STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

The Weekend Edition of the Wall Street Journal has a great article on sample sales and how they are not as good for deals as they used to be because they are no longer exclusive.

What do you all think?

As someone who has been sample sale-ing for at least five years, I sometimes feel like I am going through the motion at sales. I wait, try stuff on and buy something just because I am there, not because I really want/need anything. The sales are getting more out of control and it is has gotten harder and harder to get a bargain or a deal on items. It isn't as much fun as it used to be. Although I'm sure it would be if I was invited to the secret sales.

Here are a few bits. There is also a great chart, but I have no idea how to attach.

By Rachel Dodes
Hungry for a deal, Heidi Callan waited in a 30-minute line outside the San Diego Sheraton Hotel & Marina to attend a designer sample sale.

After registering online and printing out her confirmation email, the 32-year-old San Diego accountant was disappointed once she got inside. Her search for True Religion and Antik Denim jeans turned up styles that were from older seasons. The price for one pair, $109.99, was about half off retail, but not the steep 75% discount she'd expected. "It's not as good of a deal as I had hoped," Ms. Callan said. "But after waiting in that line, I am getting something."
Once exclusive events restricted to the fashion cognoscenti, sample sales have gone mass-market. Until fairly recently, designer sales were typically held by New York showrooms once or twice a year, and a limited number of coveted invitations were sent out. The events were a way to generate buzz among tastemakers and recoup expenses for producing "samples" -- the size 2, 4 or 6 garment prototypes shown to store buyers and worn by models prior to mass production.

But as retailers have consolidated, squeezing many smaller independent designers, the sample sale is emerging as a more significant marketing event and even a profit center for some labels. Increasingly, the sales are open to just about anyone, and they're less likely to include actual samples than excess inventory, returned orders and pieces produced especially for the sale. In the process, sample sales are following a similar evolution to that of outlet stores, which started out as true repositories for slightly damaged or overstocked goods but have evolved into huge retail operations in their own right. Indeed, the term "sample sale" has become something of a misnomer, though the term is still widely used.
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But it's also changing the equation for consumers, who may have a harder time telling whether they're getting a real deal or not. While we found a floral bias-cut silk dress marked down from $3,775 to $300 at the Tuleh sample sale in New York, for example, discounts start at just 20% off at another sale called Shecky's Girls Night Out. The goods are also sometimes different than what's offered in stores. Designers Diane von Furstenberg, Lilly Pulitzer and Cynthia Steffe say they will sometimes use fabric from previous seasons to cut garments for the sample sale, while Alice + Olivia will sell returned orders and damaged goods, as well as samples.

There are tricks to navigating the new sample sale. Look for true samples, for example, which are usually from the current season and often labeled with a large tag; they only come in the sample size of 2, 4 or 6. Accessories and shoes tend to be a better bargain, since they're typically marked up at retail by 150% to 300%, while apparel can sell for double the wholesale price.
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s the sales have grown, some customers have given up. They "were wonderful back when it was just the designers having them," says Karina Houghton, a San Francisco-based entrepreneur who still remembers the Dolce & Gabbana dress she bought for under $100 at a New York sale nine years ago. "Now everyone has something they call a sample sale." Ms. Houghton says she skips sample sales altogether now and focuses on department store sales. She goes to Nordstrom's half yearly sale, for example, where she recently got a Chloé grecian dress from Spring 2006 for 75% off.

Some of the most coveted designers still keep their sample sales exclusive. Chloé, the label known for its $1,500 "Paddington" bag, invited only fashion editors, stylists and "friends of the house" to its sale in June. Prada's sample sale is being held next week, and to get in, shoppers must schedule an appointment through a special Web site, www.pradasamplesale.com11. The first day of the sale is reserved for fashion editors and other VIPs, who are emailed an access code to enter on the site's registration page. Manolo Blahnik's sale, which is slated for sometime in November, is open to the public but editors from fashion magazines get first dibs. Chanel reportedly discontinued its sample sale for all but employees two years ago. The company declined to comment.

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