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At Tocca's Sale: Flirty and Feminine Frocks and Fragrances

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If you're familiar with Tocca's previous sales in their West Chelsea showroom, then today's sale won't pack any surprises. Once again there's a variety of fragrance items, and the ready-to-wear assortment is chock full of embroidered and embellished day dresses, silk blouses, candy-colored tweeds, and full cotton skirts. While this may sound lovely, there's one catch: Everything available is still percolating from previous sales, so quantities are more limited than usual and much of the ready-to-wear selection feels too familiar and a bit tired.

If you're a fan of the brand and do make the trek over, here's what to expect on the ready-to-wear front: None of it is current season and nearly all of the merchandise is familiar from past Tocca sample sales. That said, Tocca's sophisticated and sweet aesthetic is timeless, so looking persistently through the limited selection will probably find you something to take home.

Pricing is consistent with past sales. There's enough sweetly embroidered and bedazzled dresses (both the poofy and sheath variety) to keep you outfitted for the entire upcoming wedding season at $85 a pop. A range of work-friendly silk and cotton blouses ($40) and cotton blazers ($65) in hues of green, blue, cream, and gray also caught our eye as perfect for the upcoming summer. Racks were also full of brightly colored patterned cotton skirts for $45 and the most expensive items at the sale were lady-like cotton day coats at $100.

Size 4 (Tocca's sample size) is plentiful across five full racks. If an item doesn't have a size tag, it's a size 4. Sizes 0 and 2 are very limited, sharing one rack. Same goes for Sizes 10 and 12, which also share a rack. Sizes 6 and 8 have one rack each. There's also some additional odds and ends at the sale, including very random shoes (in not so great condition) for $30, trench-coat style belts for $5, and some silk scarves for $40. A handful of little girl clothing is in the far right corner, including some very sweet silk dresses for $45 (everything we saw was size 4T). Staffers tell us there will not be any restocking, so you'd be wise to head over soon.

As for the fragrance items, everything is approximately 50% off retail prices. If you're familiar with these products, you know this is a great deal. There's an assortment of holiday gift items, small and large single wick candles ($10 tp $20), solid perfumes ($15), and body lotions and creams ($5 to $30) in a limited variety of the brand's signature scents (Kona, Montecristo and Rodolfo were plentiful). Staffers tell us that yesterday's friends and family preview event cleared out the selection of popular three-wick candles and they do not expect to restock.

The biggest bargains at the sale are near the cash register: liquid dish soap (which has been discontinued and is available at two for $5), three-pack note pads ($5), and fragranced spf towelettes ($1 to $6).

While the selection is a bit of a disappointment for those who await this semi-annual blowout, it may be worth it to pop by if you're in the neighborhood. The sale runs through Friday May 11th, at 542 West 22nd Street (third floor, turn left from the elevator) between 10th and 11th Avenues, 11am to 7pm daily. There's a curtained communal fitting room with full length mirrors. Cash and credit accepted.—Kiran
· Dealfeed: Tocca [Racked NY]