Channeling Our Inner Carrie Bradshaw at the Manolo Blahnik Sample Sale

By: Cristina Martin

“You can count on one hand the things a New Yorker will wait for. My list includes: the perfect rent control apartment, the chocolate souffle at Le Bernardin, and the annual Manolo Blahnik sale.” – Carrie Bradshaw

You may or may not have the perfect rent control apartment just yet, but you may have been one of the lucky people to get into the Manolo Blahnik sample sale. If you did, boy did you wait! Lines began forming during the early morning hours. Everyone was given a ticket with a number upon arrival. The number represented what group you were in, and when the Manolo Blahnik sample sale officially opened at 11:00 a.m., they let in group 1 and so forth.

I was lucky enough to be in group 9 going inside at around 11:30 a.m. All the shoes were on tables separated by size. When I got in they had a pretty good selection in size and style. The popular sizes were starting to diminish as time went by. Shoes started at $125 and increased in price depending on embellishments. On the other hand, boots started at $300. Cheap for Manolo, but still pricey for sample sale standards.

I gave the sale a ShopDrop rating of 6.5 out of 10. Like I said the selection was good and prices were decent, but it lost a lot of points for being cash only. Who really carries cash nowadays?! More importantly, who’s carrying around hundreds of dollars?! I really liked this ticket system. There is no dreadful line waiting on your feet for hours. You can even leave the hotel an come back with your ticket. Once you get your ticket you wait in a comfortable, temperature controlled room, with outlets. The only thing missing was WiFi. Even though the Manolo Blahnik team tried to make the sample sale experience more enjoyable, it’s still a Manolo Blahnik sample sale, so it was really hectic inside!

Perhaps I’m being too harsh with a 6.5 rating, since the prices and the selection was good. I also really enjoyed the ticket system. But hey, cash only and the fact that it was so hectic inside… It had me frazzled enough to take off a considerable amount of points.

Looking forward to next year!

What: Manolo Blahnik Sample Sale
When: Thursday, April 26, 2018 11:00 a.m. – Until they ran out (which was between 12:30 – 1:00)
Where: The Warwick Hotel 65 W 54th St. New York, NY