New basics found on sales

I needed some basics for my wardrobe, which I have been searching for during these sales. I needed a new coat and a pair of tall black leather booths without a high heel. I have this week found both:

A winter coat from Kookai. I especially love the colour, its a bit brighter than the normal winter colours. It was on halt price from 180€ to 89€.

I also found my black leather boots (which really was not easy!). In the end I found them in Lacoste - I really liked the leather, the form and the fit. A bit more pricey but I think they are definitely worth it  (on sales from 250€ to 149€).

I am also searching for a new bag and I think I have found the one.. To be continued..

Bargains at the end of the sales

I am a little behind on the updating of the shopping that I did at the end of the sales (which ended more or less a month ago). Nevertheless, here is a short summary of what I found:


Shirt from Zara (with birds) - was on sale for 12,99€


I found a bunch of things in Stradivarius; t-shirt for 2,99€, cardigans for 3,99€ - 5,99€ and then this gray blazer which was on sales for 12,99€.


This marine blue top from Massimo Dutti with leather shoulder pats - on sale for 12,99€


This dress from Mango I found yesterday - I guess it must have been on some kind of sales cos it only cost 9,99€. Perfect for summer, which is coming up soon!

Winter sales in Barcelona

As usual, the winter sales here in Barcelona started on the 7th of January. I was not there because I spent that weekend in the UK (another post about that is coming up), nevertheless I have done my sales shopping here in Barcelona this weekend and last weekend. Since it has already been two weeks since the sales started, many stores has already started with the"segunda rebajas" meaning that the prices have reduced even more.
Zara started of the sales with a 30-40% discount, but now two weeks later, it was already possible to find things which were 50-70% discounted.
Mango did not start of with discounting all their clothes with 50% like during the summer sales, but also with a 30-40%. Nevertheless, this weekend all the clothes were at 50% off.
H&M had also quite nice discounts, and I found several things around 70% discounted.
Here are the bargains I have found (so far...):


White t-shirt from Zara. Was reduced from 29.99€ to 17.99€.



Cardigan from Mango suit. Was 29.99€ and now on sales for 14.99€.



Black wedges from Zara - they were 39.99€ and now reduced to 13.99€. Very happy to find them as my old black wedges needed to be replaced...


Blue dress from Zara, was 29.99€ and bought it for 17.99€.


Grey patterned dress from H&M. Before it cost 29.90€ and was reduced to 10.00€.





Black dress from Zara. Was 29.99€ and now reduced to 12.99€. Don't know if I am going to keep this one as I have a dress that reminds me of this one, nevertheless I do like the special detail with the sipper on the back.


Violet (?) dress from H&M. Before it cost 29.90€ and was now on sales for only 7.00€. Not only did it fit very nicely, I also really liked the pattered shoulders and the slightly low back.


Cardigan from H&M with a black belt and pockets of leather imitation. Was 39.90€ and reduced to 15.00€

H&M bargains

I used the "3 day offer" at H & M mentioned earlier and I think I got some pretty great things - and really really cheap!
Here is what I got :

Enjoy!!

A long necklace

was 39.95 kr. (5,37 Euro) 

reduced to 9.95 kr. (1.34 Euro)

Dress

was 129 kr. (17,32 Euro)

reduced to 20 kr. (2.68 Euro)

Shorts for swimming for my boyfriend

was 179 kr. (24 Euro)

reduced to 40 kr. (5.37 Euros)

White blazer for my boyfriend

was 349 kr. (46.85 Euro)

reduced to 89.50 kr. (12 Euro)

I also got this - however it was not on sale...

just had to have it!

39.95 kr. (5.36 Euro)

3as rebajas - more sales

I had another look at the remaining sales last week, and what do you know - there are still great bargains to be found:

I got the leopard skirt for 9,95€, in stead of 29,95€


I had my eyes on this white tulip dress from Zara for quite a while and luckily I stumbled on it! Reduced from 49.95€ to 19,95€.


Blue top also from Zara. Reduced from 15,95€ to 3,95€


I also accidentally ended up in Woman's secret where they had great bargains on sport wear, pyjamas', underwear and other relaxing clothes. This t-shirt was reduced from 14,95 to 2,95. I also got a sport's top the same colour for 1,95€ reduced from 12,95€.

Sales Sales Sales!!

So I have been a bit busy the last 3 weeks since the sales started. The first week I bought some things, then I changed some of them, then I bought something else in stead when I saw that the prices had gone down even more.

I have been buying mostly in Mango and Zara. Mango was a joy to visit the first week of the sales as they had put everything directly on 50% off. I found quite many things in there on the first shopping round. Nevertheless, now 3 weeks later, they still have the same prices as the first week and most of the good things are gone, so not very interesting to visit any more.

Zara is more causious during the first week of the sales. They reduced the clothes around 30%, so you found very few things on 50% off. However, the second week it got more interesting as there were still nice things to find and a lot of stuff was now discounted 50% or more. Now the 3rd week of the sales, yes, it is even cheaper but you have to be lucky to find your size and most of the good things are already gone. So with Zara the question is how long do you dare to wait...?

These are the bargains I found during the first week:

Skirt from Mango; was 22€, reduced to 11€.


Skirt from Zara TFL was 26€, reduced to 16€


Blue and white striped blazer from Mango; was 60€, reduced to 28€


Top from Mango (with sipper on the back); was 24€, reduced to 12€.


In the second week of the sales I bought the following:


Camel coloured blazer with leopard sleeves. Was 46€, reduced to 30€


Various: Leopard t-shirt from Oysho, was 10€ reduced to 6€. Small purse/wallet from Mango was 15€ reduced to 7€. Small black leather bag from Zara; was 30€ reduced to 10€, black leather sandals from Zara; was 30€ reduced to 10€.

Summer sales

Its the 1st of July - the official start for the Spanish summer sale!! Hurrraaay!!

I didn't have time to go after work today, nevertheless, I will spend the whole day tomorrow searching for the best bargains. I need; tops, shirts, flat sandals, a trench coat, a long(ish) dress and a summer bag. Let's see what I manage to find.. (probably things I don't need!)

And for you who are busy tomorrow - no worries, the stores are opened on Sunday too!


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Rebajas!!

The biannual sales (rebajas) started in Spain the first of July. As they have done the last couple of years, they started strong with 50-70% of discounts in many shops already from the first day.
Now the 3rd week of sales, many places are already doing 3rd rebajas, which means that they have discounted their things for the third time.

All though I didn't wanted to spend a lot of money after coming home quite broke from NY, there was some things that I needed and thanks to the sales were more or less affordable.


I really needed a pair of comfortable high heel shoes, both for work and going out. I had already spotted these black leather shoes with open toe from Geox before the sales, but with a 30% discount they were a bit more interesting. Apart from looking really good on, they are really comfortable!
They were 120€ before the sales and now 84€.



I really needed a new bag too, but I havn't really fallen in love with any yet, so in the mean time, I found this brown bag in Blanco. It was 13 euros and with a 70% discount I paid 3,90 euros.

End of sales shopping

So the sales have come to their end for this time and it's the moment when the shops really want to get rid of the last of their stock from last season and practically give their stuff away. During this time, with a little bit of patient and especially if you have a size which is a bit different from the average (XS or XL) you can really find some interesting offers.

I went to Zara and found a black formal dress (perfect for work) and a see trough black t-shirt with a asymmetrical neck. The dress was 30€ now reduced to 6€. The t-shirt was 26€, also now reduced to 6€.

Results of the Sales Shopping

As promised in my previous post; here some of the results from the January Sales.


One of my first purchases was this blazer with matching trouser from Zara, which I bought for the office (even though the blazer can easily be used as casual wear as well).
When is comes to outfits, it is always a good idea to buy them one of the first days of the sales, otherwise you risk not finding one of the parts in your size. Therefore, I would not call this the buy of the year all though it was reduced some.
Blazer was before 40€, was now reduced to 30€. The trousers were 30€ before, now was reduced to 20€ - all in all 50€ for the whole suit.

Also still during the first week of shopping, we went to Primark, which I have previously mentioned, had surprisingly good sales.
I found this purple winter coat. Was before 35€ and now reduced to under half price: 15€.











Last week I went to Mango, where I found this dress, also really good for the work wardrobe. Before it was 75€ and now reduced to 20€.
This year in they have had amazing sales in Mango!

Sales - Rebajas - Soldes

Here in Barcelona, there are two big events of the year, which I look forward to like a child before Christmas; the sales! The first one of the year starts after the Spanish Christmas "Reyes" (holy kings) is over, the 7th of January and the second one of the year starts the 1st of July (summer sales). The sales will normally last during 2 months, but it is wise to come during the first couple of weeks, if not everything good as well as sizes will be gone.

Since the financial crisis, the sales have just gotten better and better. Now the clothing shops have to get rid off all the stock they have not been able to sell during the year and they want to do this as quick as possible! The only things you will find is not on sale is the newest collection in the shop.

I remember that a few years ago when the shops would start their sales with careful 20% - 30% reductions. Now, however, the first day of sales the most common sign is 50% off, but it can go as far as 70%, again from the very first day!
Then already from the second or third week (or sooner) you will see Segundas Rebajas (second sales), which means that the reductions get even more interesting.

My friend and co-writer of this blog went during the first week (this article will be followed up by one with photos of the bargains) and found some pretty interesting things:

In Mango we found that they directly reduced all their clothes to 50% and we found some pretty nice and cheap stuff.

In Zara we found that they have been more reluctant to reduce everything from the beginning. Clothes were generally reduced around 25%-30%. If you don't have your eyes on something you just must have, my advise is to wait until it gets cheaper.

In Riverisland (English high-street shop, recently opened in Barcelona) we got a pleasant surprice; on the fourth day of the sales they didn't only had most of the shop at 50% off, but they had also added another 50% of the already reduced clothes!

In Primark, where I normally don't find clothes reduced when I go to the UK during sales, they did actually have some offers. Not as many as in other shops in Barcelona, but we did manage to find some excellent bargains.

H&M had quite a lot of sales, but not anything of the interesting stuff. Was honestly a bit disappointed over this years sales here, because normally it is quite good. I guess this depends on the season.

Also worth mentioning is that it is not only the main street shops that have sales; also designer shops such as D&G, Burbury and Chanel have excellent sales - up to 50% from the first day.
Actually one of the only shops I have visited that did not have ANY sales was American Apparel - which I found quite disappointing since it is not even a designer shop.

This was just few of many shops worth visiting in the month of January or July should you be in Spain. But I warn you, you will not get much sight seeing done with these nice offers.

Great brand discouts in Vente privée

Vente privée is a French online shop, where they do outlets of different brands that last 2-3 days.
Here they sell everything from clothes to accessorizes, home appliances, cd's, books, theatre tickets, jewellery and bigger things like fridges and cars! The products are normally stocks from previous seasons that they want to get rid off. Therefore you can really find some great discounts with up to 80 % off.

Currently they are only present France, Germany, Spain, UK and Italy and in order to be a member, you have to get an invitation from an already existing member. The existing member will then get a voucher after the invited person has done his/her first shopping.
You have to be fast as the stock and the good sizes get sold out soon, but you can also do some great deals.
I found this watch from Tommy Hilfiger (with a silver frame, not gold as on the picture). It was discounted from 130 euros to 40 euros (plus the shipping charges: 6 euros). I received it more and less a month after ordering in, in great conditions.

Please visit the webpage: www.vente-privee.com

ASOS Sales shopping

I could not not buy anything at the ASOS sales, they really had some good offer.
I bought the following things, all ASOS products;

The Flirt Back Seam Thights; 5,88 € (unfortunately not on sales)













The Coloured Supper Skinny Patent Waist Belt. Was 5,88€, now on sales for 3,53€












The Ruffle Neck Mac. Was 70,59€ and now on sales for 35, 29€.

Mid season sales in Maremagnum

The other day I went to Maremagnum. It's a shopping centre by the harbor of Barcelona where you can find the most common shops which you also will find on the big shopping streets. The advantages with this place are 1) a roof over your head if it should be raining (not likely in Barcelona) and 2) and most importantly; they are open every day of the year (except the 25th of December and the 1st of January).
In Maremagnum I went by H+M, a small shop comparing to the big H+M shops you will find in Portal del Angel (one of the main shopping streets in the centre), but as it’s small it’s also easier to grasp. Luckily they had just started their mid season sales, discounting a lot of clothes to the price of 10 and 5 €. And I manage to find some bargains...
I bought a striped t-shirt (furthest to the left), which was not on sales but had the low price of 5,95€. Then I found a cute summer top, slightly transparent, with a ribbon around the waist (in the middle) and at a cost of 5€, discounted from 19,90€. And then I found a short black/grey striped cardigan (on the right), perfect for office use also for 5€, discounted from 14,95€.
I said it before and I'll say it again; I'll never get tired of shopping in H+M...