YOUR WEEKEND PLANS: Fivestory Brings Uptown Downtown For This Weekend's Sale

Have you fully picked through the final clearance racks at Saks, Barneys and Bergdorf's without finding shopping fulfillment? Don't worry. There's still some serious sale shopping to be done before you need to turn your attention to the spring collections. FIVESTORY, the luxe boutique just off Madison Avenue has shipped its trove of clearance merchandise to the Bowery Hotel for its Off-Site Sale with reductions from 60% to 80% off original retail prices. The Shophound stopped by the VIP preview  this morning to get a idea of what shoppers can expect. 

Look for the sign on West 3rd street (at right) that will guide you to the side entrance of the hotel. Down some rustic stairs and into a fairly stripped down room you will find the racks and tables carefully organized. Fivestory is not a huge retail establishment, and so, there is not necessarily an abundance of anything in particular, but there is a little bit of everything if you have the patience to sift through the racks. Pricing is simple. A red dot on the tag is 60% off and a blue one means 80% off what appeared to be previous seasons' merchandise. The women's racks ranged from sportswear to extravagant eveningwear. A quick glance through revealed labels like Thakoon, Carven and Giambattista Valli. There were plenty of shoes arranged around the perimeter of the selling area neatly in boxes from labels like Nina Ricci, Aquazurra and Aperlai. Staffers were still setting up a couple of children's racks near the entrance, and two large tables in the center held men's shirts and sweaters, while more racks for men were found toward the back of the room. It wasn't terribly crowded, but the shoppers who were there were snapping things up enthusiastically.

We actually saw more menswear than we were expecting, so guys shouldn't feel like there won't be anything for them. We saw good pieces from Ovadia & Sons, White Mountaneering, Michael Bastian, Bespoken, Comme des Garçons Homme and Orlebar Brown to name a few. There was a particularly good selection of outerwear in technical fabrics from Ten C. There was even some stock from Japanese cult label Visvim as well as sporty and now quite inexpensive things from Wings + Horns. Possibly the best bargain was an abundance of basic but high quality private label Scottish cashmere knits for men on the center tables which at 80% off came in at Uniqlo prices.

Anyone who still has a clearance shopping urge should definitely stop by. The sale officially opens to the public tomorrow, January 17th (although you can probably get in today without any problem) and runs through Wednesday the 22nd. As always, we suggest getting there as early as possible. Have a look at below a couple shots of the sale in very quiet mode earlier today. Check our SALE ROLL at left for more details.

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