The Choosy Beggar

Wish we had better news to report from the French Connection sample sale, which began this morning at Chelsea Market. Alas, stock and wearable patters are quite limited. For $100, we liked the double-breasted (linen blend?) blazers (above), but only found about 10 in sizes 38 to 44. They were the only jackets, too.

Price List:

• Blazers – $100
• Shirts – $30
• Polos – $20
• Cardigans – $30
• Pants – $40
• Denim – $40
• Knits – $20
• Windbreakers – $50

One of the few non-patterned, i.e., wearable shirts

The rare wearable piece among the knits, cardigans, polos & tees

Shorts come in two plaids — this being the friendlier of the two

One could, in theory, put this windbreaker to good use

French Connection Sale – Prive Designer Space – Chelsea Market – 75 9th Ave between between 15th & 16th – (Enter on 9th Ave and walk all the way past the fake water fall) – 10am-7pm Daily – Map

• Beyond The Rack – Paul Smith accessories, Swiss watches, Tom Ford sunglasses, Cole Haan socks, Nooka
• eBay Fashion Vault – X
• Editors’ Closet – X
• Gilt Man – Band of Outsiders (pictured), Dakine luggage, Stitch’s denim, Gourmet, Allegri, Corpus, Alpha Industries, Creep, Cheap Shirt
• Haute Look – X
• Ideeli – X
• Reverse (pass: Reverse) – Acne Jeans, Nudie Jeans
• Row Nine – X
• Rue La La – Concord watches, Ghurka briefcases, anon. sunglasses
• The Top Secret – X
• Urban Bloke – 2XU Sportswear, Paper Denim, Ryder sunglasses

No pictures inside the Elie Tahari stock & sample sale, but we can assure you there isn’t much to see. Even big Tahari fans — though, frankly, we’ve never met one — would be advised to do something better with their time than wait on this slow moving line. Most disappointing, we found virtually none of the business wear basics that Tahari began designing last year, and which we assumed would serve as a nice alternative to similar offerings from Banana Republic and Theory. Still, if you must, here’s a price list:

• Knits – $20-70
• Shirts – $40-50
• Pants – $50
• Woven jackets – $100
• Coats – $200
• Leather coats – $300

Update: Read a slightly more forgiving review — third comment — here.

Elie Tahari sale – 510 5th Ave at 43rd st (Entrance is on 43rd), Ground fl – Tues-Fri 8:30am-7:30pm Sat 10am-5pm – 212-398-2622 – Map