Sample Sale Report: Nicole Miller

UPDATE 3/29/13:
Don't you love when a great sample sale gets even better? There have been additional price reductions to the already amazing prices! I am planning on going back after work! New prices are as below:
Bridal Long Gowns: $300, Bridal Accessories $15
One of a Kind Items: Bridal $80, Pants/Skirts/Shorts $30, Tops $20, Short Dresses $40, Long Dresses $50, Jackets $30

Happy Easter
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I stopped by the first ever Nicole Miller sample sale after work today and it was only moderately busy. There was plenty of space to navigate through the aisles and everything was neatly organized into type of item and by size. Sizes from what I could tell ranged from a 0 to a 16. There seemed to be a fairly good selection in just about every size. Keep in mind that you'll have to check in any bags, coats and even your purse at this sale. Make sure that you hold on to your wallet.


Prices were pretty darn exceptional, especially if you are a bride-to-be. Seriously rack upon rack of beautiful silk wedding dresses for just $350! If you're lucky enough to find a sample dress, you can score a wedding dress for just $100! Sample sizes are made for models and in this case vary anywhere from a size 0 to a size 6.  Sample dresses have a few pulled strings, some have a few smudges but for most part are in great shape. With prices this low, even though I already have my wedding dress, I couldn't resist snagging another...I'm contemplating dyeing it blush and wearing it for the rehearsal dinner. While I felt a little bit indulgent getting a second dress, for $100 I'm not sure I would have found a dress nearly this pretty. I overheard other brides planning on buying not one, not two but three dresses to wear on their big day!


Word of warning, while the sale is spacious, the fitting rooms are very small and they only allow you to bring in 5 items at a time, however, if you befriend the fitting room staffers, they will help bring you suggestions to try on. The line for the fitting room is long, but moved consistently. Once inside the fitting room, it is very tight and you'll most likely have to share a rack with 2 other ladies. Fortunately there is a wall of mirrors that makes it easy to share with so many other women. Still, if you're planning on buying a wedding dress, it can't hurt to bring a friend.


While there is no menswear at the sale, you can snag a men's tie or bow tie for just $15. If you are into the Indego Africa collection items for just $15 a pop including knap sacks, sundresses and a plethora of jewelry items.

The sale also yielded some great graphic knit dresses $60, cocktail dresses for $80 and jackets $85. I also snagged a great pair of Artelier pleather leggings for $60 down from $330.

So in the end, I wasn't sure what to do and I tried on the shorter dress above as well as the wedding dress that I was stuck on. Ultimately, I decided to go for the wedding dress because for just $20 more it made a heck of a lot more of a statement. Yes, it might be a bit much for a rehearsal dinner so I am thinking of lopping off the train but I'm only getting married once, so why not go big. I left the sale feeling a little excessive but thrilled to the bone.

  

A lot of the bridal styles I spotted were from the Spring 2012 bridal collection.

If you are a fan of Nicole Miller's cool girl sensibility or a bride-to-be, this is a sale that can't be missed.

Who: Nicole Miller Sample Sale
What: The NYC based designer of womenswear is holding her first ever sample sale. Get up to 80% off on Sportswear, evening wear, cocktail dresses, day dresses, bridal and accessories. Featuring one-of-a-kind samples.
When: March 26-30, 2013. Tues 10am-7pm, Wed-Thurs 10am-8pm, Fri 11am-7pm, Sat 10am-5pm
Where: 260 5th Ave (b/n 28th & 29th St)

Super Easy Healthy Banana Oat Cookies

Cookies have been food group that I've had to severely reduce since I began cutting gluten, dairy and eggs out of my life. Seriously, I think countless friends have told me that I've lost a lot of weight, and it's not that I am eating less, but I am eating less in terms of baked goods. When I can get it though, I've always appreciated Babycakes Bakery's cupcake tops and cookie sandwiches as well as Enjoy Life's Snickerdoodles in the grocery aisle.

So when a friend told me at a recent get together that we were going to make sugar free, butter free, egg free, gluten free cookies, I had my doubts. Have you ever made a recipe from Pinterest? I guess there is always a first time for everything. I tried on 2 occasions with slightly different sets of ingredients and quickly learned what works best. These aren't cookies in the traditional sense, they are a bit more like dessert bars, but still tasty nonetheless.
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Tips:
*Use very ripe bananas, the more brown spots the better.
*Use quick oats. You can use gluten-free rolled oats, but quick oats works so much better. Since I'm not celiac, and I couldn't find GF quick oats, I just used regular quick oats, but they exist :)
*Mini chocolate chips work better than the chunks
*Not necessary but if you want a bit of a richer flavor, add a teaspoon and a half of melted coconut oil to your batter. You won't be sorry.

Pretty much the base recipe goes:
2 bananas
1 cup of quick oats

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet (don't skimp or your cookies will get stuck). Mash the ingredients together and add any mix-ins. Spoon tablespoons of your mixture onto your cookie sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes until firm and lightly browned on the edges.


For this version pictured I used 1 tsp of cinnamon and 1/2 cup of currants for a spin on an oatmeal raisin cookie.


I made another version that instead of cinnamon and currants, I used 1/3 cup of coconut and 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips (you can use carob chips, to cut out sugar, but they have dairy)!  The coconut added a nice texture to the recipe.

Ultimately, my bananas weren't ripe enough, and my chocolate chips were chunks, so they ended melting everywhere when I tried to free them from the pan.  Still not too shabby, and they held together just fine.

For my next attempt, I may try adding some peanut butter to the batter to see where it will take me.

DIY: Lady Mary Crawley Inspired Wedding Tiara

There is no bones about it, I am a huge Downton Abbey fan. Ever since I first entered the world of the Crawley's I have admired the style and poise of all of the "Lady's". Naturally when their weddings aired earlier this year for all of the world to see, I couldn't resist admiring Lady Mary's bejeweled tiara that weighed in at 45 carats and cost about $200,000. Being a bride on a budget, that tiara was most definitely out of my price range, however I could not shake the lovely laurels from my head. Thankfully I happened to stumble upon this laurel brooch while browsing eBay and I found myself an affordable solution. I ended up ordering 2 brooches and a pack of 10x5 Navettes on eBay, buying myself a comb in a craft store and some super powerful glue (E6000) and seeing what I could do with a little bit of grosgrain. All in all, I think I spent under $20 for my own laurel wedding tiara. While it's not as large or bold as Lady Mary Crawley's I think I still get to have a little touch of Downton on my special day.

The pieces I ordered on eBay were actually brooches, so the first thing I did was snap off the backing by pushing in on the brooch pin and pulling back and forth a couple of times.


My next move was to weave some thin 3/8" grosgrain ribbon through the wire comb to give myself a bit more surface area for the glue to set. I trimmed the ends in a diagonal angle.

Next I applied some glue and allowed it to sit a couple minutes to become really tacky before carefully placing both brooches centered over the comb. I overlapped the end slightly to create a continuous line. There were a few funny gaps where the grosgrain ribbon showed through, so I carefully took one of the navette crystals and glued them to fil in any awkward spaces.

I let my creations sit overnight until the glue secured everything into place.

The next day, I carefully glued down the ends back onto the comb and voila a tiara to call my own. I think to make sure that it's extra secure I'm going to have to use a couple of bobby pins horizontally to make sure it won't fall off my head, but otherwise it's everything that I hoped it would be :) It almost makes me wish I ordered 3 combs instead of 2.

Look for Less: Simone Rocha Neon Floral Dress

Image via InStyle

My friend Kate has been eying Simone Rocha's floral embroidered dress.  The shape of the dress and floral pattern are adorably sweet and the neon makes it a standout piece, but the $1,500 price tag is quite steep for the everyday woman.  So I browsed the web to help her find a few more affordable alternatives and here's what I found:

Cynthia Steffe, $248

The closet match was this "sharp lime" dress from Cynthia Steffe.  Like the Simone Rocha dress, it's a classic shape in a neon hue with a lace overlay.

Cynthia Steffe, $248

While this dress isn't neon yellow, it's still in the neon family.  A couple of the reviews mentioned that the dress is brighter in real life than pictured.  And I like this dress because the skirt has a bit more swing!

Nasty Gal, $68

This "neon coral" option from Nasty Gal is especially affordable and a similar silhouette to the dream dress.

LOFT, $59 (with discount code ENJOY40)

And lastly, stepping away from the neon family, this dress from LOFT made it into the running because it's also delivers a pop of color.  In fact, the eyelet is lined with a contrasting color!

NYC Sample Sales: March 25-31, 2013

So far it seems there is not much going on with this week's sample sale scene. Let us know if we missed anything!

Who: Edun Sample Sale
What: Up to 70% off women’s and men’s collections
When: March 26-28, 2013. Tues-Thurs 10am-6pm
Where: 107 Grand Street, 3rd Floor (nr Mercer St) 212-274-1521

Who: Nicole Miller Sample Sale
What: The NYC based designer of womenswear is holding her first ever sample sale. Get up to 80% off on Sportswear, evening wear, cocktail dresses, day dresses, bridal and accessories. Featuring one-of-a-kind samples.
When: March 26-30, 2013. Tues 10am-7pm, Wed-Thurs 10am-8pm, Fri 11am-7pm, Sat 10am-5pm
Where: 260 5th Ave (b/n 28th & 29th St)

Who: SFERRA Luxury Italian Linens
What: Up To 70% off on a selection of luxury items; comforters & pillows, sheets, duvets, table linens, decorative pillows, bathrobes, towels, and much more.
When: March 27-31, 2013. Wed-Sat 10am-7pm, Sun 10am-6pm.
Where: 75 9th Ave. - Inside the Chelsea Market (b/n 15th & 16th St)

Ongoing Sale:
Who: Heike Jarick Sample Sale
What: The Spring/Summer 2013 collection is now up to 85% off retail prices. You can also purchase fall/winter items from previous seasons at an incredible discount! Custom orders to have a sample made to your specific size and choose your own fabric from stock in the showroom. Your order arrives within 3 weeks, guaranteed! Can’t make it during the sample sale? You can still schedule an appointment. Please contact us at 212-764-0878 or sales@heikejarick.com.
When: March 20-April 4, 2013. Mon-Fri 9am-6pm. Saturdays also open.
Where: West 38th St. Suite #811, (b/n 8th and 9th Ave)

Upcoming Sale:
Who: Tusk Semi Annual Sample Sale
What: Save more than 50-70% OFF select fine Italian leather bags & accessories for women, men and travel. Enjoy 15% OFF REGULARLY-PRICED merchandise in our retail store during the sale. Women’s Leather Wallets: $40 (was $95). Women’s Leather Totes: $80 (was $255). Gift Items: $25-35 (was $65-75).
When: April 12-20, 2013. Closed Sunday April 14. 11am-7pm daily.
Where: 242 West 26th St(between 7th & 8th Ave), 212-242-8485

Who: Roger Vivier Sample Sale
What: Steep discounts on designer shoes
When: April 5-9, 2013. Fri-Mon 9am-6:30pm, Tues 9am-5pm
Where: Soiffer Haskin, 317 West 33rd St. (near 8th Ave.)

Project Runway - Now Casting

Who: Project Runway
What: Now accepting applications for season 12!
Why: Are you a designer or do you have any designer friends who you think can be the next big thing? Now is your chance to prove it to the world. Aspiring designers will be offereed the chance to show their work during New York Fashion Week, and the opportunity to win $100,000 to launch or expand their own fashion line.

The deadline to receive applications is April 8th, 2013. Applicants can learn more and download the application online here and email it to at prcasting@bunim-murray.com.