Above the Fray: Waiting for Seven/Oak/Bblessing

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Boy, did we misjudge this one. When we received word that the three biggest names in edgy independent fashion in the City—Seven New York, Oak, and Bblessing—were joining forces and holding a clearance sale of overstocked pieces and warehouse accumulation we expected a small, third floor space in Soho populated by a few very fashion forward shoppers (dressed in black) and delicately flipping through a rack or two of avant-garde pieces while idly chatting with shop staff about the latest Kenzo Minami tee shirts.

Wrong, so wrong—instead we found literally hundreds of people in-line down almost an entire block of Spring St. and curling south around the corner on to West Broadway. Most were dressed in attire associated more with Saturday nights than with Saturday mornings—we saw more Alexander Wang accessories than any shop can historically keep in stock at once; far too many capes; two guys in textured animal prints (one wore lipstick); and a joker in slouchy linen pants tucked into his even slouchier Dorothy Zbornak boots. Really, people? We'll let you know when we regain control of our eyes and they stop rolling back into our heads.

After about 30 minutes in line two things happened that convinced us it was time to give up. One: a leather-selling street vendor couldn't contain his laughter as he mocked line-waiters and shouted that nothing would be left by the time any of us got in anyway. Two: a tourist in boot-cut denim—squinting at sale signage—told her tourist friends that it was a Seven For All Mankind sale and no wonder the line was nuts. "Those things go for like $200!" So for those of you with patience and time to spare, we certainly bid you Raf Simons wishes and Jeremy Scott dreams, but we're going to brunch. Peace!
· Dealfeed: Seven New York, Oak, Bblessing [Racked]