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The J.Crew Sample Sale Is Still Going Strong on Day Two

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The J.Crew sample sale is in full swing, and we stopped by this afternoon to take a look at what's going fast. When we arrived at 260 Fifth Avenue early this afternoon, the line was much shorter than we'd expected—only about 20 people—and it moved quickly.

Inside the sale is pretty chaotic, though; the racks and racks of clothing from Madewell, J.Crew, and J.Crew collection leaves little space to move around (and the lack of a fitting room means many people were changing in the aisles). The staff kept good on their promise to restock—nothing was completely sold out—so there's still plenty to choose from. So far, nothing's been marked down further, so it's debatable whether or not it's worth hitting up now or later.

Unlike yesterday—where a lot of what we saw was summer gear—what's leftover today is a lot of sweaters, jackets, and pants (pricing for these, and everything else, can be found in yesterday's sale report). There was a lone rack of shorts left, but if you're looking to stock up on summer clothes you may be disappointed.

The Madewell gear seems to have been hit the hardest; besides jeans (of which there are still two racks), most of the clothing from J.Crew's sister label has been cleared out. What is left is mostly mixed in indiscriminately with the rest of the J.Crew stock, so it'll take some digging to find.

For the rest of the stock, we found that the pricier pieces from J.Crew Collection are the highlight of the sale: most of the rest of the inventory leans toward super casual, whereas the racks of Collection items are filled with more fashion-forward picks. Note that even though there's still a fair a range of sizes for the most part, a lot of the garments on these racks were sold out in the smallest sizes.

There's one rack of cashmere sweaters left in a variety of sizes, colors, and patterns. You'll also still find a fair amount of work dresses and separates, including blazers, skirts, and trousers.

Most shoppers gravitated toward the shoe and accessories sections, which are still pretty well-stocked. There are a ton of flats and pumps. Boots, however, are pretty much sold out in sizes 8 through 9.5.

The rest of the accessories selection includes several bins of handbags, one bin of hats, one of wallets, and a bevy of miscellaneous tech and home accessories. There are very few iPad accessories left, but there are three bins packed full of iPhone cases, mini travel kits, and home goods (though many of these were leftover from the holiday season).

The smaller men's sale at 225 Fifth Avenue is a lot more pleasant to shop, and there was no line outside. The stock here seems pretty well-distributed still, although we did notice some items running low or sold out (for example, there are no bags left whatsoever).

Unlike at the women's sale, we found that the items hit hardest here tended to be casual stuff like tees and shorts (we saw one rack of shorts that was almost completely empty). The suiting selection is still going strong, as are the casual oxford shirts and sweaters. There's only one rack of cashmere left.

All in all, the sale can go either way, depending on what you're looking for (and your level of patience). Like we mentioned yesterday, neither location has a fitting room, and we overheard a lot of shoppers complaining about it.

It's definitely chaotic, and you'll probably have to devote a lot of time if you're really dedicated to scoring some special finds. We talked to a staff member who told us to keep an eye out for markdowns on Sunday, the last day of the sale.—Gillian Fuller
· Dealfeed: J.Crew [Racked NY]
· 40+ Photos from Inside this Week's J.Crew Sample Sale [Racked NY]
· The June Sample Sale Calendar: 82 More and Counting! [Racked NY]

260 Sample Sale

260 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10001 (212) 725-5400 Visit Website