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It’s a heavenly spring day when Chantell Beaumont suddenly feels the hair on her arms stand on end, then her mouth is dry and her hands clammy. Is the 29-year-old having a heart attack?
Not exactly. It’s the shoes.
“I always get like this during a sample sale,” says the fashion blogger.
But this isn’t just any sample sale.
It’s the fabled invite-only Christian Louboutin event, which has fashionistas tearing out each others’ extensions for luxury heels slashed by as much as 80 percent inside a gritty Garment District warehouse.
Competition is fierce, as Beaumont can attest. She’s already broken the sale’s iron-clad rules — twice. Not only did she desperately sneak into the sale a second day (shoppers can only enter once), she dropped a cool $5,000 on 12 pairs and two bags (there’s a six-item limit) with the help of friends. “Don’t judge me!” pleads the fashionista from Jamaica Estates, who finally scored the coveted invite after years on the wait list.
May is when sample season kicks into high gear, with revered labels such as Valentino, Jimmy Choo and Manolo Blahnik cutting prices on last season’s goods. With a limited number of invitations, claws come out — and bad behavior rules the roost, with many fashion experts lamenting it’s easier to get into Harvard than a sought-after sample sale.
The frenzy stretches throughout the summer, with Dolce & Gabbana, Tory Burch and Fendi offering sales in June, Stella McCartney in July and — rumor has it — Alexander McQueen sometime later this season.
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The most sought-after sales are run like an exclusive nightclub — there are snaking lines, guest lists and beefy security guards.
“There are people who talk about the good old days, and the sample sale would be really hush-hush, only Garment District people would know about it,” says Joy Fan, a fashion blogger at Racked. “But because of social media, the lines are getting longer and people are getting crazier. There’s no such thing as a secret sample sale.”
“The Celine sample sale last week was strictly employees’ only — you needed your badge and a pay stub to get in,” adds Fan. “People were going nuts — they were trying to bribe people to get in.”
Fashionistas still chatter about the hoopla at a Ferragamo sale in November 2011 at the company’s New Jersey warehouse that got so out of control, the fire department shut it down amid alleged fisticuffs and arrests.
Bargain hunters will even resort to stealing the identity of industry mavens.
“I’ve had clients who tried to use my name!” says celebrity stylist Lauren Rae Levy of the cutthroat tactics used to get into Louboutin. It’s happened ‘‘numerous times.”
Low-level espionage is a combat skill 33-year-old Joanne Yee has come to employ at sample sales. When she ran afoul of no-nonsense security at the cash-only Manolo Blahnik sale earlier this month, the fearless speech pathologist actually altered her appearance to sneak past the vigilant guard.
She turned her bright red coat inside out, ditched her glasses and matching red flats and pulled her hair into a bun.
“They weren’t letting people up, claiming it was a fire hazard. It was total lockdown — it was pretty insane,” she says of the sale held at the Warwick Hotel.
“I went into fight or flight mode. I bolted into the service staircase and ran up the stairs as fast as I could. Even when I heard someone yell, I still ran. If they saw me on the security tape, I could have been thrown out, based on what I know of trespassing law.”
She didn’t wind up in the clink — but rather with $400 worth of shoes.
Too bad the tactic she tried two weeks ago at Louboutin was less successful: Her bid to bribe security with scones, muffins and iced coffees from Starbucks was met with stern rejection.
But for those manic fashion mavens that do make it past the gate, the chaos continues.
“The real craziness is inside — people will rip things from each other’s hands,” says Brianna DeRose, the designer for the new women’s label Well Kept.
At a vintage sale last year, DeRose found an estimated $3,000 Dior jacket for $800, which she considered a steal. “I literally had my hands on [it], and this girl tried to take it! It was about to get serious.”
The fracas resulted in an epic showdown — but DeRose stood her ground.
“I have the jacket now,” she says coolly.
Louboutin devotee Beaumont also clashed with fellow fashionistas at last year’s invite-only Gucci sample sale.
Beaumont stashed a sought-after belt in a corner so she could continue shopping unimpeded. But the risky move blew up on her face when one brazen shopper absconded with the prized accessory.
“If my mother wasn’t there, I would have taken it from her — and probably gotten arrested,” she admits.
And then there are infuriatingly long lines — even when you have an “invite” — and slim pickings.
Earlier this month, DeRose waited three hours to get into the Jimmy Choo sample sale only to discover the most popular sizes were already snapped up.
“If you’re a size 7 or 8, you’re screwed. There are some aggressive women out there who know what they want and will do anything to get their hands on it,” she says.
So what is it about sample sales that makes nice ladies lose it?
“The prices sometimes do warrant the craziness that happens,” concedes Fan. “At the Stella McCartney sale last summer, they were selling blazers for $75 when they normally sell for over $2,000 — you can’t get a Zara blazer for that!”
She advises that shoppers not get caught up in the frenzy — if it’s not something you’d buy at full price, don’t bother. And map out a strategy beforehand: “It definitely helps to know what the hottest items are. If they have it at the sample sale, you want to be the person who grabs it.”
After all, there’s a perfectly legal rush of euphoria that only scoring a one-of-a-kind Nicole Miller one-off sample can produce.
“It’s the adrenaline — it’s the rush,” continues Fan. “It’s a little bit of a treasure hunt. You go in and you never know if you’re going to find a diamond in the rough in the corner strewn haphazardly.”