Barneys Sale Bombshell: Womenswear Is Now Located Downstairs

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• Pretty and expensive designer pieces
• Look - wide aisle!
• Isabel Marant pieces
• If you missed the sample sale, here are a few Alexander Wang pieces
• Pretty Zac Posen
• Two Balenciaga.Silk dresses on the left and the mainline (= expensive) Balenciaga on the right
• Altuzarra on the right
• Rodarte sweaters

Ladies, after you finish with shoes at the Barneys Warehouse Sale, don't go heading over to the left to hit the womenswear racks. This time around the womenswear is located—gasp—downstairs. Change can be hard to accept, but the move to the former men's sportwear space is actually a positive. With the new locale comes more spacious aisles for more comfortable shopping and a larger and more private communal fitting area. So no stripping down among the racks, ladies!

Let's start with the ready-to-wear, which is located to the right of the entrance. The items are organized by type and then by size. Just a warning, the racks are packed pretty tight (we suppose that's a good thing) and we'd suggest perusing meticulously because there are lots of real gems smashed in between the Barneys Co-op tees and such.

We tend to veer toward shiny things, so we immediately honed in on a few Isabel Marant pieces on the racks to the immediate right of ready-to-wear. The pewter one-shoulder rough-edged peplum top is discounted to $169 (from $420) and the matching quilted zip-front jacket is $299 (from $745).

There are also a bunch of Alexander Wang items sprinkled around on the same racks. We picked out a pair of cummerbund-waist and velvet-pinstriped silk trousers for $169 (from $425) and a black crushed velvet jacket for $279 ($695). There are also T items mixed into the bunch, like the sweatshirt blazer with leather piping on the pockets for $69 from $175. (Although we bought that for $45 at the last sample sale. Sorry, had to mention it.)

A sampling of what else we found (or managed to extricate from the racks): A Diane Von Furstenberg Chanel-reminiscent woven cardie ($219 from $316), an Edun silkly deconstructed ruffle vest ($209 from $348), a Rag & Bone short sleeve chunky sweater ($89 from $295), a Rebecca Taylor silk navy and gold-embroidered blouse ($99 from $215), a L'Agence pewter paillette studded cardigan ($279 from $695), a Richard Chai Love ruffly abstract-printed frock ($139 from $545), and a Rachel Antonoff black lace overlay dress ($219 from $366).

Definitely take a look through the outerwear, too. Considering this temperamental winter, a cold-weather jacket might still be a good investment for the months ahead. An adorable super-cropped Navajo print Pendleton for Opening Ceremony coat ($279) totally caught our eye, even if it's not the most practical. We also admired an Isabel Marant shearling-lined suede and leather blocked coat (still pricey at $1280 from $3220), a Rag & Bone khaki trench ($279 from $690), and a Joie black moto-jacket ($279 from $698).

Lastly, there is the drool-worthy and aspirational designer section, which actually held a few relatively affordable pieces. We liked a bold orange Zac Posen ruched cocktail frock on sale for $369 (from $1490), a Rick Owens Morticia Adams-esque transluscent black wool turtleneck dress for $259 (from $715), an Erdem sleeveless deep-hued watercolor frock for $299, and a The Row cashmere version of a reverse-Snuggie for $430 (from $1750). Balenciaga.Silk also boasted a couple "deals"—an electric blue chiffon pleated dress for $389 and a navy and black pleated ruffle sleeve frock for $349 (from $875). At the most affordable, there were the Rodarte tees discounted to $29 from $150.

Designer apparel porn included a mainline Balenciaga flesh-toned and silver skirted stiff tunic ($1249 from $3250), a plush Lanvin grey wool trench ($1864 from $2890), an Altuzarra peplum leather jacket ($759 from $3020), and loosely knit Rodarte sweaters ($859 from $2875). We also feel the need to mention that Katie Holmes's line Holmes & Yang made the cut with a few pieces, like a khaki suede moto-jacket with fringe for $839.

The womenswear imperfects are located in the basement in the menswear section (near the work shirts). Look carefully, though, for example, we found a slinky Versace dress with a hole in the armpit still going for $759.

The jeans weren't set up yet while we were there, but we'll go out on a limb and assume that the situation will be similar to years past (ranging from $25-ish to $90+). Also, skip the bags, as per usual, they're either really seasonal (raffia, canvas, etc.) or pleather.

Final words: The fitting area is located in an alcove to the right of the designer gear and repeat until you remember, womenswear is downstairs, womenswear is downstairs.
· An Early Look at the Barneys Warehouse Sale: Let's Talk Shoes [Racked NY]
· Dealfeed: Barneys Warehouse Sale [Racked NY]