It was during this past Christmas shopping season when I spotted her. I left the office and headed to the mall to pick up a few gifts. I was lucky. I had extra cash in my Longchamp bag because I was gifted with a fine and dandy Christmas bonus.
The bonus afforded me the pleasure of giving to others without being stressed out over credit card charges.
You KNOW I’m a giver. I couldn’t wait to hit the sales!
As I walked in the direction of my favorite store, J. Crew, I saw a sign with bright red lettering. So festive for the Holidays. The sign read 50% Off!
You had me at “Sale”!
And as I made my way into the store, with every intention of buying for others, I saw her. She was on a hanger. A foot away from me. In her plaid, quilted glory. The J. Crew Stewart Plaid Lady Jacket. I walked over. Breaking into a cold sweat from the overwhelming flush I get every time I see the color “plaid”! I touched her. Lightweight. Not wool, this minx of a Lady Jacket, but a natural 100% polyester of the best blend! The lining—a deep forest green that made the perfect companion to the same green that was blended into the plaid. I tried her on. The 8 fit perfectly. It was a fit that lent itself more to the snug side rather than the loose. She was a charmer and I looked so “fetch”!!
The Mother of all Lady Jackets. I immediately fell in love–with the jacket! Look at that plaid. Look at the detail in the trim. This HAD to be mine!
And then I glanced down at the price. At $228.00 I was a bit taken aback. I couldn’t justify spending even half of that price—not when my generosity for others was overflowing.
Instead, I made the purchase of a different Lady Jacket. A black textured one. The fit was much looser but could be worn with a heavier sweater underneath. At a price point of $198.00 and a coupon for $20.00 off, the price of 79.00 was a more affordable one.
J. Crew has to start placing models who eat a meal on their site. She needs to eat at least a peanut or seventy! This jacket looks better on a more filled-out body! Like mine!
A short while later, I was armed with gift cards and my own sale item. The Lady Jacket that I liked. I didn’t love it. Surprisingly enough, I ended up wearing the second choice quite a bit during Christmas and up to the present.
Bad quality pic but here’s the black Lady Jacket on me. It’s so chic and Channel-ee. Mr. Karl would even agree that it looks elegant!
I love blazers. I also love Chanel-inspired jackets. But here’s the thing. I cannot afford the real deal. I’m not wealthy. And so, I look for a similar style at a sale price. That sale price could be a bargain. And sometimes when I make a purchase of an item on sale, it turns out not to be the great bargain I thought it would be.
Back to the Stewart Plaid Lady Jacket. A few days after Christmas I received an email from my best friend, J. Crew. I was instructed to open the email to discover new sale items! Lo and behold, the Stewart Plaid Lady Jacket was on sale. The sale price was $159.99. Oh. It gets better. The was an additional 50% off that sale price. Final price $79.50. My fingers never worked faster!
Unfortunately, at that early hour of the morning, 8 AM to be exact, there was a glitch with the J. Crew site and I was unable to order. I walked into the office sulking. A few hours later, I decided to try my luck again. The glitch was fixed but the jacket was no longer available in my size.
I was so upset that I went to twitter to the J. Crew’s customer service, @jcrew_help. It pays to tweet your painful heart out. Didn’t the good folks at @jcrew_help find the jacket in my size.
I made the purchase, I received the jacket and I’m absolutely in love with it and will be wearing it for a long, long time!
I’m so in love with this jacket! Here it is all dressed down for Saturday errands! It’s so perfect!
This sale priced-jacket turned out to be a great bargain for me. Due to the fact it isn’t wool, and it is lightweight means I get to wear her in the Winter, Spring and Fall. I’ll allow her to air out during the heat of the summer!
My two Lady Jackets! The sale purchases ended up being great bargains! Both will be worn often! Both ARE being worn often!
Sales are great events and if you shop them wisely, you will make great investments. It pays to think out a purchase! When we travel, oftentimes I’m in Paris during the “Soldes” and don’t think I don’t take advantage of that!
If you plan to travel overseas, you will luck out if you coincide with the “Soldes”. The prices and bargains are not to be believed!
I have another sale item that turned out to be the bargain of the century. I’ve written about it before but I’ll revisit. My Longchamp le Pliage weekender/duffle bag—the best deal ever at Charles de Gaulle airport a couple of years ago. 43 euros. I’m pretty sure it was marked down that low because of the color. A creamy white. But I don’t care. I welcome dirt and filth to adhere to any item of luggage that I have because nobody will make an attempt to steal my shit! I cannot begin to tell you how many flights, how many weekend trips that trusty bag has been on.
The cream colored bag is the one I got for practically nothing at CDG airport in Paris. I was also lucky enough to be traveling during the sales! This holds a ton of stuff and I don’t have to check it in!! Best. Bargain. Ever!
It was the deal of the century.
I have a couple of duds too. J. Crew recently added a Tippi Turtleneck to their line of lightweight sweaters. The sweater, when new, looks great. The length is wonderful—especially for me who is long waisted. I loved it so much that purchased three of them at a great sale price.
Then I washed one of the turtlenecks. And it shrunk a bit. In length. I wouldn’t have minded if it shrunk in width—I like a snug fit. But length—unh unh. Shrinkage of just a half-inch in length is bad for me. My choices of wearing this shrunken sweater are now limited; making the sale price no bargain. In addition, I’ll have to dry clean the others, making the price per wear higher.
The sale price on these Tippi Turtlenecks turned out not to be a great bargain after all. Can you see how much the black sweater shrunk in length. I was so upset but I learned a lesson!
I have another recent sale item in my possession. Donna of “Grandlakestyle” on Instagram brought this beauty to my attention. It’s one of those super cozy, toasty, wintery sweaters that is perfect for lounging at home, or a casual day at the office or for running errands. Total? $19.99 from the J. Jill site. It’s adorable. For the price, this is a sweater that’ll be worn winter after winter and during the Christmas season—and it isn’t ugly!
This sweater is so stinkin’ adorable! And it is comfy and cozy to boot!
I wore this just hangin’ around the house. It’s so warm too! It was a great deal at $19.99 which included shipping!
My other prized possession of this season is the J. Crew Factory version of the infamous Schoolboy Blazer. My plaid passion. It was half off of the sale price of $89.99. The construction is excellent and not shoddy at all. The fabric is heavy and this is just as good as the original J. Crew Schoolboy Blazer. It is a great item to have! And was worth every penny of the $45.00 I ended up spending on this!
My little plaid Schoolboy!
I’m a sucker for contrasting detail like this red fabric around the collar. It makes me love popping it!
Isn’t it adorable? I love a blazer with jeans because it gives a polished look!
Old Navy has a wicked T Shirt dress that I’ve written and raved about. Damn! It’s on sale for $12.97 now. I have a Large and even with my weight loss the Large still fits although I notice it is looking a bit looser. The dress was a huge bargain at $15.00 and I hope this little gem is brought back for next summer’s season. I have two in black, two in gray and one in blue and trust me, this is a dress that has been and will continue to be worn many, many times over.
Photo on the left. I took my pajama bottoms and sweatshirt off just to show you how this looks. The top is getting a bit loose but even with a substantial weight loss, the L fits very well! Photo on the right is from earlier in the fall layered with a denim jacket, scarf tights and boots. It’s a versatile three-season dress and you can’t beat the price. I’ve washed these dresses tons of times and no shrinkage. I air dry!
These dresses have also been traveling with me for two years now. They pack very well!
Old Navy also made a killer T-shirt that was five bucks. The length and fit were perfect and when I found out the shirt was discontinued, I hoarded! It’s still a bargain!
I still have some that haven’t been worn or opened. I LOVE these tees!
I don’t buy clothing at full price. Never. I will stalk an item until it is on a special sale or until it is marked down.
In France, I load up on beauty items and skin care. All at sale or bargain prices.
My mecca of all things discounted beauty and skincare! On the corner of Rue Bonaparte and Rue du Four. The best corner in Paris!
Many of the items in our home were purchased during sales (with the exception of the overpriced Ethan Allen sofa that I can’t stand looking at).
All of these items were well-thought out and frugal spending choices. That sofa? It’s a Cindy Crawford sofa and it has held up better than the Ethan Allen one! Sometimes the pricier version isn’t always the best!
How’s about you? You go after the sales or not? How do you shop? Do you have some great deals you want to share? I’m nosy and need to know!
WAIT!! Before I end this post!! Last night Jimmy Fallon returned from the Golden Globes to do the first Tonight Show back. HE THANKED MY ROMAN ON-AIR!! The link is below. Get past the commercial and watch the first minute of his monologue. He runs up to Roman and hugs him! I wish I had been there–better yet, it’s good I wasn’t–I would have embarrassed my son!
http://www.nbc.com/the-tonight-show/video/queen-latifah-fred-armisen-the-flaming-lips/3449293
You like “Sale-ing?” Because writing this post made me think of the song “Sailing” by Christopher Cross. 1979. I loved that song!!
