Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Lilly Pulitzer Warehouse Sale!

Boy, it's really been a whirlwind for the past few weeks. June tends to be busy for me, with a week at the beach and a week in Washington DC for DAR, but this year we added my 10th college reunion, my college roommate's bridal shower in Rhode Island and (dun dun dunnnn) the LP WHS! And I needed a few days to recover from that.

The Warehouse Sale (WHS- we Lilly Lovers also love our abbreviations) takes place in King of Prussia (KOP), PA (Pennsylvania (lol)). About a month ago, my mom said to me, what do you want to do for your birthday? (June 12th) Do you want to go to lunch? Or meet for dinner? I said, Mom, I want to go to KOP for the LP WHS (Mom also loves abbreviations.) Mom thought about this for about a week and then said yes, we should go. Part of her reasoning was that we went to the Vera Bradley WHS last year in Fort Wayne, IN, which is way farther than PA- we were in KY so we were kind of already halfway there, but it was still just as long a drive. Her opinion is, this is something we'll always want to do and probably wish we had, so we may as well just do it. If we don't like it, well, we've done it once, and we don't have to wonder. So we did.

The sale started on Thursday June 14th at 5am. We're not 5am people, but all the same, we drove down to KOP, leaving on Wednesday the 13th at 2:20pm. I snacked on a delicious birthday cupcake along the way (from the bakery next to Hall's in WH, I need to go there again!)

We arrived after 4.5 hours with minimal traffic at the Homewood Suites right near the Valley Forge national historic site (mom was like, oh I know where we are! I've been on this road before!). This is the hotel LP recommended and they even had a discounted rate, so I, in my Creme Fraiche Worth shift, fully expected to see some other Lilly lovers around- alas, not a one! Our plan was to unload the car, drive to KOP to visit the KOP Lilly store, go get dinner at a restaurant near there that a few people recommended, and then drive by the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center so we'd know where the sale was and how to get there/how long it'd take us. But when we checked in, we smelled tasty bbq... and the guy at the front desk said, we serve dinner Monday through Thursday, and tonight's dinner is "Backyard BBQ", it's available until 7:30. So we looked over in the food service area of the lobby.... and agreed it made much more sense to eat a free dinner here and more importantly, save time for shopping. So we had a quick, decent and free dinner, and then went immediately to the KOP mall. It's a big mall ("big" is an understatement, but I hate malls so we really avoided all other parts of it) so I called up the KOP store and asked where they were- right next to Nordstroms, which is where we were when I called. Perfect! We entered the mall and saw the Lilly store (Westfarms girls: it was basically where Harry & David is if you walk out of Nordstroms at Westfarms). I approached the Lilly store.


Cue Handel's Hallelujah chorus. I'm serious.


One of the side windows (I got enough weird looks for this picture and the above picture that I didn't take pictures of the other windows)
 The entrance! With a Lilly print turtle!


 Just inside the door, on both sides and along the ceiling above the doorway you see on the right, are all framed prints! I've seen pictures of people decorating their houses like this and liked it, but now I know I definitely have to do it! My husband wouldn't say anything against it if I decorate my sewing room this way :)

These are the chandeliers in the dressing room area. We had one girl helping us who was super nice, and she said they started out with one and then gradually added more. She's a teacher who has worked there part time since she graduated college in 2007, she said she works just enough hours to keep her in Lilly. Smart girl!

All the dressing rooms are decorated differently. I was in the Philadelphia Room, with handpainted scenes from the city.


 Well, since we were there....
Sailor's Patch Worth, size 10. I'm definitely getting this eventually, I just can't decide what print!
 Giuliana, 12. This is roomy but very comfortable. I got it on sale for $59 :-D
 Sloane in Oh Buoy, size L. LOOOOVE. oh my! I've never given Sloane a chance before, probably because this is the first one I've ever seen in person. My "local" Lilly store doesn't carry many/any maxis. I'm 5'6 and here am in flat McKims so I'd possibly need to hem it.
 Briar skirt, size L, with Patricia argyle sweater, size L. I took the sweater home with me, for $44 :)
 Jonah, size L. Jonah also came home with me, for $69

 More dressing rooms! This room was to the left of mine.
Here's the opposite wall of that same room.

 This was the bathroom!
 Never before have I taken a picture of a toilet (except in Europe where the toilets were funny), but I had to prove that the zebra room really is a bathroom. Even the back of the door was zebra!
 The dressing room across from the bathroom

 Vintage postcards dressing room! This one and the citrus room were actually really tiny, I was glad I wasn't put in there with my load of goodies to try.


 These animal busts are decoupaged either by traditional African artists or in a traditional African style, I'm not sure which.
 This one is done using the Disney print from the 70s! Unfortunately with the bright lights right by it, it was hard to photograph well with just an iphone.
 This adorable cardigan is from the new shipment, and we both grabbed it and said oh cute! Mom's in XL, I'm in M. I might size up to L, the arms were a little snug. We didn't end up purchasing, you'll see why in a few pictures.
 We were the last ones out of the store. We were having far too much fun to leave, and all the employees were far too nice to tell us to go! We didn't actually purchase anything, but I had them hold Giuliana, Jonah and Patricia for me.

Then we were off to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center, to figure out where it was! We left the mall just before 9:30pm.

The road to the expo center was riddled with these cute "Lilly Pulitzer Warehouse Sale" signs. You know I wanted to take one home... but I didn't.

What we found when we arrived at 9:30 is something I regret not photographing: about 100 people, mostly women, camped out in their Lilly pjs with their Lilly coolers and Lilly thermal cups, already lined up for the sale. At 9:30pm for a sale that opened at 5am. Someone at the store said people started lining up on Monday... I'm not sure I believe that. At first I thought they were crazy, then I thought, well.... get together with your friends and make an adventure out of it, I guess it'd be pretty fun! Then in the morning as I was in the shower I thought: ....where do they go to the bathroom? So I decided I wouldn't be interested in camping out. I put off showering til later, but...

Then we went back to the hotel, and had another adventure. I was all set to go to bed early so I could get up early, be downstairs in the lobby when breakfast opened at 6am, and we could get to the sale at 6:30. Ha, I should have known... we were both too excited to go to bed until 11:30. And when we did, mom noticed some sort of winged bug between the beds. Carpenter ants! We looked all over and there was a mini colony behind the nightstand between the beds. Fortunately, mom always travels with Raid (remnant from her time in KY, perhaps, where there are far more icky bugs than in New England), so we sprayed those mofos and settled in. I always read a chapter before going to bed, so I did that, then looked at my pillow and saw an ant on it. Gross! So that did me in. Our room was hot but I was so terrified by the thought of a carpenter ant flying into my mouth or nesting in my hair while I slept that I couldn't help but bury myself in the covers. I finally fell asleep at 3am, only to have my alarm go off at 5. Sigh. Well, pure adrenaline can carry me through a sale like this, so no matter.

We arrived at the sale just after 7am. We got a good parking space, near the front, didn't see a huge number of cars or anyone waiting outside like they'd been the night before, so we thought awesome, we're between the mad rushes so we can walk right in!

Not quite!

We waited about an hour and 20 minutes, but we talked a bit to the woman behind us, who lives in KOP and was waiting for her friends to show up. We also talked to the women behind her, who told very un-Lilly like stories so I was glad when they started talking to the people behind them- buying things at the WHS and selling them for full price to people who were "too rich and dumb to know the difference". Nice.

Someone recommended not wearing Lilly to this sale, just in case someone mistook your clothes for something for sale while you're trying on things in the changing room. Despite not planning to need to try anything on (is there anything from Fall 2011 through the first summer shipment I haven't already tried on?), I decided not to wear any Lilly, except for my really beat-up McKims that no one could possibly mistake for an item for sale. And when I walked in and saw hundreds of Lilly-cld ladies, I felt bad about that decision. So next time, I'll definitely wear Lilly!

I was hoping to meet people I knew, but my timing was off. However, as we were standing in line, someone in the row next to me said, "excuse me, is your name Catherine?" I looked at her, but she didn't familiar at all, so I said, "yes...". Turns out she is one of my repeat etsy shop customers! I've made a number of items for her using her fabric- White Zin christmas tree skirt, White Zin quilted placemats and coasters, and most recently, a Patchtastic shower curtain. She's super sweet and I love working with her, so it was a real treat to meet her! She was there with her mother, her young daughter her and very young baby boy. We ran into her that one time in line but then I never saw her again!

Other people along the line kept us entertained that 1.25+ hours, but when we got to the last row in the line, we were next to the black curtains separating the line from the sale, so we spent a lot of time peeking through and planning our attack. We would be given giant pink bags to stow all our goodies in (just like at the Vera Bradley sale), and I'd heard talk of $15 shoes, so my plan was to head towards the giant wall of shoes first, and mom was going to look at XL tops first.
 When we finally got in, I was so overwhelmed I couldn't take any pictures. And then towards the end, I was so tired from lugging around that bag to take any pictures... oh well.

The $15 shoes were great. By the time I got there, they only had navy polka dot picture perfect wedges (in all sizes) and a few pairs of natural/gold wedges. I've heard there were also flat McKims, which would have been lovely. The seconds and samples section was next to shoes, so I went there next. They had several long tables with boxes filled with random things.They had hundreds (really!) of these Minnie's sweater dresses with a zebra on them (or a giraffe?), all $10, all with damaged spots where the collar was attached to the dress. I considered getting one to save, but they all had so much damage that I didn't care enough to hunt for a decent one. My real find was the Pipster dress for $20, and mom and I each grabbed one, so I ended up with one in each color! Unfortunately my green one has some spots on it that I didn't notice til I got home, so I'll have to fuss with that. I also found a Caroline cardigan in Island Coral for $30, which wasn't a great price but it's a good cardigan- only later on I noticed it has a big smudge on the sleeve. I think $30 for a cardi with a big smudge is a little pricey. Unfortunately, a lot of people were camped around their piles of goodies in this area, so the seconds and samples table was also the "I changed my mind" table and there were a lot of items tossed over these boxes that weren't actually seconds. Not cool, you lazy bums! It was annoying to get so excited to see a Ciara or something in this area and find it was still $59.

The seconds and samples racks were even worse- I didn't see a single second/sample there- which all had pink tags, while the regular stuff had blue tags. This was all peoples' discards.

From there I went to tops (all in boxes, mostly sweaters/cardis for $100+, and short sleeve tops for $40+, which is still too much, in my opinion.) Jarveys were $49 and there were no shorts in my size. The Reef Me Up Cissys were cute, but $49. I looked at tops on the racks, but they seemed to be mostly Elsas at not very good prices and $59 Ciaras. I moved onto dresses- there was the Jonah the KOP store was holding for me, for $10 more than the KOP store's price. Many other dresses (nothing that I was actually looking for), starting at $79. I did get a Jacqueline for $99, which was a complete splurge but I really love Jacqueline.

Everything seemed to be resort or summer, but they had some older Cormick dresses that were still $79. The other shoes were all Resort Wedges for $89 or high wedge McKims for $79- that's still too much for me! I tried on a few other Resort Wedges and I conclude that, contrary to everyone's opinion, they do NOT run big- at least in the larger sizes. A 10 is still a 10, and a small 10, at that. I continue to despise those resort wedges. >:-o

The other fun thing was all the GWPs- shift ornaments, menagerie ornaments, Derby hats, tailgate totes, jewelry boxes, pencil cases, hangers, etc. I got a bunch of those. Mom somehow found cosmetic bags in the pink heart print, which I love. I vultured a bit and found one of my own at the very end.

Then, a little before 10am, we decided we were done. Actually that was a good thing, since mom got one of the very last GWPs! I was not so lucky, which made me sad because they turned out to be those framed Jubilee art prints that I recently saw on ReLilly, 3 prints for like $175 or something crazy. We didn't go way, way overboard (in my opinion), although the prices definitely added up. Also, they gave everyone a 10% off any purchase (sale or full price) at the KOP Lilly store!

Here's mom's haul: lots of GWP goodies, a coral/seahorse necklace, the GWP for the WHS, a Jacqueline as a birthday present for me, and a Coral Cascade Connell sweater that was originally for me, until she tried it on.


Here's my stash: 2 Pipsters, some GWP stuff, a cardigan, Touchy Feely Cinch one piece bathing suit, the $15 navy polka dot wedges, the heart cosmetic bag and a coral bracelet.


After the sale, we still had 2 hours before checkout, so we went back to the hotel to rest. Then we checked out and went to the KOP store to use our coupons!

The store was much busier this time, and they had new sale racks, so we each added to our purchases.

Mom bought me the Giuliana for my birthday ($59 plus 10% off) and got herself a Corinne that she plans to cut down to a top, for $34 (plus 10% off!). Also some Do The Wave napkins and plates to match the cups I got her for her birthday.



 I was a little more bratty: Abington tie wrap for $39, Saratoga sweater for $34, Patricia sweater for $44, Jonah for $69, all with an extra 10% off for a total of $160- which is a great deal for all that!


On our way out of the store, we noticed this cute little dog outside the jewel box dressing room.

 Now, onto lunch! We ate at Seasons 52, which I'd never heard of (despite it being a chain) and it was delicious. There was a 20 minute wait at 1 in the afternoon, which I've never, ever seen except at Disney World, so we expected it to be pretty good to be so popular. All their menu items are 475 calories or less, and you really wouldn't think that! Plus, there were probably 4 or 5 items each of us had trouble deciding between. I ended up getting the spicy chicken chili relleno
 and mom got the fish tacos.
 They have mini desserts, clockwise from the top: Key Lime, Mango Raspberry Cheesecake, Carrot Cake, strawberry cannoli.
 All of the food was delicious and the portions were sized perfectly! I really hope one opens in CT or MA soon!

Then we began the looooong drive home. We, of course, hit traffic all through NJ and again in CT. I was really cursing all those people I met in line who were like, "oh we're kind of nutty, we came from reeeeeeeallllly far away- it took us over an hour to get here!" ugh. We left at 2:20 and got home must before 8pm.

However, one highlight along the way happened when we stopped at the last rest area on the Garden State Turnpike. I've been looking for the 2012 animal crackers for months now, with absolutely no luck. Obviously I should have been including highway rest stops in my places to search, because here they are!

 That was a nice end to this Lillyful trip.

What was my overall impression? It was fun. I wish it weren't so far. I was very unimpressed by the prices, and the seconds and samples weren't very plentiful when I was there. I was sad to have missed every single murfee and almost every single handbag (I had the opportunity to buy a clutch for $39 but I passed and I'm sorry I did), but I think that's really just the luck of the draw. I heard they brought out more bags and samples later on the in the day, so I don't think it's simply that I didn't get there early enough.

Would I go again? It was fun enough to make it worth it, and I would definitely want to visit the KOP store again. I think next time I go, I'll drive down in the morning of the first or second day, hit the sale right when we get there (plus standing for an hour after a 5-6 hour drive would be not unpleasant!), then stay overnight and hit the sale again the following morning. I think we might have had more luck if we had another round (we tried- when I realized I hadn't gotten my GWP, we went back to ask about it (it was practically on our way out of town) and I was really planning to go in for round 2, but the line was still almost as long, and we were facing a very long drive home). If we lived closer, I'd definitely go often.

I've heard people say they go with a definite plan and a list- I think this is pointless. I had many lists from many people, and I found absolutely nothing on their lists- because nothing was there. If you want to make a list and get bargains on things, wait for the ESS, when you won't have to get up early (unless you live on the west coast), travel or wait in lines. However, the nice thing about the WHS is that you pick up an item you like, you can try it on, and when you pay for it, it's actually in your hands so you don't have to worry about your order being canceled.


Thursday, June 7, 2012

Summer! Part 1

Last week I fiiiinally made it to the big Lilly store to check out summer! I had checked out two smaller Lilly stores earlier in May, but neither had very much, only a few pieces of You Gotta Regatta and some tops. On this particular day, I was somewhat pressed for time, as I fit this “shopping” trip in between dropping my husband off at the airport and arriving on campus for my 10th college reunion. So I kept thinking, can I fit it all in? Are they open Sunday and I can come back and finish?

Well, friends, no worries on the timing, since most of their stock was spring. Le sigh.

Let’s start with the earlier trip to the smaller Lilly store in May. I came home with 2 things, a white crocheted Shauna and a green Cody cardigan (not pictured, total impulse buy when I saw it on the sale table!).

I love this Shauna. I got a L, and I really didn’t think I’d like it, but Mom urged me to try it. I definitely think it requires some undergarments, but that’s easy. Mine!
 
Next I tried the Rosalee top in worth blue with the Lynnie skirt in YGR. I’m with everyone else, I love YGR. I’m iffy on Lynnie, I tried a 10, my normal bottoms size, but it was a little tight. It may go on my list when summer goes on sale. I’m definitely getting Rosalee though. It’s cute but not crazy.

I can’t remember what this top is called (it’s not on lp.com, I think it’s from spring) but I’mnot a fan. The mesh sleeves are different and cute, but it’s sack-like. The girl working that day loves it so much and raved, but…. not for me!

 
The Millie jacket, size L. Not in love. It’s just kind of boxy and weirdly big. And why are the sleeves so long?! I have long arms anyway, I'm really not used to sleeves being like this.
 Cleo top, L. So many others love this, but I just feel like I have a chute running down my chest. But I don’t really like halters, so it already had that strike against it! I like the ruffles on the Rosalee, and I feel like I’d like this if it were a sleeveless tank, so I think it’s just the halter.
 

Gale tank in Chum Bucket, size L. I liked this! Mom wasn’t madly in love with it. I like that it’s flowy and long, but not clingy and long like Lana and Leila. Definitely doesn't work with this skirt, though!


 Now onto last Friday's trip. Up first is my favorite!! The Briony, size L. THIS IS WHAT I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR!. I want an easy-to-wear knit Lilly dress, something to just throw on and look reasonably cute. It's been so hard to find! Well, here it is. And at $118, it'll actually be affordable (once it goes on sale! I'm so cheap haha)
Now, you may be saying, hey wait, Briony has flutter sleeves.
 Well, my friends, you're right! I dont' really like them, with my broad shoulders I feel like they look like wings. I just tucked them in above.
 This next one was a surprise. This is Kolby, in a 10 (I'd prefer a 12, or to lose 10 lbs). I adored this in the catolog. Then I noticed it had a front zipper and I was completely turned off. Why? In my experience, front zippers bulge weirdly, especially around curves. I could imagine this dress puffing out very oddly and unattractively in the bust. So when I tried it on (also, the way it fit when I was shimmying into it, I can't believe I got it zipped, it seemed so small) I was very pleased to see that the zipper lies flat, and when I sit, bend over, twist around, anything, it moves the same way the rest of the dress was. Either Lilly uses state-of-the-art zippers or zipper technology has improved! So I need to have this.
 Tinsley, size 12. It looks ok here, but I didn't really love it at the time. It fit fine, though. I think I'd prefer the waistband to blend better, it's kind of a strange stripe of yellow in a non-yellow print.
 Camie. Big fat EW! I was really hoping I'd love this, since everyone else does- but just like Cassie and Somerset, it's not for me! Way to make my waist look wider than my hips! That's great.

Everyone does say to size down, and this is an M. It's big in some places and the right size in others. This is Guiding Light, and I love this print close up (light houses!) but not from afar, it just turns into a weird grey-green.
 Camie, L, in YGR. Yeah... it's big. At least now my waist looks the same size as my hips, though! No more spare tire!
 Kori dress, L. The straps are too long (what else is new?), and I think if I hadn't already tried on Briony, I'd be raving about this one. It's cute but honestly I wish the waist band were a little looser, compared to how roomy the rest of the dress is. This could be a bad choice to wear to an all-you-can-eat buffet with that waist.
 I can't remember what this is, and can't find it on lp.com, but it's an L. I liked it well enough- again, if not for Briony I'd probably like it a lot more!
 The Whitney pant! in size 10, my normal bottoms size. A lot of people are saying to size down, but I'm not sure I would- I didn't try an 8, though so I can't say for sure. The legs were baggy- thank god! I'm so over this skinny jean fad. These fit great in the hips/butt, and were just a little roomy in the waist. I think I'd rather get this size and nip them in at the waist.
 Then there's the length issue. I'm not a huge fan of cuffing my pants (I think I had my fill of that in middle school). Here's unrolled- kind of an odd ankle length.
 Here's if I hemmed them to be capris.
 In conclusion, I think I like Whitney. I think I'll keep my eye out for a pair of 10s in Chum Bucket once it's all on sale.

Kiera, size 12. I couldn't zip it. I don't love it- but it's not as bad as Eryn. I do love these shades of blue.
 Hilary, size 12. Yikes! I had no hope of zipping this one, and again, I don't like halters. It was more because they had the same stuff as the last time I was there and I still had some time to kill.
 Delia, size 12. Why can't these be longer?!? It's such a great shift! But I can't wear this in public and actually move around, get in to and out of a car, etc.
 I also hate the zipper on Delia. I'm fine with the exposed zipper, I really have no opinion on that. I like the grosgrain trim. But a neon pink grosgrain trim that clashes with the pink in YGR? WHY!??! I think it looks terrible. Like they found a hidden stash of grosgrain ribbon leftover from the 80s and used it to cut costs. It's just jarring. Thank goodness this isn't a front zip dress and at least the wearer doesn't have to look at it all the time!
 Finally, Grace shorts, size 10. I'm a bermuda girl. I like to hide my legs as much as possible. Also, sitting is comfortable in bermudas. Sitting is decidedly NOT comfortable in callahans, since the hems cut into my thighs, and on top of be uncomfortable, my thighs bulge around that hem. Gross. Bermudas prevent that. Grace has a 7in inseam, smack dab in the middle of Bermuda and Callahan. There is very minimal thigh bulging when sitting. I may consider these. It'd be nice to have a different length of short to choose from.

Hopefully the Lilly store will get another shipment at some point so I can go check it out! There were a few other summer goodies I wanted to try, but were only available in size 6 or smaller, which is totally useless for me. I also kind of ignored all the tops, for some unknown reason. And I was disappointed to see no maxi dresses, since people are raving about those, and I might actually like them.