(Dan Brinzac)
WELL-HEELED: Stella Volodarsky is thrilled with her new Yves St. Laurent shoes on the West Side yesterday. They sold for a fraction of their normal price. (
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They were dressed to kill for Yves Saint Laurent in the Fashion District yesterday.
Hundreds of bargain-hungry shoppers lined up at 4 a.m. on West 33rd Street for the first day of the famed designer’s annual sample sale — and hours later left nasty catfights, attempted bribery and exhausted security guards in their wake.
Desperation for the discount couture was driven by the fact that the brand will soon change its name to “Saint Laurent Paris,” making YSL an instant classic, shoppers said.
“I’ve been questioning my sanity for the last three hours, and I still have a few hours to go,’’ said an exhausted Glyn Casorla, a teacher from the Upper East Side.
She waited for the blocks-long line to snake its way to the door, where it still took an hour to get upstairs to the goods.
After stepping out of line to talk to a reporter, “I tried to step back in the line, and this [security guard] said, ‘You were not in the line! You’re a liar! . . . Everyone lies in this line!’ ”
Casorla was soon let back in after others vouched for her.
But the show of courtesy among the hordes was rarer than a pair of size-7 Tribute sandals.
The crowd — 2,500 people throughout the day, store security said — started lining up in the wee hours for the doors to open at 10 a.m.
By noon, the line dragged across 33rd Street, up Ninth Avenue, and then along 34th Street as people waited 5 1/2 hours — in the rain, at one point — to get to the door.
Some shoppers — including one celebrity — tried to get an edge by wooing one of the three beefy store bouncers.
“Today’’ TV news anchor Natalie Morales arrived at 12:30 p.m. with a gal pal and sauntered up to the door. But she was brusquely turned away.
“We’re not going to wait,’’ she sniffed when told she’d have to get in line. “I didn’t realize there would be a line at the door.’’
Others tried bribes.
“Money will not do anything! You will not get in! The conversation has ended!’’ one security guard shouted at a stylish young woman toting a Chanel bag.
At least five ladies offered him $20 to get them to the front.
Stella Volodarsky, of Brooklyn, arrived with two pals at 4 a.m. and left the store 10 hours later with $2,250 in goods.
Her haul included two pairs of Tributes for $350 each, four pairs of other shoes at $200 apiece, two YSL Postcard bags for $200 each, six belts for $50 a pop, and a pair of $50 gloves — saving thousands of dollars.
“This is my birthday and Halloween present,’’ she chirped.
Christine Romer, 33, an event-planner from Manhattan who’s pregnant with twins, arrived at 6:45 a.m. with a folding chair.
She walked out at 2 p.m. with $200 Harvard and Tribute sandals, retailing for $699 apiece.
“My family was screaming at me. They said, ‘You’re crazy! You should be in bed!’ ” she said.
Wanda Simmons, 45, of Edgewater, NJ, lamented that she arrived at 7 a.m. and was still waiting to get in after five hours.
“Seven bags? C’mon! They should have a limit,’’ griped the unemployed woman.
The sale continues today and tomorrow.