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Because there's just not enough discount shopping in the city in May, we took a jaunt up to Woodbury Commons for the weekend unveiling of the remodeled Saks Fifth Avenue Off Fifth. The glossy 28,000-square-foot space features stark white walls and high ceilings that create an expansive loft-like feel—making neighboring cohort Last Call by Neiman Marcus more like TJ Maxx (although we did find better shoe deals there.)
The store is accessible directly from one of the parking lots and the massive shoe section greets guests eager to part with their money. The good news: There are some great brands. The not as good news: It's still kind of expensive. For opening weekend, staffers were doling out coupons worth 20% to 30% off, but sadly those are only good until Tuesday.
For the ladies, we found tall black Louboutin boots ($759 from $1995), Chloé suede camel wedges ($299 from $595), the same Nicholas Kirwood for Erdem paint splatter lace-up ankle boots that we saw for $380 Decadestwo (here for $459 from $1195), Loeffler Randall double-zip booties (not bad for $239 from $625), and Giuseppe Zanotti for Thakoon lace-up, slingback suede booties ($309 from $795). If you still want a piece of the OG Sigerson Morrison, we saw Belle suede booties for both $89 and $99. Midrange brands included BCBG, DVF, Lucky, and a whole load of Saks Fifth Avenue brand wedges all priced at under $150.
The men's shoe section is understandably smaller. For price comparison, we noted Original Penguin slip-ons ($74 from $110) and Canali pointy-toe brogues ($299 from $395).
For womenswear, the section is divided into casual contemporary wear, high-end designer wear, and a stand-alone Rag & Bone outlet-shop-within-a-shop. Designer-wise, we saw Zac Posen (a rough-edged orange cocktail frock is $515.99 from $1290), Alexander McQueen (a red puffy and draped sleeve dress is $713 from $1785), and Prabul Gurung (a bouclé-detail and ponte puff sleeve blazer is $939 from $2350), plus Versace, Yigal Azrouël, Gucci, and more. The Rag & Bone shop was cute and featured deals like a sexy ruched LBD for $284 from $475 and JEAN jeans for $99 from $185.
As for the quiet menswear section, there were lots of suits by designers like Canali, Versace, Burberry and the usual suspects, but the price tags were so hard to find! A dedicated denim section features lots of grandly embellished True Religion jeans ($299 from 330) and less decorative Rock & Republic ones (also less expensive at $189 from $276).
The outlet's large women's accessories section included Marc by Marc Jacobs and Rebecca Minkoff bags. We also saw Marc by Marc Jacobs accessories for men, as well as Jack Spade, among other brands.
As Saturday wore on, the outlet got more and more crowded, and we wouldn't be surprised if it stays that way. We did notice, though, that the shoes we eyed but didn't buy in the morning were still there when we packed it in—seven hours later.
· A Woodbury Common For-And-By New York Day Trippers [Racked NY]
· Changes Are Afoot at the Decadestwo Pop-Up at Kiki de Montparnasse [Racked NY]