New York à la Keiko: In pictures: Marchesa Sample Sale [December 2012 NYC sample sale]

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

In pictures: Marchesa Sample Sale [December 2012 NYC sample sale]

$150 at the sale! Pic Bergdorf Goodman

I was browsing and drooling over Marchesa gowns just last week for wedding gown ideas but at the exorbitant prices, it was mostly for inspiration. Then RackedNY's Dealfeed posted a sample sale and I thought it was fate..or something. Gowns starting at $100? Impossible! However, the Couture gowns do not start at $100.

As I got there around 11:30 a.m., right before lunch break, there was a line of about 10-15 girls waiting to get in. They were letting 5 people in at a time because of stuffy hot temperature inside the show room. Apparently, there was a long line in the morning and small dress sizes were picked over and it was apparent by the time the lunch break crowd came to shop. Some styles of dresses were well stocked but for all the "prettier" and for what I thought were more desirable dresses from Marchesa and Notte by Marchesa gowns, I did not see any sizes under 6 except for maybe 1 or 2 cocktail dresses. Of course I didn't go through every style but the styles I was interested in, size 4 was scarce. There were 6 racks in total of gowns and 1 rack hung with reserved dress which had styles that I did not find anymore on sale. Bummer. In the dressing rooms, girls had size 0 , 2 and 4 on hand. Probably the last ones I think. The dresses were going fast and the styles being tried on were no longer on the rack and some were absolutely gorgeous. I spotted a girl trying on this $1200 Marchesa Couture gown which was probably priced at like $5000-$10,000 or more I can imagine. By the time I left, another girl had picked it up for her wedding dress! There was only one left at the sale and the one and only apparently. There were still many gowns when I left but sizes were big. A good amount of clutches and handbags were still on display and they were $300-600 and $750. I think they retail from $2000 for the python clutches up to $4000 for the Swarowski beaded clutches/purses or clutches. I saw Spring 2012 clutches and handbags in the mix. At $300, it's a bargain?

There are two days left to the sale and unless you know a good seamstress that can transform those size 14 to size 6, it is not worth it. $100 cocktail dress or $150 gowns by Notte (normally retailing up to $1000+) are a plenty and these Greek goddess gowns with embroidery in lilac and cream were worth trying at only $150 a pop. I tried them on but size 6 were too big in the chest department for me and I almost picked up a black lace trimmed dress in size 4 but decided that it did not scream Marchesa so I put it back on the rack and noticed the other sizes were already one. It is up to you if you want to check it out. I was told that the last sale, there were no markdowns and 5 handbags left.