Inside The Christian Louboutin Private Sample Sale
I recently went to the Christian Louboutin sample sale for my second time and realized I never published this post I wrote from my first experience there last year. The line was longer this year and I had the privilege of inviting a plus 1, but the details in this post definitely still hold true, so here ya go. Indulge.
The first time I heard about the Louboutin private sample sale was at my friend’s family friends’ house approximately 2 years ago. My friend took me over there for lunch one day and my blog came up almost immediately. Everyone loved the name, the mom especially, who apparently has a collection of over 50 pairs of Louboutins. Anyway, we got to talking and she started asking me how many pairs I own. It’s a question I get a lot, and shockingly, the answer was, “None,” until two days ago (a story for another post). She then proceeded to tell me that I should look into the Louboutin sample sale, because it’s a perfect place to get pairs for around $300 each (compared to the usual $700 minimum price tag). I was beyond excited to hear that Louboutin had a sale and I immediately started making plans in my head to go. That is until she uttered those 3 dream crushing words, “It’s invite only.”
These last three years have been quite the adventure, filled with sleepless nights and early call times, but I feel like it was all worth it. Actually, I know it was, because I just got back from the Louboutin sample sale! The sale is crazy secretive, so I had absolutely no idea what to expect. I scoured the internet last night looking for clues, but all I found were a few articles speculating sale dates or giving condolences to all those who were not invited. I played by the rules and didn’t take any pictures inside the sale (mainly because I didn’t want to get blacklisted and thrown out), but here’s my in-depth, detailed rundown of the event.
The sale lasts a few days and the first couple days are blocked off for employees and VIP guests only. There are no long lines and guests are helped with finding their sizes. That sounds like a dream right now as I sit here on 4 hours of sleep writing this post. I wasn’t sure how early to get to the non-VIP sale, so I chanced it and arrived at 7:15am for open doors at 9am. I could not believe the line that had already formed. According to the math skills of the girl standing directly in front of me, there were 50 people ahead of us. We stood for two solid hours waiting for the sale to begin and I listened to everyone chatter about their game plans once inside. As it got closer to 9am, someone walked by to check us all in. This was definitely not your average sale. You needed to show your ID for check-in, after which you were given a wristband in a color that changed for every group of people. To anyone even toying with the idea of crashing, don’t waste your time.
I finally made it into the sale at about 10:30am. Security only let small groups in at a time, which was amazing once we were inside since we had space to shop, but it meant a very long wait. I have no idea how much shopping time each group was allotted, but it felt like a solid amount, and after checking my texting history, I think it was about an hour. The room was set up like a mini warehouse with shelves and shelves of shoe boxes. Each shelf was clearly marked with sizes and every shoe box was adorned with a photo of the shoes inside. I immediately ran to the 37.5 shelf, but was severely disappointed with the barely there selection. That’s what happens when you have the most common shoe size… I wasn’t crazy about what was left in my size, so I pulled a few pairs and then started sifting through other sizes. I think the sizes were very off, because I fit into a few 38s and even one pair of 39s, which I actually ended up buying. The 39s are a bit big, but I can pull them off since they’re ankle strap wedges. I may just need to get an extra hole punched in the strap to make them a little tighter.
As shoppers grabbed boxes and tried on shoes in front of mirrors in the back of the room, workers continuously kept the shelves organized. So I pulled, I tried on, and then I went back to the shelves to see what the workers had put back while I was away. Each box was marked with a colored sticker signifying its cost, from $250-$1000.
Eventually someone yelled out a five minute warning and then we were ushered over to the registers. Customers were allowed to buy up to 5 pairs with credit or debit card only. I would have loved to meet the 5 pair quota, but sadly, I only fell in love with two pairs that actually fit me. Believe me, there were shelves of beauties in size 36 that I would have bought up in a heartbeat if only my feet could squeeze into them.
After checking out, we were led to a different table where a man reviewed our receipts and then gave us each the exact amount of duster bags we needed to store our shoes. He also packed our boxes in plain brown paper bags, which I was really happy about since I did not feel comfortable riding the subway while sporting Christian Louboutin shopping bags.
And that about covers it. Any more questions? You know how to reach me!
xx Esther
