Monday, December 6, 2010

Tis the Season... not to be Shopping?

To say that I am a little behind on my Christmas shopping this year is an understatement!  So yesterday we decided to head out to Woodbury Common Premium Outlets in Central Valley, New York.

Woodbury Common Premium Outlets
We realized our mistake as soon as we arrived! Even though the photos look pretty, it was a frigid and blustery 31°F!!  There were even flurries!  This meant that waiting in line for 30 minutes outside the Coach Factory Outlet was pure torture!

Even as early as 10:45 A.M., the line outside Coach was long!
To make your shopping experience even more enticing, Coach was offering an additional 30% off coupon on already discounted prices inside the store!
30% Off Coach Coupon
Needless to say, the store was a complete wreck!  So many people had been in there that some of the leather on the bags and wallets had been scratched!  People were grabbing items then discarding them around the store.
Low Prices at the Coach Factory Outlet
The wallets were tossed into a heap and not neatly stacked as they usually are!
This was crazy!  I didn't see as many people in any other store there!
It was so crazy here that we left.
After wrestling through the crowds for about 20 minutes, we decided to give up.  I couldn't really find anything I liked.  A lot of the latest arrivals at the Coach outlets are made-for-outlet bags and honestly, they don't look good at all.  I would have bought a wallet as a gift, but the only one I found that I liked was scratched.

In fact, the only exciting find was the Julia Small Leather Bag in purple that Britney Spears has been carrying around for months, on sale for around $98.  
Coach Julia Small Leather Purse
In the end, I was not going to stand in line for another 30 minutes waiting to pay for a scratched wallet, so we decided to make a hasty exit.

Our next stop, was Longchamp.  And what a pleasure - what a difference!  The store was busy and bustling but not nearly as chaotic as Coach.

Longchamp Outlet at Woodbury Common
I spotted some gorgeous overnight bags for around $1,000 each, although that is way over my budget!  Maybe one day, sigh...


Longchamp Leather Bags
They had a cute selection of Longchamp makeup bags and coin purses, but I didn't find these in the colors I like.
Longchamp makeup bag and coin purse
The Longchamp Pliage bags are so popular that even the outlet store was selling them at full price!
Longchamp Pliage Bags

 I fell in love with this little lovely, on sale for $225!  But once again, it was not budget friendly.


Longchamp Planetes


Next stop Balenciaga!  Balenciaga is my Holy Grail designer of bags!  I am completely obsessed!  Regretfully, even I have to admit that this store is rather underwhelming.  It is immaculate (the polar opposite of the hot mess that Coach is), but it is very uninspiring, as is their scant purse selection.


Balenciaga Outlet Store
Unfortunately, the staff in this store are less than friendly (maybe because I wasn't carrying one of my Balenciaga's this day?), and they followed me around, hovering annoyingly at every turn, so I was only able to snap one little photo when someone came into the store and started to ask a few questions.  Although, they did have two of their infamous motorcycle bags there with Giant Silver Hardware.  One was a 2008 Vert Gazon & Pink Floral SGH City for around $970.
Balenciaga had an additional 20% off select handbags
I wasn't able to snap any photos at the Prada store, but they have recently revamped it and there was a decent selection there.  It's much better than it used to be.


After more looking around, we decided to head out to one of the malls instead, because the selection at Woodbury Common seemed very limited this year.  In the end, we only ended up purchasing some baking tins from William Sonoma, at 40% off at Woodbury Common.  I don't think I've ever been to these outlets and bought so little!


I did buy a few little things at the Mall, but more about that in my next post.


Until next time,
- The Sassi Wench!