Kleinfeld's Blowout Sample Sale: I said Yes to the Dress!
Hey Ladies!
I'm new to the forum and I'm really excited to learn / share with all of my fellow 2012 brides! Today I went to the Kleinfeld's Blowout sale, so I figured I'd post a few thoughts on my experience in case there are any future sales that you all would like to attend.
To provide full disclosure, I did not brave the crowds and fight for dresses so I can't speak to the sale from that standpoint. I purchased a pre-sale access pass from gilt.com, so for the price of $150 my mom and I were able to access the sale before it opened to the public, have our own fitting room and consultant and receive 25% off the sale price of the dress (versus non-pass attendees receiving 20% off).
Prices: The ads state that dresses are marked down 'up to' 70% off, with gowns starting at $899. I had a few designers in mind (Ramona Keveza, Alita Graham, Vera Wang), however, it appears that most of the gowns that were originally $4000 and below were only marked down 20-30%. Therefore, if you don't have a budget then you can potentially get a $10k gown for up to 70% off. Just manage your expectations, and do note that some of the gowns are truly samples ( i.e. tattered, requiring significant alternations / cleaning) but others are brand spankin' new dresses from canceled orders or discontinued designs.
Consultants: I would imagine that the consultants have less patience when they are dealing with 3-4 ladies at a time, however Lora was great with my mom and I. She truly listened to what I wanted and gave her honest opinion of what looked great on me.
Other Brides: Everyone was really positive and fun - we are getting married!
I ended up getting the attached Maggie Sottero dress from the Spring 2009 collection. The dress is show in a gold color, but i got it in ivory. This dress currently retails for $1500, but was marked down to $1199. Including my discount and NYC taxes, I paid $979 total. My runner-up dress was an Alita Graham for Kleinfeld's dress, (also attached) originally $3300, marked down to $2499.
Hope this helps a bit!
I'm new to the forum and I'm really excited to learn / share with all of my fellow 2012 brides! Today I went to the Kleinfeld's Blowout sale, so I figured I'd post a few thoughts on my experience in case there are any future sales that you all would like to attend.
To provide full disclosure, I did not brave the crowds and fight for dresses so I can't speak to the sale from that standpoint. I purchased a pre-sale access pass from gilt.com, so for the price of $150 my mom and I were able to access the sale before it opened to the public, have our own fitting room and consultant and receive 25% off the sale price of the dress (versus non-pass attendees receiving 20% off).
Prices: The ads state that dresses are marked down 'up to' 70% off, with gowns starting at $899. I had a few designers in mind (Ramona Keveza, Alita Graham, Vera Wang), however, it appears that most of the gowns that were originally $4000 and below were only marked down 20-30%. Therefore, if you don't have a budget then you can potentially get a $10k gown for up to 70% off. Just manage your expectations, and do note that some of the gowns are truly samples ( i.e. tattered, requiring significant alternations / cleaning) but others are brand spankin' new dresses from canceled orders or discontinued designs.
Consultants: I would imagine that the consultants have less patience when they are dealing with 3-4 ladies at a time, however Lora was great with my mom and I. She truly listened to what I wanted and gave her honest opinion of what looked great on me.
Other Brides: Everyone was really positive and fun - we are getting married!
I ended up getting the attached Maggie Sottero dress from the Spring 2009 collection. The dress is show in a gold color, but i got it in ivory. This dress currently retails for $1500, but was marked down to $1199. Including my discount and NYC taxes, I paid $979 total. My runner-up dress was an Alita Graham for Kleinfeld's dress, (also attached) originally $3300, marked down to $2499.
Hope this helps a bit!
