Shop ‘Til We Drop
My sister is in town for 60 hours. Which means we’ll be shopping for probably 40 of ’em. (Thank god for online shopping; otherwise I wouldn’t know what to do with myself after the stores closed.) Really, there’s nothing like having someone related to you peer-pressuring you into spending lots of money.
Today we hit the outlets, which are always hit or miss. This time it was an unqualified hit! First stop was the Space store (a.k.a. Prada outlet), where there was an additional 80% off outlet prices for items from three or four seasons ago – which means you want to stock up on the basics rather than the signature items that everyone saw in every magazine and already looked so last year, last year. (Though you can also rationalize that eventually that stuff could be considered vintage.) My loot: two cashmere-silk blend scoop neck pullovers with adorably (but not clownishly) ballooned sleeves; a black silk chiffon and lace skirt; a peach satin camisole; and an ivory silk chiffon and lace wrap. Damage: A mere $461.15. My sister’s tab: $240 for two pairs of brocade sandals decorated with plastic beads (but not the yellow-and-green pattern that was everywhere in spring ’03).
Next stop: Last Call, the Neiman’s outlet. Totally picked over and crowded. We head right out.
At YSL we both try on a mauve suede laced-up tunic from a few seasons ago. A bargain at 90% off, $180! Totally cute, too, in a Daniel Boone kinda way, but then as I try to take it off, I feel like I was trying to escape from a straitjacket. No matter how great a deal it is, I really have to draw the line at a piece that should have come with an orderly. Parenthetically: Looking at the handbags there reminds me that I’ve recently seen pictures of Nicole Richie carrying a Mombasa bag around. It might just be safe to put mine into rotation again.
At Carolina Herrera we score our best buys of the day: crocodile belts in yummy colors perfect for the summer, coral, chocolate brown and aquamarine. Ten bucks each! Yes, you read that right! Ten bucks!
After lunch we decide to give Last Call a last chance. And the shopping gods were clearly watching over us! Exhausted by the madness, I’m leaning on a tapestry-covered armchair that seems to be for sale though it was in the women’s department, when I spy a berry-hued, honeycomb-patterned Missoni coat from the fall collection. My heart skips a beat, and my mouth goes dry. I may even gasp audibly. I eye the shoppers around me suspiciously, and then I go in for the kill… I had bought a yellow-and-olive version of the coat at Bergdorf’s after Christmas, but returned it because it made me look like a plump banana that was about to explode. Back then it was already about 60% off at $965, but this one at Last Call is marked down to $753, plus 20% off (and 5% off for using my Neiman’s card). Which all adds up to an unbelievable deal: $620. And no, it does not make me look like an exploding raspberry.
A good day was had by all (except perhaps the couple of women I may or may not have intentionally elbowed in order to snag that coat). And now, I’ve got a few more hours before bed for some online shopping…
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