a smile indeed

black pants just do not photograph well! and I'm not about to post a pic of my ass in them... (but that doesn't mean I didn't try taking some!)

oh Barneys, what was wrong with Santa Monica? Sigh! You may have read from Jess or our previous post that the Warehouse Sale was moved to a new locale. So we hauled our asses all the way to the convention center on Saturday for a day of retail therapy.

Which, was not all bad. Actually, once there, it was quite fantastic - as you see Jess scored a fabulous pair of Lanvin's! and I, with my pant-obsession, got a new black pair with an odd seam on the backside. (well, I guess noting that they're Comme des Garcon, we can agree that the seam-thing is really not that odd at all... side note - the pants have reinspired a vision for myself for fall... now I need a work appropriate boot to go with!) I oddly only have 1 other pair of black pants that are work appropriate, but I've taken those out of my rotation ever since my boss slapped my ass and uttered a lewd remark the last time I wore them. My other black pants are tux pants (fyi - I love tux pants).

Anyhow here's the good and bad of this summer's Barneys sale:

Bad
1) New location is far, inconvenient, and trafficy
2) Parking! $12 to park in the convention center lot and about $10 or so for the shady street lots. So I WON'T be doing "my usual" aka going like every other day on scouting missions. (I even rescheduled a Dr's appointment for Tuesday so I'd have reason to be in LA during the sale! But with the parking cost and the traffic headache of getting there, I will most likely not be going again until the final weekend)
3) I agree with Jess, the prices seemed high and not as clearance as I remember them
4) Less people and lost of foreigners (less people is not really a bad thing, I guess)

Good
1) More space
2) More merchandise (surprisingly! I thought that department stores were buying 30% less that in years pass due to the recession? perhaps this is due more so to the fact of greater numbers of people not buying?)
3) DRESSING ROOMS! yes! not really rooms, but a couple of large curtained off areas with mirrors. (without which I would not have bought the pants that I did for fear of the seams... and I would have ended up, most likely, with 2 others - one D&G in chocolate brown that I loved but were too big... and the other John Varvatos black tux pant with double stripes down the side, that only when tried on revealed a strange puckering around the pockets making the wearer look HIPPY.)
4) Clean bathrooms
5) Starbucks right outside

Well, good and bad... nothing is ever perfect. But I still say we write out local congressman, the mayor and Simon Doonan requesting the sale's return to the Barker Hanger!