Picked up this bow tie for $10 at the Hickey Freeman sample sale last week. Very happy about it, not only because the quality is obviously fantastic, but I don’t have any bow ties with the pointed ends like this. And the tweed material and off white color make it very versatile and different. I think the bow tie craze is very niche, and won’t ever be ‘cool’ but I have been into them for awhile and will try to rock it whenever possible. The Sale itself was kind of fun, in that it was in an old room off the back of the Hickey show room on 59th and 5th and was filled with tons of great stuff at great prices.

This was the first time I’ve hit one of these sample sales and it got me thinking about why a designer would have something like this and give away clothes at such a great price. According to some google searching, it’s a lot of showroom stuff and one-offs that are used for a purpose and then take up space in the back rooms, so why not sell them off to people who ‘know’ about the brand and the sample sale world. This way, people get an insider look into the brand and a first shot at getting some great pieces at a good price, and then get hooked on the brand or tell friends about how nice the stuff is, thereby driving people to the main store. Or maybe that’s my marketing side speaking… either way, I am hooked on sample sales. J.Crew is having one tomorrow downtown, see you all there at 11 am.