Shopping the Sales

Let’s be honest with each other: we all love a good sale. The feeling of getting that dress you just can’t live without for a fraction of the cost just can’t be beat. Sales, while they are amazing, can be just as overwhelming. Whether its struggling to pick through mountains of unorganized clothes, or being the last one out of the gate and all the “good stuff” has been picked up. When deciding whether or not you should head to a retail or outlet mall, or wander through a big box discount store, consider these tips!

Retail: Seasons come and go in fashion, sometimes so quickly you don’t even realize until you go out looking for that cute summer dress for a vacation in August, and instead of finding bright floral chiffon, you see neutral suede and wool. For this reason, many retail shops hold sales every few weeks (and you can’t forget the big ones: Black Friday, Boxing Day, and President’s Day). When shopping retail sales, I like to use this as my opportunity to browse. More often than not, I’m not looking for anything specific, but maybe something that catches my eye. Recently, I have been loving The Loft for good sales. Last time I walked through, I left with a pencil skirt, a t-shirt, and a light spring dress for a grand total of $35!!

Outlets: More often than not, the clothes you find at the outlets are “last season”. Being a believer in wearing what you want when you want, I don’t truly follow trends and can appreciate a nice piece of clothing years after it might have been the most popular. There are the occasional stores that produce clothes specifically for the outlet shops, like Polo’s Factory Outlet and J.Crew Factory. My best piece of advice for outlet shopping is know what you are looking for, or at the very least, know what you hope to find. My most recent outlet experience was just after Christmas and I was in the market for a new handbag and winter jacket. I could have perused the shops and spent my money elsewhere, but instead I headed to Coach and Saks Off Fifth. Both places, I was extremely successful, picking up a cute satchel bag at half price and a Saks brand knee length coat at almost 80% off. Because outlet stores are maintained and organized much better than their comparable big box discount, you are more likely to have better luck. The Gap, G.H Bass and Co., and J.Crew are my favorites for great variety of work and casual wear.

Big Box Discount (TJMaxx and Marshall’s): The clothing section of these stores are usually not the most convenient to browse through, but the shoe shop? Oh.my.god. I have found some of my most favorite pairs of shoes at Marshall’s and TJMaxx. Known for carrying higher end designer brands, it is not unusual to find Coach, Sam Edelman, Frye, etc. in stock during any given season. These store sell items at a lower discount, anywhere from 15-40%, but you won’t sacrifice quality. Unlike some stores that produce extra goods for an outlet or factory store, the pieces you find in TJMaxx and Marshall’s are typically overstock from the current season. That means you get sandals in the summer and boots in the winter.

What have been some your most successful sale purchases? Do you have a favorite place to look for those seasonal items? I’d love to hear about them!