I went to the Aritzia Warehouse sale yesterday morning. I was lucky to be able to get one of my best friends to go with me, but she isn’t that big of a shopper so she really helped me grab sizes and hold my stuff. I’m super grateful to her.
Anyways, I did end up going and with armed all the tips taught to me by the Mallvibes tread, I was ready to go in, grab my stuff, and get out as soon as possible.
I left my house at around 6:30 AM and got there promptly at around 7:40. The line was really long already (but not as long as the Coach boxing day sale line, which took me 4.5 hours to get to the front), almost to Lolo’s, but when the doors opened at 8:00, it was only about another 5-10 minutes before I was able to go in.
When I got in, I immediately headed for the jeans table which was right in the middle of the room. It is supposed to be organized by brand and sizes, but by the time I got there, it had become a huge mess of a pile. I grabbed a few pairs of jeans in my size and then went off to explore the other areas of the sale.
I ended up with these purchases:
- Black Citizen of Humanity high rise jeans
- Dark blue 7 for all Mankind midrise jeans
- Lighter blue Fidelity low rise jeans
- Purple Delphine flowy top
Supposedly on the first day of the sale, there were UGGs on sale for $60 (!!!), but obviously they ran out within the first 15 minutes. Other things that MV members said they bought include See by Chloe leather handbags, A&F/Hollister stuff, Lululemon. There were also many styles of Rocks on the first day, but all of the good sizes ran out and by the time I got there on the second day, the only sizes left were 31+.
Here are some tips that I collected:
- Use a TNA shoulder bag to carry your stuff, instead of in your arms. I learned this the hard way by carrying everything in my arms. It became really hard to look for stuff with a pile of clothes in my arms, plus today I woke up with my arm so sore it was hard to move. You don’t have to buy the TNA shoulder bags, but just remember to bring it back after you’ve decided what you’re going to get.
- Try as many pairs of jeans on as possible, even ones that aren’t your size (1-2 sizes bigger and 1-2 sizes smaller). I normally wear a 28-29 for jeans (both designer and regular jeans), but the 7FAM and COH jeans that I bought were both in size 30 (the Fidelity jeans were in 28). They all fit very similarly and it led me to believe that the fit of the jeans all depend on the type of denim used. The 2 jeans in size 30 were both harder denims that stretched very little, but the Fidelities were a bit more stretchy. So try them all one, you might be surprised at what fits and what doesnt. You should’nt pass on a nice pair of jeans just because its one size bigger than what you normally wear!
- Go with a friend. It totally sucks waiting in line by yourself, even if you enjoy shopping solo like me. You’ll need your friend to tell you which jeans look “better” on you, rather than look “good,” when you are trying on 20 pairs in the same time period. You’ll also need a friend to convince you that you’re never going to get to wear all 10 blouses, even if they are only $20 a pop.
- DON’T bring a handbag; they make you coatcheck everything and that wastes time, precious time you can be spending by running over to the jeans section. If you have a wristlet, use that (not a clutch). Anything you can stuff a bandeau in, they make you check. Coatcheck is free, its just that much more time consuming. I brought all of my stuff in a coin pouch that fit my drivers license, credit cards (in case one fails to work), coins and bills, and keys. That went in one pocket while my cellphone went in the other.
- Don’t bring valuables with you, only what you need like your phone and whatever money you will be spending there. Apparently people were losing their wallets with tons of cash in it, others had to leave their blackberries on the ground while they changed. It just makes you unfocused on the task at hand and creates extreme inefficiencies.
- Don’t wear your designer labels to the sale. You’re not going to a party, you’re going to war and you want to come out winning. Tons of people have gotten their Rocks stolen by other customers, either just stolen outright, or “purchased” from Aritzia. I suggest wearing pants that you can put on a take off quickly, and maybe a tank top or beater that you don’t have to remove when you’re trying stuff on. Also, you shouldn’t be wearing anything underneath your clothes that you would be embarassed to show. The changeroom is just a section of the warehouse that is curtained off, but it is still a big area and everything basically just changes in that area. So if you wear that lacy thong that you don’t want anyone but yourself to see, everyone will see it!
Hope my tips helped, if you have any questions or other tips, feel free to leave a comment or e-mail me!
