Above The Fray: Free People? More Like Frustrated People

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Have you ever found yourself in front of the TV, studying the final couple of the night twirling through their routine on So, You Think You Dance?, only to end it by thinking, "Jeez, I just wasted an hour of my life"?

Welcome to the Free People, Edit, Tocca and AKA sample sale. Shopping here is like spending an unusually difficult evening at Loehman’s or Filene’s Basement, but with more salespeople yelling at you that the dressing rooms are about to close. Also, the pricing is done by brand, which becomes terribly confusing if you find something on the dressing room return rack (the most fruitful area of the sale) and have to shuffle around looking for its price guide.

If you’re willing to hunt, there were some worthwhile things (case in point: AKA navy boy’s blazer that was 75%, and now cost around $100), but instead of finding something you didn’t know you needed, you’re more likely to find something you just didn’t need.

Laila Azhar’s samples rang in at $20 for sweaters, $45 for tops, $55 for bottoms and $75-90 for dresses, but with price points like $10 for Torn, $20 for Bibelot & Imma, $7-$20 for Milly and $15-40 for Iisli, there’s a lot of clothing you can scoop up for cheap. That is, if it fits you—the brands that were higher in demand seemed to have more tiny sizes than a wide variety. Free People only had two racks of clothing that were 50% off, and Gryphon had a selection of coats in the front from $99-$125, a fair amount of which were silver.

If you’re looking for a Kooba bag, drop by: they had a few styles available, priced around $200. Otherwise, your lunch break would be better spent eating a sandwich, because the clothing selection here is mediocre.
· Dealfeed: Free People, Edit, AKA, Tocca, Kooba [Racked]
—Carlye Wisel