BCBG

Negative interviewing process

BCBG Sample sales are EVERYTHING! If you have not been to one yet, you are seriously missing out! They do them a few times a year (always before the holidays which is perfect for early Christmas shopping). They usually have a mailing list you can sign up on while you are there so you can find out about future sales.
But let me warn you, once you go to your first one you will be hooked! They have a bunch of different BCBG brands available and carry everything from Wedding/​Formal Gowns, accessories, shoes, dresses, skirts, pants, coats, jewelry, bathing suits, handbags/​purses etc. You are guaranteed to be able to find something you like there.
Prices vary based on article of clothing and brand but they are very reasonably priced and if you look at the tags, most of the prices are at 90% off the original retail price. The sales are on Saturdays and Sundays. Saturdays are definitely crazier than Sundays, with much more people. Lots of people think that Sunday is only left overs and picked over items but they actually open new boxes and restock overnight so you aren’t just getting leftovers. But if you do plan to shop on Saturday, early arrival is highly suggested. This definitely isn’t a place for kids and strollers so make sure you leave those at home.
They do accept cash and credit cards. Sometimes they even have offer discounts if you bring in canned goods or school supplies.

Oh em Gee!
I am fortunate enough to have a friend that works here and was able to cut these ridiculous lines! Vip is the life to live!
I must say everyone that works here are very very patient despite the crazy mob scene and the hysteria that goes on searching for a great bargain! No staff throws any dirty look or yells at you when crazy hands accidentally grabs things that may hit their heads (sorry) !
Even when paying for things, as tired as they might be they still can give you some good clothing advice on weither something is a Hot or Not!

I REALLY didn’t want to review the BCBG sale since I wanted to keep it as my little secret but now that more and more people know about it I figured I’ll go ahead and review it.
I’ve been to the BCBG sale three times now and it never fails to disappoint. Basically the warehouse sale takes place about 2−3x a year and I always walk out finding some great deals. To give you an idea of the discounts you could find: evening gowns/​dresses from $ 5-​$ 40, bags/​purses from $ 5-​$ 40, shirts/​tops from $ 5-​$ 15, shoes from $ 10-​$ 20. Everything is heavily discounted from their retail price.
Now when there’s a sale this big there’s going to be lines so be prepared to WAIT (about 3 – 4 hours just to get into the warehouse). BCBG usually has their sales on a Saturday and Sunday and the majority of the crowds show up on Saturday to get their hands first on the merchandise. The lines are significantly shorter on Sunday but whatever is left is usually the leftovers from the first day of the sale (so think XS and XL sizes).
The setup of the sale consists of the main warehouse, and two tents outside. The majority of the clothing is located in the larger warehouse, accessories and shoes are located in the tent, and there’s another tented area where everything is $ 5.
TIP* Go as a group so you can tag team people to stand in line in case someone needs to use the restroom. grab food etc. Sale starts at 8am but people start showing up as early as 4:30am. Arrival 2 hours prior is strongly recommended if you don’t want to stand in line for hours. Also, they don’t allow try-​ons but you can usually get away with slipping it on if you wear leggings/​shorts and a tank top. Bring water and snacks since you will get dehydrated and hungry waiting.

So, I went with my friend Natalie K. to the annual warehouse sale, and it was bananas! For $ 240, I bought 5 evening gowns, 7 cocktail dresses, 3 handbags, and 1 watch. That said, we went on the last day, during the last hour, so a lot of the good sizes (and items) were gone. Still, if you need nice dresses, Sunday is the day to go. We’re talking $ 200 – 400 dresses for $ 30! What a steal of a deal.
Anyway, the warehouse is in Vernon, Ca, just east of East LA. It’s in a really random location with not much parking nearby, and there are mobs of people (and I went on a slow day) pushing and shoving and climbing over you to find anything and everything in their size. I didn’t really get there early enough to get any of the best shoes, so maybe next time I’ll try to go on Saturday. We’ll see if I can handle the massive crowd. Anyway, I signed up for a mailing list to get notifications of future sample/​warehouse sales. Super fun! Great deals.

I am not made for this. Seriously. I don’t even shop in regular stores if I can help it; how I thought I could survive a warehouse sale is beyond me. I should have known I was in for it when I was handed a giant plastic bag upon entry.
It seems orderly-​ish when you first walk in but it soon becomes apparent that it’s all an illusion:
* There are racks arranged in rows but the clothes on them are haphazardly placed so there’s no way to tell what sizes you’re looking at without checking each item individually. What’s worse is that you also have to check each item for damage since the preferred mode of shopping here seems to be the ransack method.
* They don’t allow trying on but we found several women circumventing this policy by hiding in between the clothes on the racks and using the resulting cover as a makeshift dressing room. One of my friends even got scolded when she accidentally exposed a woman in mid-​dress when she pushed aside an item on a rack.
* They have price lists posted but it’s not always clear what prices apply to which items.
* So much damage. So so much damage. There were random dirty stains on a lot of the clothing and some seams were split or ripped off. When we went through the bags area, it honestly looked like some of them had been stomped on; not only were they dirty, but also misshapen and had parts missing.
Yes, you can find some amazing deals if you’re willing to expend the time and energy sifting through all the items. For me personally, it’s not worth it. Just being in there made me dizzy. Never again.

So I live 2 minutes away from the BCBG warehouse. After four years I decided to got to one of these sales, even though the clothes are really not my style, but if you work in an office. Perfect.
The prices are AMAZING! Hundred dollar tops are marked down to $ 5-​$ 10. Shoes go as low as $ 5. Pants $ 10, purses between $ 5 and $ 40.
If you want to get first dibs at the clothes, go Saturday extremely early. Normally to be the first group to go in at 8am, get there at 3am.
Don’t want to make line and don’t care for first dibs, try Sunday!
TIP: take chairs, snacks, half hour before they open doors, throw all your crap in your car! Even your sweater! It gets hot in there!
This place is worth the wait! Happy shopping!

A-​Ok.

I really had a hard time coming up with how many stars to give this– in some ways the experience was a 1 or 2 star experience and in other ways, it was 4 or 5. I thought I’d split the difference and give it a solid 3. Here’s why:
I was up at and out at 5:30 AM to stand in a line for 5 hours in the rain/​all around gross weather in an all around gross city– Vernon. Once you get through the line and make it into the warehouse for the sale, you realize just how exhausted you are and now you get to push your way through gaggles of women holding full trash bags full of clothes in narrow aisles chocked full of dresses and sweaters and pants of all different sizes– except none of them match! I seriously saw the same dress in EVERY aisle in a different size. Also, allot of the stuff was damaged, so you really have to be careful of what you buy and make sure you inspect it. There’s also no trying anything on, only two portapotties for everyone there and clothes all over the ground and thrown on top of the racks. Disorganized would be a kind word for it.
Now for the amazing part– once you get through all the waiting in long lines and the pushing ladies, you finally get to check out and you finally realize why you waited so long in line in the rain to get in here– AMAZING DEALS. I got a dress with it’s $ 500 price tag still on it for $ 20. I got two BCBG Generation purses for $ 5 each! Now that I’ve been through the pain of my first go at a sample sale, I have already formulated a plan for the next one! Bring snacks and a sweatshirt! I’m sure the amount of stars I gave this experience will change after the next one. I seriously thought I was going to wait for an hour, shop for an hour and still make it to my tax appointment at noon.
Another tip– allot of ladies were wearing tight spandex clothes so you could secretly try things on without getting caught.
If you haven’t ever done a sample sale I’d say to definetly go and check it out!

As chic as it gets!