Planet Lulu loft sale in Hollywood

After feeling unimpressed about the last Planet Lulu online sale, I had some reservation about going to the loft sale in Hollywood. The pros: not too far from where I live, there's a "large" parking lot where I could park for free (which is almost impossible to find in Hollywood), and it's fairly close to the Hollywood/Highland MTA Red Line station (great if I didn't feel like driving). The cons: who knows if the lot is "large" enough to accommodate all the shoppers? How good are the deals? I certainly don't want to get there only to circle like a vulture for anyone who is leaving. If things are going to be expensive, then it's not worth going no matter how close it is. I have lots of things I need to do, and I know that shopping takes at least a couple of hours. In the end, I thought it's best to go now, when it's early in the semester and I don't have that much schoolwork to worry about. Going against my instincts, I decided to drive there. I'd rather circle a little while for parking or even pay for it than to walk 5 blocks to the Metro station, wait maybe 20 minutes for a train, tack on more time for the ride, and then spend another 10 walking to my destination.

My gamble paid off. The sale was held at the United Methodist Church a block from Hollywood/Highland, and there's a good sized lot with plenty of compact spaces. There weren't as many shoppers as I thought, and when I got inside, I found out that it's an anomaly indeed--the people who worked there were expecting a crazier scene. The sale started at 10am, but I got there around 11 because I didn't wake up as early as I hoped. Even though it wasn't "crazy," there was a lot of people. Aisles were narrow and people were squished in between. There were racks of 213 and a mix of Picalina, Park Vogel, Ella Moss, Abaete, designer yogawear (can't remember the brands), Scanty pj's, a few Lily McNeals, etc. Tables along the wall had kids clothes, t-shirts, flipflops, handbags, and jeans--lots of Oligo Tissew, a smattering of 575, Grass, Blue Cult. I picked up a pair of really cute Mella flipflops for $11--a bit overpriced for flipflops, but then again that's how much you'd pay at places like PacSun if you were shelling out full price, and it's better quality too. Other than that, I didn't find anything impressive on the first pass. Things were either not in my size, not my style, still too expensive for cheap ol' me, or the cheap price is synonymous with cheap look/quality. Was it a mistake to come here? Nonetheless, I stuck around. This was a chance to try out different sizes of different brands of jeans, then look for them on eBay later.

There was a communal dressing area enclosed by curtains, so no one had to try on clothes between aisles and cause even more congestion. The dressing area was bordering on crazy, as tons of clothes were abandoned and newcomers try to find a spot to get naked. The people who worked the event came around regularly to collect things that people didn't want, which was nice; mounds only exist because the workers are outpaced by customers who didn't clean up after themselves. There was a bunch of your standard $5 from Kmart/Target/wherever cheap mirrors around for people to admire themselves.

After I got out of the dressing area, I made a second pass through the racks and the unwanted items hanging next to the dressing area. By then most people were gone, so the scene was no longer chaotic. Indeed, my "second pass strategy" worked. I figured that during my first pass--when customer traffic was at its peak--most things would be taken off the racks even though people weren't buying them. At the time of my second pass, most items would have been hung back on the racks. I was really loading things up on my arms--a pair of size 24 Joe's priced $13.99(!), size 24 Citizens of Humanity cords, a Mason skirt, a Joie skirt, a pair of Alice+Olivia pants, size 2 Frankie B jeans marked $29, more jeans and pants, then I ran back into the dressing area. I literally had to squeeze into the Joe's but alas, after buttoning up, there was a huge gap at the waist. If it fits, it would have been a really good deal. The Frankie B's and COH cords didn't fit either (it didn't have a tag, but I'm assuming it also would have been a great deal). The only thing I retained out of the pile was a fun pair of Alice+Olivia pants. At $30 (from original retail of $170, which was then reduced a couple of times for sales at various places), it exceeds my usual $20 limit on pants, but a) it's hard to find pants that fit, and b) I didn't have a pair of black pants that weren't dress pants, so I let it slide. The pants were really long, but I think I'll either fold up the hem or shorten myself. I'm not willing to spend another $10 on the tailor. Besides, the pants are black, so mishaps won't be apparent.

I don't think I'll go to another Lulu sale, at least in the near future. To be fair, the prices are pretty good for designer clothes, but I can get much better deals at sample sales. What I liked is that there are certain gems for certain people (particularly those who can fit into size 24's comfortably); there were some 213 samples under $15, but I was just not interested in them. Hence, Lulu sales are best for those who don't have the opportunity to go to sample sales held on weekdays. If you go, bring a few friends with you: some of the Oligo Tissew jeans were 3 for $99, which is really good for designer jeans.

Addendum: For those of you who stumbled onto my blog while googling for "Planet Lulu," here's the hyperlink to what you're really looking for. Hope that helps!