Finding designer clothes at a discount can be tricky. One option is to haunt estate sales and second hand stores near fancy neighborhoods and business centers. It’s a good idea in theory, but who really has time for that.
Luckily, there are plenty of online sites where you can save big on your quest to stock your wardrobe. We’ve rounded up the best designer clothing sites that will help you look like a million bucks for a lot less.
The Outnet and Other Outlets:
Discount designer clearance sites help big houses and retailers clear out unsold merchandise, but they also can offer missed pieces for those collecting collections or even introduce you to new designers at a healthy fraction of retail price.
The Outnet has a good selection across a broad range of designers. Chloe dresses like this tiered georgette dress might still be a splurge, even at 65% off, but you’ll definitely be able to find something amazing here.
Yoox is an Italian site with strong representation in European designers, like Alaia and Roberto Cavalli – including Cavalli’s ready to wear and intimates lines. Some big American houses have decent representation on the site, like Proenza Schouler.
Bluefly is basically the Ana Wintour of online, accessible fashion; it’s been around forever and still seems pretty fabulous. It skews slightly towards NY based designers, and sometimes the deals aren’t that impressive – this coat from young designer KahriAnne is the same price on the designer’s site. Then again, it’s absolutely gorgeous, and discovering smaller designers can be tricky if you’re not on the coast. We say it can be worth it, if you’re careful.
6pm can have incredible prices, and generally stocks more of the lower-priced designer lines anyway, like this Rachel Roy dress that at 40% off is a very reasonable $240.
Gilt and Its Ilk
Flash sites offer discounts on specific collections (usually within a single design house) for a limited time. Here are a few favorites.
Gilt: Gilt offers sales on everything from kitchenware, to clothes and furniture, to hair products. It’s best for accessories and shoes, but if you’ve found your style and fit match, it’s worth keeping an eye out, as they draw in big names (like this Jason Wu sale) and things sell out fast.
ideeli – This site has many haters, as people claim that shipping and returns can be cumbersome. Like many of the flash sites, ideeli doesn’t actually ship the products, so take the time to read the fine print on each item you’re purchasing. Having said that, sometimes you can find great steals here – up to 70% off.
RueLaLa – This online purveyor offers solid collections of bags and shoes from the major houses (Chanel, Valentino), with hit or miss sales in clothing. They offer a lot of mixed-designer sales, like a recent ‘LBD’ sale that offerred up the stunning French Connection piece above for $65 – marked down from a retail of $300. Their best deals are all final sale, so proceed with caution!
Polyvore and More
If you’re looking for looks at low prices, these sites are the way to go.
Polyvore allows users to build mood boards for the home and fashion. This curated content lets people put together incredible head-to-toe looks with each piece priced and linked to its home site, including accessories and makeup! Even better, they have a gifted editorial staff that puts together great features like this board devoted to styling brightly colored suits. Sometimes it’s just more fun to see high end fashion for the real world, and Polyvore’s vibrant community and deeply integrated linking system will take you from expensive and boring to, well, slightly less expensive and glamorous in no time.
ShopStyle - Unlike flash sites with limited time available for purchasing and a cut off the top, Shopstyle pulls listings from all over the web, Pinterest style, without actually hosting the commerce portion of your transaction. Click on a Tadashi Shoji gown that’s listed at 60% off, and a new window will pop up with the product page at Neiman Marcus. Their editor’s picks can be all over the map, but their parent company’s lifestyle internet mag has stronger styling pieces peppered in amongst celebrity news.
