Dress: For Love And Lemons Sample Sale | Shoes: ASOS | Bag: H&M

photography by Monica Boss 

I vividly remember my first sample sale. I spent a day roaming around SoHo in Manhattan with my two best friends from high school for my 18th birthday, and we just so happened to walk by a Mara Hoffman sample sale. We walked all around, looked at every single thing on every single rack, and I settled on two items — printed, high-rise, cutout bikini bottoms, and a dress which I was convinced I would wear to my first red carpet event. Since coming to Los Angeles three years ago I have gone to a number of sample sales, but have not yet had a chance to wear that dress on a red carpet.

I was originally drawn to sample sales because of the low prices (as I would assume most people are) but the more sales that I went to, I began to see a much more interesting side of sample sales. When I went to my first Reformation sample sale, a woman looking through the same rack as me told me to look out for imperfections — tears, broken zippers, or loose hems. Though it did not occur to me at first, it makes total sense that brands sell slightly damaged items at sample sales. I am the type of person who does not shy away from a wonky hem or small hole, especially if I can buy an expensive item at a deeply discounted price. At the same time, sometimes brands just literally sell their samples. During one of my internships with a fashion brand we were thinking about having a sample sale to sell our sample inventory. These pieces were used in photo shoots, or lent to influencers or returned from customers. They were not damaged, they were not necessarily dirty, but they could not be sold online. A sample sale was a great way for us to get rid of some inventory and make a bit of money.

There are many reasons for brands to have sample sales, and there are even more reasons to buy at sample sales. Purchasing samples keeps clothing out of landfills. While the company I worked for was a sustainable fashion brand and we put in the effort to give the rest of our pieces to a textile recycling company, it is easier for larger brands to just throw out their samples. Another reason I prefer to purchase at sample sales rather than in stores is because of the way brands look at sales in stores vs. sales at sample sales. When you purchase something in a store, a brand takes that purchase into account when deciding how much to purchase in the future. If something sells well, they’ll buy more of something like it. If it doesn’t sell well, they discontinue that style and go in another direction. At sample sales, brands are simply trying to make a bit of money back on their products. Though they may notice which items sell better than others, these metrics are most likely not given the same amount of attention as sales in store.

I got this dress at a For Love and Lemons sample sale last year for an absolute deal. It was originally over $200 on their site, and was still available online when I went to the sample sale, and I got it for just under $60. Short dresses were listed as $80 on the price sheets posted around the sale room, but since I went on the last day, they gave me an even bigger discount. It was thrilling to say the least. I’ve been to Reformation sample sales, a ban.do sample sale, and waited two hours in line for a Frankie’s Bikinis sample sale (which I eventually gave up on). There are so many sample sale opportunities in major cities across the US, but especially in Los Angeles and New York, and I can’t wait to go to more in the future!

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