Discount Fashion Retailers – Online

Living in a big city and in the electronic age, it’s hard to not be aware of luxury brand items and the high-end retailers of the world… and fall in love with them. It’s bad enough working on Michigan Avenue, but when it’s so easy to browse online boutiques and fashion blogs and web sites, ignorance is a kind of bliss no longer available to moi.

The truth is, you can – and I do - usually approximate super-expensive clothes at places like H&M or Forever 21 (if you can handle shopping at these stores mentally and emotionally, ye who are legitimately past 21 ((me)) and also legitimately way past waiting in a line for a dressing room ((also me))). I saw this great ballet-pink silk shirt in the March issue of Lucky magazine and found a top almost exactly like it in color and cut at Forever 21. I guess it all really depends on what you like about an item – if you like that it’s a pretty pink shirt that costs $220 the former is probably for you. Or if you just like the top, the latter.

Approximation aside, I cannot abide actual designer knock-offs. If you love a really high-end item, have coveted it for years, if you dream about it – in my case the Louis Vuitton Speedy 35 - do yourself a favor and save up for months or however long it takes and buy the real thing. You can’t wait for it to go on sale, because these items never go on sale.

But there are plenty of middle-of-the-road items like jeans and dresses and shoes that do go on sale or somehow make their way to the discount fashion retailers of the world – Filene’s, Bluefly.com, consignment shops, etc. These places are perfect if you aren’t looking for something in particular (you’re better off saving up or going the Forevs/H&M route when shopping for specific items) and have the fortitude to dig through racks of clothes or click through a zillion web pages. Being willing to fight someone is always a plus too.

Ok, so you know the stuff is out there, but how do you go about procuring it? Here’s my guide:

Online
Bluefly.com and the newly debuted sister site b*fly.com

Ok, so I have to admit that I’ve never purchased anything from Bluefly.com. Just as I am with Zappos.com, I get overwhelmed with the enormous amount of choice on Bluefly and log off before I have the chance to hemorrhage any money. But for the sake of this entry, I spent some time browsing (with a brown paper sack, repeating Whitney Port’s sage advice to “breathe…breathe”), and here’s what I like:

The cocktail dress selection is great, especially for brands like ABS and Nicole Miller. Their entire inventory is searchable by designer, size, color and various other metrics, allowing you to narrow down your search to a manageable endeavor. And occasionally, they’ll have items from an unexpected/favorite/obscure designer that you might never find anywhere, let alone at a discount (for examp, they have some ((albeit fug)) Dina Bar-El dresses up right now). But speaking of The Fug, that’s Bluefly’s biggest drawback. While most of the inventory carries in-demand names, you have to dig through a lot weirdo stuff that nobody wants before you find something good. And even then, the discount may not be discounted enough to warrant a purchase.

Side note: Bluefly just launched b*fly.com, a site that at first glance, trends a little more towards a younger set, with a focus on “hot” brands like Betsey Johnson (who, if you ask my mom, has been “hot” for 30 years. Way to be fashion-forward, Mama!) Tory Burch, and True Religion.

Bluefly.com’s hottest pick:

Before I break out in Blue-hives, I will leave you. Perhaps you’re of stronger mettle than I and have had good luck with Bluefly? Please share. Next up for review, Marshall’s and (my personal fave) Century 21.