French Sole

Quality Reduction

Whether it is selling Primark or Prada, the iniquitous sample sale can somehow seem to equate the two exemplified –ordinarily very dissimilar- brands. So you might feel pleasantly smug about paying high street prices for big designer names but all in all the experience tends to be rather lowbrow.

Now, without sounding like a complete toff, I honestly do relish a good bargain just as much as the next style-obsessed young woman. And if you can get in and out of said sale with what you were after in under thirty minutes then more power to you –and for the record, the only thing I may ever hold against Primark is the questionable ethics of their clothing production, which may or may not be improving, who knows?

Today, I attended the French Sole sample sale –no not Prada, but nice all the same- in the Berkshire hills and bagged myself just one pair of simple and classic ballet flats –thank you very much. What I was sure of before I set off was what I wanted to find; now in a sample sale scenario, if you do not plan what you want to find, therein lies the danger.

Faced with rows of tables end to end, crammed with mounds of elastic-bound shoes and signs indicating the various sizes, you can start to feel a little deflated –and prematurely exhausted. I never seem to learn from experience, but when I consider visiting a sample sale, I am always seduced by my imaginations construction of a gloriously glamorous emporium of organised, beautiful shoes. Never imagine this! Your hopes and dreams will be shattered.

It is what it is; usually in a warehouse. Expect it to be dirty, disorganised, noisy and crammed with eager bargain hunters with bundles of shoes hugged tightly to their bosoms –more shoes than even a millipede could wear.

Don’t go this way; pick what you need for the current season, what you can realistically and comfortably wear, what would compliment your wardrobe and what you like. I found a couple of pairs that worked for me, but most of them were certainly not my style and I would recommend that you stick resolutely to your classic preferences–take heed or find yourself with a bagful of items that you can’t wear or return.

Be smart and decide what you want to find. And be honest, if you really can’t find what you want, don’t pretend that you can make do and learn to like something. If you don’t like it here –of all places – you certainly won’t change your mind, once you get it home.

Once you do find something you like –and you’ve checked they fit comfortably- make a beeline for the door and don’t look back. In your wardrobe and on your person, you will find that your treasure will have reacquired its original worth, no matter how dirty or smelly the sample sale may have been. Just take a shower when you get home.