Monday, December 07, 2009

Monique Lhuillier Sample Sale Report

Held twice a year, the Monique Lhuillier sample sale was held on Dec. 6 at the Tiffany Auction building at S Grand Ave. and 12th St. downtown LA.


Some extremely committed brides came at 4am to get to the front of the line. On the other hand, chibi and I came at 9am and the line has extended around the building for a block.


So, as the story goes, chibi and I waited for 3 hours before we got in. This is because they allowed only a certain number of people to go in at one time, and the people who got in can stay as long as they want, trying on things in bulk. Thus, no one gets in until enough people give up their search for the perfect dress. Did I mention that it was freaking cold that Sunday morning? My nose did not stop running.

Inside, it was chaos. I felt really bad for the poor dresses with exquisite lace, tulle, chiffon, and taffeta, most of which has been torn in one place or another. The dresses were stacked closely on overcrowded racks with no one to tidy them up. The few attendants there were busy asking people if there was anything they were done trying on, so that the dresses can be STUFFED back (quite literally) onto the racks for others to pick from.

There was no organization by size, only by groupings of lace dresses, tops and bottoms of two-piece dresses that you can mix and match, then one-piece dresses, and evening dresses. A lot of the dresses did not have sizes on them. According to the guy allowing us entry, this is because these sample sale dresses were sometimes custom made for a certain bride, and then failed quality control and got thrown to what I call a "chaotic murder" for beautiful dresses.

I appreciate the sample sale prices though, which was 40% to 90% off, and that made Monique Lhuillier affordable for a frugal shopper like me. Moreover, the materials used on Monique Lhuillier wedding dresses were obviously so much better than the ones used on David's Bridal dresses. But just think about it. some dresses were left open with hooks that did further damage to the lace dress squashed next to it. Plus, there were yellow spots on some dresses, many people stepped on the dresses unknowingly, and the dresses were TORN IN MANY PLACES!!!

Nevertheless, I did see around a dozen brides happily leave with a wedding dress. Those dresses and brides were lucky. I mourn for the dresses that not only did not find a new owner, but also got cruelly ravaged in the wait. The sample sale site was effectually a tomb for those dresses.

Postscript: Oh the drama! One of the brides had tried on something in the dressing room and wanted to buy it, but it had gone missing as one of the zealous attendants had return it back to the racks. The bride panicked, came out looking for it, found it, and with an extremely worried face, had a friend comfort her. I guess focused brides-to-be do get what they want out of this wonderful sample sale opportunity. For those of you who missed this one and are interested, there should be another one around May of next year.

Personally, my heart is still with Morgane Le Fay's dresses. *sigh*

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