Sample Sale Shopping in LA

This weekend Cathy and I took a mini vacation for us. We dropped Benjamin off with his grandmas and we went to Los Angeles.

Today's entry is about the main purpose of our trip, sample sale shopping. Since I've lost almost 50 pounds I've found that I only have a limited amount of clothes in my wardrobe. So Cathy suggested a while back that we go to the sample sales in Los Angeles' fashion district. Cathy had gone previously with her girlfriends and talked about how you could get designer clothes that normally retail for $150-$200 for $30 or even less. So off we went to LA.

Every Friday the designers open their doors and sell off the sample merchandise they use to show wholesale buyers from the previous month. At the end of the month most designers just want to get what they put in for materials.

My overall impression is that sample sale shopping can be fun but for the most part it's for women and children. I was one of the few men who could be found roaming the buildings looking for clothes designed for men.

Meanwhile Cathy was hitting every office/shop in two buildings and finding great stuff for very little. I got frustrated after the first building. The only thing I could find for men in the California Market Center building were designers selling their sample suits. Considering I have one suit and it's 10 years old I left and went next door.

Over in the New Mark Building I found much more to my liking. Again the majority of the stores were for women but I managed to find mens' shirts and jeans.

I first picked up a pair of Tommy Bahama swim trunks for $10 and normally they go for around $60. They had some other things but size was a big issue in a lot of the stores which I will talk about later.

I was about to pass this one designer's store when the woman behind the counter waved me in to see what all they had. The men's shirts were in the back which is where I found the designer Georg Roth helping customers. Georg was a very kind and helpful man who took one look at me and knew I was a medium in his shirts. He then went over to some racks and pulled out some styles he thought would look good on me. I ended up buying four shirts and a pair of jeans because he took time and found things that complimented me and fit me the way I like. It was also cool to have the actual designer style you.

I caught up with Cathy and took her around to some stores I thought she'd like. We tried on some jeans for me but nothing seemed to fit. I'm a 33x30 and most of the jeans were 32x32. (You know because only male models shop at these things.) The shirts were sized large for the most part which I'm a medium. The only things I could do was find a limited group of shirts in medium and a pair of jeans that will now have to be tailored for my length.

Now the really bizzare part of this kind of sale shopping is that these designers don't have any fitting rooms. That's because wholesale buyers aren't buying for themselves they're buying for department stores and boutiques. So the only thing you can do is drop your drawers in the store to see if the jeans or shirt fit.

The experienced shoppers (women) will either wear lycra bottoms or a skirt (like Cathy) to try on bottoms without exposing themselves. Some women just don't care because it's by and large other women or the occasional gay man.

One of the stores I went to with Cathy was a bit uncomfortable. Most of the women were walking around in their underwear trying on various outfits while I held Cathy's bags. She headed over to this one rack to look at a shirt and there were two other women practically naked and I didn't have to pay a cover charge. Very weird.

At the ned of the day Cathy and I were fruitful with our shopping. We both felt like we found some great clothes and didn't spend a lot in the process. I have to say that I think I have found some better deals on better fitting clothes at the outlet malls in Orlando but it was a fun adventure.

And by no means do I have to surrender my man card.