Kate Spade Surprise Online Sale

Who: Kate Spade

What: Handbags, shoes, clothing and jewelry at up to 75% off retail

When: Now through Feb 6, 2013 at 11:59pm

Where: Online here

Why?

Snag this bag for just $89, was $328

Shopping Round Up: Cute Rain Boots

I've done a couple shopping round ups on cute rain boots (exhibit A & exhibit B), but with what feels like never ending spring showers in the city, I felt inspired search the web for more weatherproof footwear.


Steve Madden "Tsunamii" (now $59.78, retail $80)
The ankle straps give these boots a bit of biker style, and the zipper in back make them easy to put on and take off. These boots came out in the fall, so sizes are limited. But if you can find them in your size, you can get them on sale at Zappos, Bloomingdales, Macy's, and quite a few other retailers.



Hunter "Interlaken" ($117.00-195.00)
I'm also a fan of the ankle strap detail on these Hunter boots. I appreciate that these are slimmer than the classic Hunters, and wedge heels can be helpful in balancing the frumpiness that sometimes happens with raincoats. Since my coat is a bright coral, I would probably get the black for myself, but if I had a black or more subdued coat, I might consider the purple. They seem like they'd be quite fun!


Hunter "Arolla", ($195.00)
Another option from Hunter, that's not bad. They're nice, simple black rain boots, and the shiny black from afar could look a bit like patent leather.


Rockport "Lorraine" (now $95.96, retail $119.95)
These Rockport boots are a bit chunky for my taste, but I've been considering them since they they look more like patent leather or PVC than a rubber. And I could use them for rain or snow. They have great reviews online; a lot of people have commented on how comfortable they are.



Rockport "Lorraine Chelsea" ($74.48-$110.00)
Rockport also has a bootie version of their Lorraine boots. I find something about the ultraviolet pair intriguing. I think they would look fun with a bright, bold Technicolor-inspired outfit, but I do worry that they'd be a bit too costumey for everyday wear. So for myself, I would probably get the black pair because I know I'd get a lot of use out of them.


Kate Spade "Randi" ($125.00)
These boots from Kate Spade are a bit more like your traditional rain boot, but with pops of color! The red soles and bows are a nice girly touch that would brighten up any rainy day. These darling boots would look great with a classic trench.

UPDATED: Sales This Week: February 14-20, 2011

Who: Kate Spade Sample Sale
What: Up to 75% off on Everything. Handbags from $49, Small Goods from $25, Jewelry from $29, Shoes from $75, Odds & Ends from $17
When: Now through February 18, 2011
Where: Online Only

Who: Jumelle Sample Sale
What: Up to 75% off current and past season merch from Alexander Wang, Isabel Marant, Rachel Comey, Mayle, Dieppa Restrepo, A Detacher, and Bodkin—as well as special pieces from the owners' personal closets!
When: February 17-21, 2011. Thurs-Mon noon-7:30pm
Where: 148 Bedford Avenue (b/n North 8th & North 9th St), Williamsburg, Brooklyn. 718-388-9525

Who: International Playground
What: Up to 75% off plus mark downs on the entire selection of Osborn shoes to $100.
When: Ongoing sale
Where: 13 Stanton Street (b/n Bowery and Chrystie St) 212-228-2323

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As NYFW is still going strong, not much in terms of Sample sale action, but here are a few sales to quench your thirst.

Who: LF
What: 60% off fall merch
When: Now through end of month. Mon-Sat 11AM-8PM, Sun 12PM-6PM
Where: 149 Spring St

Who: Jumelle Winter Sale
What: Up to 75% off on clothing from designers like Alexander Wang, A.P.C., Isabel Marant and Rachel Comey.
When: February 17-21, 2011. Thurs-Mon noon-7:30pm
Where: 148 Bedford Ave (near North 9th St) Williamsburg, Brooklyn. 718-388-9525

Who: Filene's Basement Running of the Brides
What: Over 2000 gowns (sizes 2 to 26) are heavily discounted. Gowns start at $249 (originally up to $10,000).
When: February 18, 2011. Fri 8am-10pm
Where: 2232 Broadway, (nr 80th St) 212-873-8000

Who: Tourneau Sample Sale
What: Up to 70% off! Credit cards only.
When: February 12-17, 2011. Sat-Thurs 9am-6:30pm
Where: Soiffer Haskin,317 West 33rd St (b/n 8th & 9th Ave)

Who: Barney's New York Warehouse Sale
What: 50-75% off designer clothing, shoes + accessories for men, women + children as well as gifts for the home
When: February 17 - March 6, 2011. Thursday February 17th - Friday February 18th @ 8:00 AM - 9:00 PM; Weekends @ 10:00 AM - 7:00 PM; Weekdays @ 10:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Where: 255 W 17th St (b/n 7th & 8th Ave)

Go: Kate Spade Igloo

If you haven’t seen it already, the Kate Spade igloo in Bryant Park is not only an adorable little place to visit and warm up before or after skating (there is free hot cocoa), it’s sort of a gift shopping paradise.  Filled with great little accessory items that are full of whimsy and sure to delight even the ficklest lady on your shopping list. 

From sparkly rings & earrings to polka dot thermos and make-up cases to plaid bags and metal link clutches it’s a world of Kate Spade waiting to happen.

The Igloo is only open now through Thursday December 16, 2010 so hurry before it closes.  Hours are 10am-10pm daily.

Seriously watching all the ice skaters lap around the rink and seeing the lit Christmas tree in the distance while I was in Bryant Park took me on a nostalgic trip of imaginary romance.

Fashion's Night Out: SRC Rocks Kate Spade Contest!

As previously mentioned, for Fashion's Night Out, Erin and Lani were invited to compete in the Kate Spade window challenge. We arrived around 8PM at the Kate Spade store on Broome St. which was already packed and had a massive line outside as Tim Gunn was signing copies of his new book entitled Gunn's Golden Rules. After organizing the teams together and explaining the rules, the window design competition began around 9pm and lasted for 60 minutes.

Each team was assigned one of Tim Gunn's golden rules (from his book) as a theme and directed to come up with a window display that reflected both Gunn's rules and Kate Spade.

After being paired up with an amazing teammate (Sarah Shine), some heavy scissor work, taping like mad women and dolling up a couple mannequins, the girls from Sugar Rock Catwalk went head to head with four other teams and came out on top winning the competition!!! The window display was judged by Deborah Lloyd (Creative Director of Kate Spade) and Tim Gunn himself! Not only that, the girls each ended up scoring an iPad, Kate Spade bag and an autographed copy of Tim's book! Kudos to Erin, Lani and Sarah for their amazing victory!!!

Since everyone wasn't able to attend the event, I thought it'd be fun to sum up the night's event with a quick picture documentary, so enjoy.

Before the Gunn:

Erin and Lani were assigned Gunn's golden rule of "Take the High Road" which served as their team's theme for the night.

After figuring out their team name, they were introduced to Sarah - the third member of their group.

Go Go Go:

A timer was set up in the store with a 60 minute countdown. At the start of the clock Tim let out his catchphrase "Make it Work". It was just like being on an episode of Project Runway!

The girls' plan of attack had two phases - the first involved dressing the mannequins while the second entailed the decoration the window.

Phase 1: The Mannequins
As soon as the clock began its countdown, all the girls went for the clothes (how typical). There were some skirts, tops, dresses, a jacket, a cardigan and some tights for the team to choose from.

Erin tackled the first mannequin and outfitted it with a blue skirt, printed blouse, and cardigan.

Lani and Sarah double teamed the second mannequin and went to work outfitting it with a patterned dress and teal stalkings. Even though the dress was easy enough to slip over the body of the mannequin, the stalkings proved to be a bit more challenging and ended up becoming a group effort!

Overall the girls had great teamwork on the mannequins! The finishing details for each outfit including the top hat, accessories and placement of the cardigan were all a collaborative effort - good stuff!

Phase 2: Everything Else
The majority of the hour was spent on designing, constructing and executing the decoration of the window display. After dressing the mannequins, the girls were left with about 45 minutes to complete the window display.

The first thing the girls did at this point was stop and think of an overall design plan they could execute. Since the theme was "take the high road", ideas were thrown out which eventually led to the infamous "yellow brick road" from the Wizard of Oz. Once the idea was formed, Erin put her Crayola marker to paper and roughly sketched out the road and some sort of skyline.

Sarah began drawing out the outline for the winding yellow brick road and was joined by Lani to finish off the tail end of the road.

While the other girls were working on the road, Erin went after the skyline piece and ended up creating a NYC skyline out of gold which served as the destination point.

Next came the more difficult task of attaching the road and skyline to the piece of card stock which hung from the ceiling that served as a backdrop for the window. Definitely easier said than done.

In the meantime, Sarah began writing out letters in gold which spelt out their team name/theme of the night -"Take the High Road".

Once the letters were drawn, the girls began cutting them out while still trying to secure the road and skyline up against the window display.

With less than 12.5 minutes to go, the mannequins made their way up to the windowsill for placement.

A whirlwind of tape ensued (used to attach the cut out letters to the window board) along with lots of additional gold star cutouts.

With less than 20 seconds on the clock, some last minute touches of gold foil confetti were added to the base of the window.

All done!

The Verdict:

Next up, Deborah and Tim began the judging process and checked out each of the five windows that were created to come up with one winner...I had a good feeling about them taking home the prize after Tim mouthed "nice work" through the window as he passed by!

Drumroll.....Tim announcing team Take the High Road as the winner!!

Congrats!!!!

The winners posing outside in front of their creation!

Photos (two above) courtesy of Cory Schwartz/Getty Images for Kate Spade New York

Here's some shots of the other windows that were created:

This was my first experience at FNO and all in all, I had a blast! Special thanks to Kate Spade for hosting such an amazing event!!

Sugar Rock Catwalk