I only had the public holidays off work this year. The silver lining is that I could take long lunch breaks and check out the Boxing Day sales. So on the 28th last month I headed off to Pitt St mall in Sydney to see if I can nab any bargains.
By the title of this post you may come to the conclusion that I left the shops empty handed. Well almost. All I bought were some heavily discounted toiletries at DJs. I had something specific in mind, but I didn't think it was going to be hard to find - a pair of simple, beige flats.
But I was wrong. I went to DJs, Myer, Nine West Witchery etc*, looked through all the stock (as you can imagine it was chaotic at times). There weren't that many options, and the ones I tried on didn't fit well. After almost 2 hours I gave up and went back to the office.
In frustration I went online that night. My first stop was Endless but I had no luck there either. Then I went to Shopbop, one of my favourite online stores. And these little puppies were waiting for me.
A pair of KORS Michael Kors embossed flats, 50% off (to $US97.50). And they have a pair left with my size. How can I say no?
Those of you familiar with Shopbop will know that they offer free express international postage for purchases over $US100 (otherwise it's $US10 so it's still reasonable). I don't know if you think the same way but I'd rather buy something else to push the total over $US100 than paying postage, so I added these cute Marc by Marc Jacobs stud earrings to the shopping cart ($US26.60 after 30% off).
Since I placed the order over the holiday period, I knew it would take longer than usual for the parcel to arrive. It ended up arriving at my office on 3 January, just under 1 week. Interestingly it stopped over in Hong Kong before arriving in Sydney, whereas previous parcels always travel directly from the US to Sydney. I wonder if it was because of reduced number of flights during that time of year.
So these are the shoes.
This was the first time I bought a pair of closed-toe shoes online without trying them on IRL. It was a risk that I usually won't take, but the lack of options locally plus the big discount pushed me over the line. It was such a relief when I tried them on and they fit. Not a perfect fit, but good enough.
And the studs are just adorable.
Usually I'd take a photo with the earrings on but I may give them to my 8 year old niece instead.
As usual, the order was easy and hassle free. If someone is new to online shopping Shopbop is definitely one store I recommend.
Shopbop is so good (especially when on sale) that I have already placed another order (they were offering extra 20% off some sales items last week). When that parcel arrive I'll write a detailed review of the site.
Did you brave the shops at the sales or did you snap up bargains in the comfort of your own home?
* One logical place to go to for flats is Sambag but I am boycotting them because a pair of flats I bought there fell apart after I spent one day in the rain. Colour me unimpressed.