If you haven’t been to any designer sample sales and you’re wondering whether they live up to the hype, let me tell you everything you need to know about them.
First of all, there are a few different kinds of London sample sales. Sometimes individual designers will hold their own designer sample sale. They may want to sell their samples and past seasons’ clothing, and you’ll usually find them at heavily discounted prices. These may be held at their headquarters, their offices, a rented venue or one of their retail shops. Examples of these London sample sales taking place this month are Fred Perry, La Perla and Georgina Goodman.
Next you have London sample sales put on by retailers that sell numerous designer brands. At these events, you’ll be able to find designer brands at much cheaper prices than in the stores. If you are familiar with what the retailer stocks, then you may have a good idea of what to expect. Examples include the Flannels London sample sale and the Doors Jas MB sale.
Finally, you have large shopping events organised by companies and organisations such as the Designer Warehouse Sale and Designer Sales UK. They are typically held in large warehouses around London. The amount of clothing and accessories at these London sample sales may seem overwhelming at first and you’ll have to be prepared to dig to find fashion gems and top bargains.
Can you try on clothes at these London sample sales? Yes you can, but do not expect individual change rooms. Most of the time at a designer sample sale, there will just be a separate room that is blocked off by curtains with standing mirrors arranged around the perimeter. But don’t worry, if the designer sample sale carries both menswear and womenswear, there will be separate changing areas for men and women. And don’t be shy about stripping down to your knickers, everyone else is also stripping down and too busy trying on their pile of designer clothes to notice you. Here is a tip: sometimes people leave behind clothes they’re not buying in the change rooms. These are fair game to the rest of the people in the room!
Queues, queues and more queues! Popular London sample sales will require you to queue to get into the sale; you will also need to queue to try on clothes and probably queue to pay for your items. I have had to queue for half an hour just to get into a sale. I then had to queue for 20 minutes to get into the changing area, and then queue another 15 minutes just to pay. So depending on which London sample sales you go to, you may not be able to make it there and back during your lunch break.
Make sure to enjoy yourself and don’t buy something you don’t even like that much just because you feel like you have to get something at a designer sample sale. Because you don’t, and there will always be more London sample sales.
Find out the latest upcoming London sample sale.
