What's Left at the Rag & Bone Sale in the Chelsea Market

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The Rag & Bone sample sale sits among Chelsea Market's cupcake and baguette smorgfests, so we took the opportunity to carb up before getting down to shopping. Stress eaters be warned, however. As we were walking in, one man was walking out muttering, "It's too much. It's just too much."

We're not sure if he was talking about the number of people waiting in the check-out line or the selection, but both were abundant. The sale opened quietly a day early, and according to a couple of name-tagged salespeople, shoppers who were queued up to purchase that day stretched all the way to the back exit. In comparison, the 40-person pile-up there when we arrived must have looked weak.

The sale offers up some pretty solid holiday gift ideas for your favorite relative (yourself included). Case in point, you can finally get your dad what he allegedly wants (a tie) and still buy something hip (the black skinny kind) on the cheap (for $35). If your budget for menswear has more give, take a moment to look at the jackets—especially the one with a corduroy collar or some of the colorful bombers in a range of sizes beginning with 40.

There's a fairly large selection of button-down staples in styles that make great alternatives to the ubiquitous plaid ($98, down from $195 and up). And if you want to totally mix it up, check out the cotton chore pants and army green chinos—quickly though, there are few left.

The always-popular men's and women's denim gets the longest table in the back all to itself. There's limited sizing in the deep purple, Kelly green, grey, black, and dark wash denim, but red, brown corduroy, khaki, white (flare and skinny), and other typically spring colors are still available for $98.

Back upfront in the women's section, there's a silly amount of hats, from floppy wide-brims to classic fedoras, each for $65. Over on the clothing racks, the Verona dresses apparently sold out the first day, but we did find several white Barcelona dresses for $195 (were $450) and few of the plaid Sami dresses also for $195. The t-shirts and sweaters were fairly picked over at $40 and $150, respectively, but there are boxes with more of the same under the table. If neither you nor the staff can find your size in something, be sure to check the fitting room, where mounds of all types of garments can be found.

Oh yes, and the shoes. They're $195, unless they're made in Italy, in which case they're $350 (sorry.) The fantastic knee-length boots and sturdy-heeled booties were siphoned off by salesgirls behind a display rack. 5s and 11s have the largest selection while the mid-range shoes are beginning to thin. There are no half sizes.

Credit is accepted and the sale continues until Sunday. A final note: Dresses, skirts, and certain shorts run large—so much so that we convinced ourselves that we could afford to indulge in that second cupcake on the way out. Dream big.
· Dealfeed: Rag & Bone [Racked NY]
· Rag & Bone Sample Sale [Sample Sally]