Vente Privee Sample Sale Report June 2014

Hello bumblebees,

I'm surprised no one else that I follow has covered the Vente Privee Sample Sale at Clothingline yet. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, vente privee is a flash sale site. I really had no idea what to expect when I heard they were having a sample sale. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me give you the important details first. The sale is being held at 231 W. 39th St between 7th and 8th Avenues (second floor). It started yesterday and will continue until tomorrow June 26. Hours are 11:00 am through 7:00 pm.

The sale is grouped by style of apparel. Dresses are in the front and continue along the right hand side of the room. Gowns are hanging to the left. In the center you'll find separates which mainly consist of jackets, tops, and skirts with some pants thrown in. Also on the right hand side, you will find a selection of bras and underwear and at the very back you'll find the shoe section.

As for designers, the sign in the photo reads:
American Vintage, Cheap Monday, Guess, MIH, Tart tops $15, bottoms $20, dresses & jackets $25
Catherine Malandrino, Christopher Fischer, D&G, Diane von Furstenberg, Elizabeth & James, Erin Fetherston, Halston, Jay Godfrey, Just Cavalli, Kiki de Montparnasse, Kooples, Levis, Paul & Joe, Trina Turk, Vera Wang, Y-3 tops $55, bottoms $65, dresses & jackets $70
Armani, Escada, Facconable, Max Mara, Max Sport Ports, Valentino, Wolford tops $60, bottoms $70, dresses & jackets $125

Now I did not check every single label but I did not see anything from American Vintage, Cheap Monday, MIH, or Tart and I only saw Guess items in the shoe section. Maybe they were hidden in the separates racks which I did not check as closely.

$70 dresses dominate at this sale since Diane von Furstenberg and Erin Fetherston make up a lot of what's left on the racks. I also spotted a white fringe dress from Jay Godfrey, some Halston Heritage dresses, a D&G dress, an orange Trina Turk dress, and some jackets and separates from Elizabeth & James. I could not find anything from Malandrino. I think I also spotted a lot of items from Ports 1961.

Diane von Furstenberg Cindy Acorn Lace dress size 6

Trina Turk size 12

Erin Fetherston dresses were mainly in this section.

The Sak Brand Group Sample Sale Report June 2014

Hi chickadees,

Unfortunately, you can no longer shop The Sak Brand Group sample sale but I decided to type up this report anyway for my records. I need to add this sale to my annual sample sale list. You need to add this sale to your annual sample sale list. We all need to add this sale to our annual sample sale list. Let me explain.

The sale was held at what appears to be the brand's headquarters at 339 5th Avenue between E. 33rd and 34th St on the fourth floor from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. Oh, yeah. When it's a one day sale that only lasts a few hours, you know it's going to be good. Prices were already great when I entered but within 10 minutes of my arrival sometime after 1:00 pm they slashed prices. Everything was half off the prices listed on the signs. Pandemonium! I think the only thing slowing people down was the cash only policy.

Amanda Uprichard Sample Sale Report June 2014

Hello lovelies,

If you're looking for some lightweight, colorful pieces to carry you through to the end of summer, I would definitely consider swinging by the Amanda Uprichard Sample Sale at 231 W. 39th St. It is on the ninth floor towards the back of the hallway in room 918. This sale favors small and petite sizes. I was able to find a decent amount of mediums in particular styles and a handful of larges but if you're a medium or larger I maybe wouldn't go out of my way to attend this sale.

There were a lot of thin, breezy blouses and button-downs on this rack, mainly in small and petite.

You'll find more mediums and larges on the racks by the window.

I think the leather shorts in this photo came in almost every size.

Micky London Sample Sale June 2014

Hello sunbeams,

I popped into the Micky London sample sale today and I've got a quick report for you as I wasn't allowed to take any photos inside the sale. To get the preliminaries out of the way, the sale started on June 23 and will continue until Friday June 27. Hours are 10:00 am through 5:00 pm. The sale is being held at 231 W. 39th St. between 7th and 8th Avenues in Suite 202.

Only the front half of the showroom contained sale merchandise but if you're curious about their new inventory, you can see their new season prints in the back of the room. As the sign says, there was a rack with $5 scarves but the majority of the scarves at this sale were actually $45-$90. Beautiful scarves in colorful prints were displayed in both sections. As for the jewelry, $5 hoops and rhinestone embellished earrings were laid out on the center table. Bangles and bracelets selling for $10 were beside the $5 scarves. There were less than 10 clutches when I stopped by but they included a beautifully embellished white clutch and an evening bag decorated with duck feathers. 

You can kind of see the $45-$90 scarves in this photo. They were laid out against the left wall.

You can sort of see the $5 scarf rack in this photo. There were both lightweight and heavier winter scarves as well as some lace scarves.

Unless you're a fan of the brand, I don't think there's enough merchandise for me to say that you must visit but if you're in the area and you have the time, I would suggest stopping by as you could find something you really love at a very reasonable price.

Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Connie Francis Lyrics

Hello chickadees!

More random song lyrics today. I'm trying to learn the Connie Francis version of this song and I keep running into lyrics based on the covers by other artists or lyrics that are just plain incorrect so I decided to type up the right version for myself and anyone else trying to learn Connie's version. You're welcome.

Hold me, hold me,
Never let me go until you've told me, told me
What I want to know and then just hold me, hold me
Make me tell you, I'm in love with you.

Thrill me, thrill me,
Walk me down the lane where shadows will be, will be
Hiding lovers just the same as we'll be, we'll be
When you make me tell you, I love you.

They tell me, be sensible with your new love.
Don't be fooled thinking this is the last you'll find.
But they never stood in the dark with you, love.
When you take me in your arms and drive me slowly out of my mind.

Kiss me, kiss me,
When you do I know that you will miss me, miss me,
If we ever say adieu, so kiss me, kiss me
Make me tell you I'm in love with you.

They tell me, be sensible with your new love.
Don't be fooled thinking this is the last you'll find.
But they've never stood in the dark with you, love.
When you take me in your arms and drive me slowly out of my mind.

Kiss me, kiss me,
When you do I know that you will miss me, miss me,
If we ever say adieu, so kiss me, kiss me
Make me tell you I'm in love with you.

REVIEW of KBShimmer Nail Polish in Let's Not Coral With SWATCHES

Hello my little starfishes!

It took me forever to figure out that this polish was a play on the phrase "let's not quarrel" because I'm either great at conflict resolution or just a bit a dim sometimes. Anyway, this is the first KBShimmer I've ever tried as well as the first one that I'll be reviewing for you so I'll go a bit more in depth than a normally would for a familiar brand. I had no intention of really trying out KBShimmer but I saw swatches on another blog and suddenly a small haul became very necessary.

The bottles have a somewhat clunky shape and resemble nothing so much as a bottle of Seche Vite though they have a shorter cap. As far as storage goes, it's not my favorite bottle shape but I think the design of the logo is pretty. The brush is a little on the thicker side, at least compared to Essie brushes which I feel have the most ideal width. The bristles are very straight and flat instead of rounded and flaring out at the ends. I purchased this polish from kbshimmer.com. I think it's available elsewhere online but I don't know if it's sold at any stores. At $7.50, it was basically in the same range as your standard drugstore polish (Essie, OPI, Zoya) though of course you can sometimes find those polishes on sale or use drugstore rewards to discount the cost of those polishes. Like all of those polishes, a bottle of KBShimmer polish contains 15 ml/0.5 fl oz of product.

Color: KBShimmer Let's Not Coral is a bright pink polish. I'm not quite ready to call it a coral. There are times when it comes close to be that perfect coral that I have been searching for years to find but most of the time I would say it's just a bright pink and occasionally it veers a little orange (mainly in the yellow-tinted lighting in my apartment).
Formula: Let's Not Coral has a thicker formula that threads when you pull the brush from the bottle.
Application: The first coat went on smoothly without any drag but coverage was a little streaky. I immediately found the formula to be a little thick and I would not recommend working with this polish too much. This is not a good formula to try and even out with the brush. Even though the thickness of the polish makes it necessary for you to even out the polish, you will find it very difficult to do so. The second coat also applied without any drag but I had to use thicker coats of polish to achieve a smooth glide. The polish was not going on evenly because I was unable to really work with it. At two coats, this polish did not pass a light test because of the uneven application. Also, there were some bubbles on one nail. After adding a third coat, the polish was still not opaque because of the patchy, uneven application. I'd suggest just adding two coats because three coats adds an unnecessary amount of polish without improving opacity to a significant degree. With my nondominant hand, I didn't try to even out the polish at all. I still ended up using three coats of polish per nail with opacity and evenness about the same as when I was painting with my dominant hand.
Wear: I applied this polish at night on 6/10. By 6/12, the polish had chipped on the index finger of my right hand. This was horrifying for me as longtime readers know that polish rarely chips on me and aside from growth and tip wear, I could probably wear most polishes for weeks without chipping. Anyway, I had an event to attend so at night on 6/12 I repainting the nail with the chipping and rewrapped the tips of all my nails. By 6/12 there was already a significant amount of tip wear on most of my nails. By 6/14 when I finally removed this polish, the tip wear had returned but I didn't experience any further chipping.

CONCLUSION: I can't recommend this polish. I think the shade of pink is bold and fun but application is a massive pain and wear is terrible.

SWATCHES

OpenHouse Pop Up Sample Sale June 2014

Hello buttercups,

I'm just back from the Pop Up Sample Sale being held at the OpenHouse Gallery at 201 Mulberry from today June 20 through June 25. The hours are 12:00 pm to 8:00 pm. I assume that's daily but I couldn't get confirmation. They apparently won't be restocking which is strange since it didn't seem like they had enough merchandise to warrant staying for six days and the woman I asked said there would not be any markdowns.

There is a dressing area but be forewarned, it consists of two panels of cloth so you'll be exposed to anyone on the lower level. You might want to dress accordingly.

Let's get menswear out of the way first. It mainly consisted of Shades of Gray and brands that were not labeled. Given the size of the sale, I think menswear made up a respectable amount of the merchandise but not enough that I'd really go out of my way to check it out if I were a guy or shopping for one.

I was not entirely sure if this was menswear or womenswear.

Let's start at the back of the sale with womenswear. Courtshop Jeans were $25.

This sign says Timo Weiland but there were other brands mixed in. I spotted mainly prints and cocktail dresses.

This sweater was Timo marked at $69.

This Erin Fetherston Soiree Dress was a size 0 marked down to $49.

Drugstore Product Stalking: Duane Reade 1430 Broadway

Hello peanuts,

I stopped into Duane Reade during my sample sale hopping today. Honestly, I went in to escape the heat only to realize they didn't have air conditioning. Let's just say I spent an unusually long time by the yogurt and the freezers. While I was in the store, mainly being a creeper by the refrigerated drinks, I spotted quite a few clearance items and some new displays that I thought I'd quickly share with you. This Drugstore Product Stalking post is for the 1430 Broadway Duane Reade between 39th St. and 40th St. I can't guarantee that you'll find all of these items on sale at your local Duane Reade but if there's something you're interested in, it's worth stopping by, especially since in New York there seems to be a Duane Reade every few blocks.

These method soaps weren't on sale. I just think they're adorable. I would have snatched up the Minnie Mouse one if it was $3 or less.

$9.99

I was surprised to see so many of these Rimmel lipsticks on sale. I think they might be getting rid of them to bring over another line. 

There were a lot of Prevail polishes. I spotted Nolita Lolita which I reviewed all the way back in 2012. The rest of the polishes were mainly pinks and reds but I did spot some more unusual shades as well.

I also found Maybelline, Nicole by OPI, and OPI polishes on sale. The Maybelline polishes were mainly jewel tones. I saw a lot of polishes from the Metallics collection. There were quite a few Nicole by OPI polishes from the Selena Gomez collection. The selection of OPI polishes was more underwhelming but you might find something you like.

Parker Sample Sale Report June 2014

Hi chickadees,

I'm not familiar with the brand so I really had no expectations when I headed to the Parker sample sale this morning. I'd only left the Alexis Bittar maybe half an hour before I arrived at the Parker sale so it was still early but there were a lot of ladies shopping.

Prices seem good for this sale (bearing in mind that I know nothing about the brand) but personally I thought it mostly looked like mall fashion and the kind of stock you'd find at those boutiques that seem to be constantly having sales to trick you into going into the store.

There is no real rhyme or reason to the racks of clothes. Sizes from XS to L are all mixed together. Generally, dresses and blouses are at the very front near the door, sweaters and blouses can be found a little further along and skirts and bottoms are in the back apparently mixed in with the samples. I think the samples are the items without tags but I couldn't really get confirmation on that.