…was awesome! We had so much fun! I highly recommend this for a fun girl-date.

I got up early at 8:30 (which might as well be the crack of dawn for me) and got to my buddy Wendy’s house by 9:40. The drive to Long Island City should have only been about 20 minutes but the BQE was quite congested so we ended up getting there at around 10:15. By then, the line was already pretty long.

While we waited for Power Hour to end and general admission to begin, we had a celebrity sighting – the infamous Patrice of Looking Fly on a Dime! After some initial shyness, I worked up the courage to say hi to her. She’s really nice.

Me and Wendy. Yay, shopping!

The people at the event were very nice. Everyone was all smiles and very courteous.

Finally, they opened the doors. Honestly, it wasn’t as crazy as I thought it would be. There were lots of people, but I thought there would be more.

Wendy and I are pretty hardcore shoppers (Black Friday, outlets, sample sales) so we were pretty calm. The one thing that was a bit shocking was the amount of clothing on the floors. I could hardly see my boots at times!

I totally understand why everyone recommends wearing boots, sneakers, or any other shows that cannot be removed easily. As a matter of fact, one girl lost her shoes while we were there! They made an announcement about it. So funny

We found some really interesting stuff, like a bright neon orange patent leather messenger bag and this maroon velvet equestrian helmet! Very Betty Draper.

In the end, we came out with 19 items! 18 for me, 1 for Wendy. She’s a good sport.

Our plunder included:

7 pairs of pants (BCBG, J. Crew, Banana Republic, and Gap – jeans, trousers, dress pants, linen pants)

3 dresses (BCBG, H&M, and Loft)

2 tees (super cute!)

2 cardigans (Banana Republic and Benetton)

1 dress shirt (Barney’s)

2 tunics (I love tunics! – Uniqlo and one with no tag but it’s adorable and new-looking)

2 thick sweaters (Gap and Uniqlo)

= $1.32 per item! Woohoo!

Look! I couldn’t believe I fit this much stuff in that bag. I probably could have got more if I tried, but we were tired and didn’t see anything else we liked. ST couldn’t believe it – he demanded to see the receipt!

I missed my goal of snagging 25 items but we only had about an hour to spend at the sale. Also, I’m a bit disappointed because two of the seven pairs of pants are too big but I can always re-donate those if I can’t find anyone to wear them. That’s my one gripe about this event – you can’t try on clothing. You just have to eyeball it.

Wendy did tell me about this genius way to estimate if pants will fit you – wrap the waist of the pants around your neck. If the sides meet in the back, they’ll fit! If there is overlap or the sides don’t meet, they won’t fit. Two out of seven ain’t bad! I was skeptical at first too, until Wendy found it online – check it out. I must have looked like a total weirdo picking up pants off the floor and wrapping them around my neck – but no one gave me side-eye about it.

3 items need to be dry-cleaned and the rest of the stuff can be washed regularly. The total should be an extra $20 for the cleaning and about $15 for alterations. After that, minus the two items that I won’t wear, the total cost will be $3.53 per item. HOORAY!

Since I’ve got one event under my belt, allow me to offer you unsolicited advice about the Buy the Bag sale:

• Wear a crossbody bag if you have one. Shoulder bags are cumbersome as they tend to slip off your shoulder. Satchels and other types of bags are a no-no. They will only slow you down.
• Leggings, tunics, and boots are the perfect ensemble – casual yet comfy.
• Definitely bring your own bag to tote your finds in. Lots of people brought huge garbage bags!
• If you have long hair, put it up!
• Arrive early – at least an hour. Try not to drink anything because there are no bathrooms for pee breaks.

Other notes:

• I didn’t see any shoes, other than a random black pump behind the sales counter.
• I saw only a few handbags and they were of poor quality like this old-looking Aldo satchel. Most of the stuff I saw were promotional canvas totes.
• There was lots of J. Crew, Gap, and Banana Republic. I didn’t see any luxury brands such as Gucci or Prada.
• The Buy the Bag sale is great for basics at the beginning of the season – lots of pants and sweaters in sizes XS, S, and 0-6.

I can’t wait for the Salvation Army Coat Sale on November 5!