was SO LAME and I wish Clothingline or whatever the company was called would set limits to prevent this.
The prices were OK. Flats were I believe $75, heels/booties were $99 which is not great for heels. I was thrilled though because I got the Metropolitan Booties for $99, which I think is a fair price. They also had tall boots for $125, including Nottinghams and some of the Glenbraes from last year.
Most of the shoe styles were spring/summer/fall 2009 in new condition. I saw belindas, greers, joleys, ballet flats and driving mocs. As I said though most of them were being swept up by obvious resellers. *^&$ that. The staff said they will be putting out fresh shoe selections everyday so there is hope yet! But get there early for selection.
For clothing, I saw a good selection of men's and women's -- I did not see CC or jewelry. There was not as much stuff with "SAMPLE" written in big black marker and some clothing was overstock from retail. But the prices were still ridiculous. $75 for a cashmere sweater? No thanks. Mostly the same stuff as the other recent sales. Two bins of bags. I saw a Gallery satchel but pretty much everything else was fabric totes. No Compos or Thompsons or anything recent.
I hope that helps. I will be going back tomorrow to see if I can find more shoes to go with my new booties!
Hello! Just got back from the sample sale and here is my report in brief (if anyone wants a full more detailed report, I'd be happy to oblige):
ReplyDeleteI have been to a warehouse sale organized by JCrew back in 2002 and the sample sale today PALED in comparison. In short, if what I just purchased this Sunday online (thanks for the coupon code!) was at the sample sale, it would still have been cheaper online.
Sure, there was outerwear and shoes, but the prices were still pretty high. The only shoes I got were the Marjorie suede ballet flats in a dark grey and that's because those were a "special" at $45. Flats were $65, short/ankle boots and heels were $99 and boots were $149. Hunter wellies were $75, and regular wellies were $25. I was pretty disappointed in the boot selection because they had no extended calf options.
They had pretty current shoe options (back to Spring '09) and plenty were out there but the prices turned me off.
As for the sweaters - good luck trying to determine if they were good for you because there were no mirrors (or rather they said they had no mirrors when they were blatantly on the wall only covered up) and they did not let you try on any of the clothes (only blazers and outerwear); I walked out with 3 cardigans ($40 each which was really pricey for me but I got them eventually) - one was the Jackie in Navy which I have been wanting since I started shopping at J.Crew 10 years ago and two others I was pretty confident looked decent on me.
Good thing I did find a decent reflection in a window for this other sweater I was considering otherwise I would have regretted my purchase. Plus, I was only able to try on that cardigan when the workers there weren't looking.
I was pretty much going there to try and get a few things for my job (I'm a professor at a community college so its semi-business casual, I would have gotten a pair of heels but for my job its not worth it and the only kinds of loafers that they have were the driving mocs which I wasn't too enthused by) - the cardigan selection was pretty extensive but I wished they were much cheaper.
Didn't even bother to look at the cashmere - $75 was pretty decent but with the future sales and coupon codes, your better off watching the online sale like a hawk. I remember getting a cashmere sweater from the Rock Center store the day after Christmas for $50.
I'd say only go for the shoes, really but then again you would be lucky if you can find your size at this point - in terms of outerwear I hear that there is not going to be much left. If your looking for boots by the time I left most of them were gone.
I have a feeling that there is going to be very little restock, and plus the people that were working there were really mean - the people that manage the sample sale either need to be more accommodating to shopper's needs (like a mirror!) or JCrew needs to change who manages it.
OK, unless Ema or someone chimes in with an AMAZING report, I'm not going to bother...
ReplyDeleteOops, meant to say thank you Alexis for posting! :)
ReplyDeleteHi, I went this morning at the opening. I pretty much agree with what Alexis said. However I think that in general this sale was MUCH better than the previous ones for the reason that there was a mix of samples and stock. Shoes selection was amazing (compared to what I was expecting) at the opening (I bought 5 pairs and I had to let go of a pair of Metropolitan black booties that I'm regretting) and coat selection/prices was pretty good too (bought the script coat in antique stone for $149). Suiting blazers were $99 and I had a brand new butterscotch blazer in my hand that I left behind as well.
ReplyDeleteI would say: buy only what has tags attached. From the sweater selection I bought a black cashmere turtleneck (from this season, I checked the tag inside and it says Fall09) and a Michelle for $40(pricey but I regretted not buying more). Almost bought two jackies but for $40 I thought that I could wait for a sale on the website.If they really renew the stock everyday it could be worth it to go on the final two days when they slash prices.
According to the prices in an article someone posted in the new arrivals post... I wouldn't waste my time. $75 for a cashmere sweater that has "sample" written on it in black marker? I got two cashmere sweaters which were samples, for $25 each, at the warehouse sale at the JCrew distribution center in NC. This is the same stuff they are hawking at the sample sale, but it is 3x the price. What a joke! You can often find boots on ebay for less than $100, shoes for less than $45, too... so... to me, this is not a good deal. And is yet another example of JCrew inconsistency!
ReplyDeleteJust came back from the sample sale... there was a line to get in but only waited like 8 mins. Wasn't too bad especially during lunch hour. Agree with all... go for the shoes! Great selection of shoes but many good ones are gone by the time I got there. They are more expensive than the last sample sale. I believe it's because they knew they were doing so well on the shoes last time so they increase the price! It was $65 and now $99 for heels! I'd probably wait till the last 2 days to see if they'd reduce the price. However, still can't resist to grab the Colleen Rose heels & the Jemma Suede slingback! I think these are worth the money since they're expensive even when they go on sale @ J.Crew website!
ReplyDeleteMore details and pics of my goodies on my blog. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteHi JCAs!
ReplyDeleteI just came back from this event. I was not planning to go, but through some semi-random events I did. :)
I went around lunch time and the line was relatively quick (like a 15 minute wait).
Got inside and have to say I agree with what the previous JCAs mentioned about this event.
The men's shoe area was off to the side. Although I did not go inside (and very few did), it looked to have a decent amount of selection.
The Women's shoe section took up half the area. Thankfully the staff arranged the shoes by sizes, making it easier to see what they had. The stock was of the past few current seasons. Marjorie flats were on promotion for $45 as another JCA mentioned. Otherwise all flats are for $65 (I believe). If you are a size 5.5 or 6, then you would have been in heaven. If you are a size 9 (like me), then you would have been out of luck as the selection was s-l-i-m by a few hours in.
As for the coats... why bother. Most seem to be size 4 by the time I looked. The price is $145. You are better off waiting for the coat you want (in your preferred size and color), to go on sale online.
As for handbags... disappointing. The leather handbags were priced at $100 and what was left were the small Gallery hobo bags. Not worth it. Some regular totes. Meh.
The other half of ClothingLine had sweaters galore. Again, if you have the time to patiently sift through the racks, you may find a deal. But you are much better off buying online through some product-stalking.
For example, they had the Ruffle sweater vest- that had been on sale online for $49.99 and is now at $19.99- in ClothingLine's rack for $40 and the sweater vest looked t.i.r.e.d.
Also, double check the items. I picked up one cardigan that I thought looked cute until I noticed the hanger was sticking out a major hole on the sleeve. That should not have even made it to the floor. Fail.
There was a super small collection of skirts. Nothing note worthy to mention here.
Overall, this sample sale felt like the first sample sale I went to in January. I ended up leaving after 15 minutes thinking that it was not worth my time. But that was just my opinion. It might be worth a visit if you happen to be in the area with some free time on your hands.
Hope this helps a bit. :)
This was my first and last time going to the J Crew sample sale. There were quite a few items there that I bought online for less. There were shoes from 2 seasons ago selling for $99 and some current shoes that are selling for less online currently. There were cashmere cardigans that I bought online for less during final sale and extra 20% off. Most of the sweaters did not look fresh and new...For those prices I prefer buying online.
ReplyDeleteHi Everyone,
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to share some notes from a guy’s perspective. So I also made it to the sale yesterday after work. It was my first J. Crew sample sale and I was thoroughly disappointed. When I got there at 6pm, the line was out the door. Luckily I waited only about 10min or so and was able to get in.
From men’s clothes, wool and cotton sweaters were $40 (I can find that kind of sale year-round at the store) and shoes were hardly on sale with prices starting at $60 for loafers and $100+ for boots. The only men’s shoes left that were kind of nice were the Red Wing boots, which were $200! All of this is not to mention that most of the sample items were dirty, tattered, out of shape and all in all just plain ugly. Also, most of everything for men was in size medium.
Unless there’s a huge redesign of these sample sales, I am never going to waste my time again.
For those who are curious to know what the sample sale looks like at 6pm (when most people are able to get off of work and rush to the sale), here are my notes:
ReplyDelete- Of the clothing, most were sweaters. I, too, found that a lot were damaged.
- There were a LOT of shoes, even at 6pm. However, there was not a lot of selection, as all of the shoes were the same flats, heels, etc. Many of these can be bought for less expensive online (or on final sale), and many were from previous seasons.
- There were only about 12 coats/outerwear pieces left by the time I got in at 6:15pm. None of the yellow Winnie, as I had hope for me (if anyone finds one in a size 2, please let me know and I'll purchase it from you!). Most sizes were Petite or Tall; none were in my size.
- Handbag selection was laughable.
I did, however, wind up purchasing the brown Cossette peep toe pumps that are currently selling for $125 (or was it $129?) online for $99 at the sample sale. I'd been eyeing them for awhile and figured I might as well purchase them there.
I'm not certain that I felt the sale was worth attending, but I knew I couldn't stay away, regardless. Hope others had more luck than me (perhaps earlier in the morning), and if anyone sees a yellow Winnie coat in a size 2 ... well, I live in New York! :)
I just got back as well...went over lunch at noon, I ended up with two pairs of ballet flats. Shoe selection was decent, and I agree the handbag selection was AWFUL! Like two mediocre bins. The coat section was also laughable. And what was up with the sweater selection?! TONS of mens, but ONE rounder of womans long sleeved sweaters?! Wow...I guess leading into the holidays I was expecting a little more. Happy about my flats tho! :)
ReplyDeleteSample sale was very disappointing! I used to go to the old J.Crew warehouse sales at my college and scored some great deals. Unfortunately J.Crew doesn't directly run their sample sales anymore (according to a friend that works there) and thats why the prices have seriously gone up. $99 for shoes and $75 for sweaters, seriously? Waste of time.
ReplyDeleteSo after much consideration, and mixed comments I decided against the sample sale. Tough choice because now I'm wondering what I am missing LOL. I could still go tomorrow. I go to school in the city and am there everyday. But I do have to wonder. I heard that someone purchased the Wool ribbon script coat for $149. I don't see how that's possible when its online for full price. I don't get it. Maybe the merchandise is returned or defective? Or both? In that case I'd rather pay full price.
ReplyDeleteAlso I recently purchased the wool ruffle front coat, and the nottingham boots. I've worn them already so cannot return them and I think I would cry if I saw either item there on sale when my mom paid full price for them both. Well thats another reason for me to avoid the sale.
They have more sweaters on the floor today... the boxes literally just came in when I was wandering inside the sample sale floor. Grabbed some nice ones like the library print cardigan for $40! I'm not sure how much it was sold for back in F07 but I think it's worth the money! I was "stalking" the lady who had the sweater and decided not to get it at the cashier. Seriously, you need a lot of patience to shop there! Also got a printed leopard cardigan with chiffon ruffle and a collection beaded cardigan. All $40... they're like either $5 or $10 more expensive than the last sample sale but I think they have more selection this time. You just have to be there at "the right timing"! I did see a lombard cardigan in the sweet guava color! I'd have gotten it if it's my size! Also they have 2 Aurora T-strap heels in size 6 for $99... if anyone is looking.
ReplyDeleteJust went today. No further reductions. Ugh what a rip off.
ReplyDelete