Thursday, August 18, 2011

Dannijo Sample Sale August 2011

Hi all,

Just back from my first time attending a Dannijo Sample Sale. It wasn't quite what I expected. Sadly, my camera is not working so no pictures, and I didn't exactly have the luxury of taking notes so I'll try and fill you in on everything I remember. When I get a working camera I'll take pictures of the two pieces I picked up.

There is an unassuming silver metal door flanked by numerous designer stores. I have passed by here many times but I never thought there was anything of note besides the flashy window displays for Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen, etc. The building is your typical unrenovated space. Lots of concrete and metal, no air conditioning. I showed up about half an hour early and chatted with the other girls there. I think we were all pretty surprised there wasn't more of a line. By the time the doors opened at six there was a line down the hallway but still, I had been expecting a mad rush.

That came when we entered the lovely showroom I had been catching glimpses of each time the door opened to let lucky previewers in and out. Plastic bins on the table from the container store meet 15 pairs of grabbing hands. I got a chance to get my hands on some interesting pieces pretty quickly but spent the first 20 minutes or so mostly hovering and exchanging items in my plastic container for others either because of the price, weight, or style. Sometimes things can be absolutely gorgeous but not work on you. Case in point, I saw this girl grab my beloved Capella necklace (see first blog post) but when I asked her if I could try it on, it didn't work the same magic on me. Yet seeing her later with all her purchases layered on, she looked like she had just stepped out of a fashion editorial page for this season's Western/Native American trend.

The prices were actually pretty good. There were a fair number of cheapie necklaces and bracelets running around $5-$10. I actually picked up a silver chain bracelet. Nothing too special but it'll make me smile to know it's from Dannijo.

I spotted a Camden, either a Glenn or a Sparo, Zuma's in various colors ($30), and a Leopard Zuma/Loma. None of them really popped for me except the Glenn/Sparo but the price wasn't right for me. I think it was a decent discount though so someone else probably walked off with it very happily.

In terms of necklaces, the cheapie pieces were much worse. You really had to skip up to about $40+ to find something nice. I agonized over the Naomi (down from $195 to $45!!!) but it just looked too strange on me (my style is much more classic and feminine and girly) and it sat strangely on my collar bone. I think I grabbed the last gold before I put it back but there were plenty of these in silver.

I saw a few Karolines, down to around $100. The one Capella was also down to around $80-$100 but I didn't really bother checking since it was already going home with someone else. I couldn't identify a lot of the other pieces but there was a fair mix of metal and crystal, showy crystal necklaces and pendant necklaces dominated. I ended up picking a pretty nice gold (almost rose-gold) round locket with flowers on it. I like that it has a lot of space inside so I can put pictures or even dried flowers.

As I was waiting for change I tried on this sort of teal/turquoise-colored crystal necklace that seemed simple and that I thought would look like something I just picked up in Chinatown but I fell in love with it. This was the kind of piece I had been looking for. Sadly, it was only discounted 20% so it was still about $300 something. Ugh. Well, there's always next year, right?

Dannijo Aurelie silver-plated Swarovski crystal necklace
Dannijo Aurelie necklace

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