The Mara Hoffman Sale is Such Mayhem That Mara Herself Is Working The Dressing Room

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• By mid-morning the racks were already picked clean.
• The sale's lone adult male shopper

"I'm shell-shocked right now," said a customer behind us at the Mara Hoffman sale. We know how she feels. Twenty minutes after the sale kicked off this morning in Soho, there was a line down the block. Jonathan Daou of Open House Gallery, which hosted the sale in its new annex, told us that the company wanted to make sure everyone had room to shop, and that they were definitely not expecting such a big crowd.

It was encouraging (and exciting!) to see Mara Hoffman herself not only present, but working hard in both the dressing room and checkout. She too was shocked at the turnout. "I'm excited to see all the girls super stoked," she said us. The array of silk prints inside the sale disappeared before our very eyes, but from what we saw, the selection was quite spectacular. Since they're restocking each day, we'd advise getting there bright and early tomorrow for some serious summer steals.

The majority of stock featured Mara's signature silk tribal prints, bright beading, and black and tan macramé dresses. Of course there was an abundance of bathing suits. They seemed to be the most well-stocked, but they were also going fastest. While the sale organizers said nothing would be over $200, we were happy to find only one or two pieces for over $100.

The printed silk ruched and one-shouldered dresses were all $75 or $100. A solid long-sleeved silk dress in red was only $50. Even some silk tops were only $30. (Surprisingly, in this sea of silk, a cotton v-neck dress was $150.) Most of the swimsuits seemed to be $80, and while there were three big $25 bins overflowing with bikinis and one-pieces, from the one we were able to reach, it looked like there were only large and extra large suits left.

We were pleasantly surprised with the spread of sizes, although it was hard to get a good overview with so much of the selection stockaded in the dressing area (where there were also so many gorgeous maxi dresses we didn't see on the floor). Mara said her favorite pieces were the beaded ones. "At $100, they're a steal since they usually retail for about $400," she told us.

The sale runs through 7pm tonight, 11am—7pm Saturday, and noon—5pm Sunday. Don't bother going today, since an hour after the sale opened, most items were sold. But if you can brave the weekend crowds tomorrow, getting there early will definitely be worth your while.—Lauren Frankfort
· Dealfeed: Mara Hoffman [Racked NY]
· Mara Hoffman Thanked Fans for Waiting in Line at Her Sale [Racked NY]
· Openhouse Gallery Opens Broome Street Annex [Bowery Boogie]