The Club 21 Bazaar experience...

As mentioned in a recent post, I went to the legendary Club 21 Bazaar over the weekend hoping to score some good buys.

And score good buys I did as I walked away from the bazaar.

The bazaar opened to the public last Friday. Club 21 members and Citibank cardholders had a preview the day before. Mon and I were initially tempted to take a leave for the preview, but decided against it. Haha! Tempting as it was, I decided not to give in to temptation and went to work.

On Friday, I left home at 8 so that I can reach the venue by 9. The bazaar was opening at 10, but I was expecting there would be a queue.

Crazy as it may sound, I was feeling very excited as I walked from Promenade station to the F1 Pit building. I dunno. I guess I was just really excited by the whole thing because it was my first time to attend the legendary event.

When I reached the venue, there were already about 4 people in queue. I was so glad I decided to come early because more people started arriving as 10AM neared.

There were two queues though - one for Club 21 members and another for the public.

Once the clock struck 10, the doors opened and the Club 21 members were let in first. Boo! Haha! After a few minutes, they let the rest of us in.

Upon entry, a Club 21 staff was handing out huge plastic bags to shoppers. I got one and immediately headed in.

The bazaar occupied two main halls. Club 21 was efficient enough to publish a layout of the bazaar so I already knew where I wanted to go. DKNY was at this area. CK was at that area. D&G, Lanvin and CDG were on the other side. Club 21 Men were next to it, and so on.

I'm really no newbie to these kinds of sales. I already have a strategy of my own. Dress comfortably. Dun bring a bag (which was a great idea because they asked shoppers with bags to deposit the bags. Precious shopping time taken away! LOL!)  Collect and select. When you see something that you like, grab it immediately and decide later if you really want it. Otherwise, someone else might snap it and then how, you cry, ah?

Also, I already had in mind a list of things I was hoping to get and a list of brands I wanted to check out. This was important especially because I had limited time.

After going through the pieces I was looking for, I went around just to check the other items on sale. I am still amazed at how low the prices were. Pieces of clothing that were originally thousands of dollars are now down to a few hundred bucks. Those that sold for hundred of bucks were down to less than a hundred. It was really one of the rare opportunities to snatch a designer item.

By the time I decided to hit the cashier, the crowd has increased and it was already a circus. It was quite amusing to watch actually. All around, there was so much action going on. People were digging through piles of clothing and going through racks and racks of designerwear. Those who were early at the bazaar were at their own little corners sorting the items in their shopping bags. The kids, I have no idea why some adults brought their kids, were all sitting on the floor along the hallway playing with their iPads and iPhones while their parents shopped. Haha!

I was going to meet PG Boy at Plaza Sing by 1PM so I had to stick to my schedule. This was great because I was able to plan my trip to the bazaar quite efficiently. It was almost 12 noon when I paid for my items and luckily, the queue to the cashier was not yet long. I managed to chat a bit with the friendly lady behind the register telling her how awesome the sale was.

When I reached home in the afternoon, I proudly showed PG Boy my loot from the sale. He found it amusing how crazy I can get over a sale. (See! Not every homo is into designer stuff. LOL!) I surprised with a nice collared Calvin Klein shirt and a bunch of DKNY innerwear. Hehe!

Hmm, my fave pieces that I got were two Junya Watanabe for Comme des Garcon tees. They were the last pieces. And I was very lucky that they were in medium and that I was quick enough to spot and snap up the items before the guys beside me did. The original price of the tees were SGD260 each. (I would never fork out that amount for a tee! LOL!) I got each for just SGD50.

I was also happy that I did not overspend. I was able to stick to the budget I had in mind. I also like to think that I did save a lot because on an ordinary day, the items that I got would have already cost a thousand over. No way will I spend like that for shopping (not just yet. LOL!).

So, yay Club 21! I think for next year, I will not shop the entire year and just save and wait for the bazaar. Once the bazaar comes, break open the bazaar fund and shop. LOL!