Boden Sample Sale in Pittsburgh!

Save the date for a Boden Sample Sale in Pittsburgh (newly added to the calendar after the Hershey one fell through!) on Saturday, June 8th at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, downtown! From 10am-4pm. Register here for a $5 off coupon!

Boden Sample Sale Tote Bag

The last few sales have featured adorable and useful canvas bags as gifts with purchase! I use mine (shown above) all the time!! I'm not sure if this upcoming sale will have them but it was a great surprise and made the discounted purchases even more worthwhile.

I've written about the sale extensively before. It's very worthwhile for any Boden fans of their women's line. They often also have Baby Boden, Mini Boden, and Johnny B. They have a huge table of shoes and some accessories too. In the past they have had menswear though it has been years since the sale has featured much for men. My tips and tricks for the sale are included here and a price list is here. I am happy to answer any questions you may have about it. I will be helping to set up the sale the day prior and I will be there all day on Saturday so be sure to say hello if you go! 

Recent Buys

I haven't had much time to shop since last fall but I've still managed to buy a few things (other than baby clothes... which are their own can of cute, addictive consumer worms, particularly from Tea Collection and Baby Gap).

The Stella and Dot-esque bracelets were on a flash sale site. The Kate Spade book clutch was marked down considerably. Everything except the chair in the bottom row came from ebay. So I did get some good deals at least. This list isn't comprehensive but it does have what I consider to be the highlights.

Bargain Alert for Lovers of Bailey 44 Column Dresses

Tank dresses similar to Anthropologie's Maia Column, and Petite Column dresses

I am not usually one to promote knock-offs but many Anthro-philes have lamented the retail price point, quality, and full-price sellout of Bailey 44's column dresses, available at Anthropologie in various iterations over the last year. Recently, while browsing my Google Reader, I noticed that the lovely and always well-dressed Najeema of A Stylized Hysteria was wearing a maxi dress that looked suspiciously familiar, with its askew, zig-zagging stripes and its potential to flatter a range of figures. In her entry, Najeema mentioned that she found it at TJ Maxx and the brand was Max Studio. I decided to check out my local Marshalls and TJ Maxx to see what was up.

Tank dresses similar to Anthropologie's Ines Column and Scrolled Column Dresses

Although I couldn't track down the exact maxi shown on Najeema (which is a shame because I love the full length of it) I did find striped and lacy tank tops, shorter dresses, and maxi skirts from Max Studio as well as other brands, adopting a very similar aesthetic to Bailey 44's.

 Bailey 44-esque maxi skirt

In my research I found the "real" Column dresses to be made with nicer and thicker fabrics, offering a bit more coverage than these cheaper versions. But all of the discount options I saw (from checking two Marshalls and one TJ Maxx) were available for $19.99-$34.99, making them an undeniable bargain, comparatively speaking. I imagine the simple design elements and the popularity of the column dresses mean we'll be seeing a lot of brands attempting their own versions in the coming months.

If you missed out on the Bailey 44 Column dresses, do you think you will buy one of the bargain options?

Take additional 40% off sale items from Cusp and Neiman Marcus

Day Dresses
Sandals

GAH the 4th of July sales are killing me! As excited as I am to be pregnant, I decided that it would be silly and impractical to shop until I figure out where my body ends up post-partum. So I am sitting on the sidelines during many fantastic sales. Neiman Marcus's women's contemporary outpost, CUSP put their sale on sale today. And there are some amazing deals to be found on Tibi, Rebecca Taylor, Nanette Lepore, Diane von Furstenberg, Splendid, Shoshanna, Milly, Tory Burch, and more.



I also realized that Neiman Marcus has put their sale on sale (an additional 40% off) so I hypothetically shopped my favorites from the Kate Spade, Tory Burch, DVF, See by Chloé, and MBMJ offerings, below. I'll be back this week with a great giveaway opportunity but in the meanwhile, happy shopping!

Day Dresses
Sleeveless Tops

More Anthropologie at Gabes

I stopped at the Greensburg Gabriel Brothers after being there for work this week and found a few racks of Anthropologie tops, pants, jumpsuits, and misc. Free People items. Sadly there weren't many dresses but there were quite a few cardigans and blouses. Now I want to check out the Pittsburgh area stores to see what they've received recently! Any other Pittsburgh or SWPA shoppers spot any "Anthopology" racks at their local Gabes?

Kate Spade Friends and Family

Day Dresses
Wallets

FYI, Kate Spade stores, outlets, and katespade.com are having a friends and family sale now through Saturday at 11:59 PST. Above are some of my favorites currently on the website (and mostly in the sale section! I love stacking discounts and am itching to buy this dress). Use code FFSPR12 for 25% off all items. For the Jack Spade fans, the code is JSFF12. You can also shop through ebates to get a 3.5% cashback! Happy shopping!