The Choosy Beggar

Through the 14th, utter the words “friends and family sale” at any Polo Ralph Lauren location in the city, and receive 30% off most every product save for a few vintage pieces. Not in the area? Find similar markdowns online.

RL – 1055 Madison Ave At 80th – 212-434-8000 (Temporary) – Map

Through Wednesday, get to private sample sale site RueLaLa.com for 60% off Tumi luggage, wallets, and accessories. (Once you follow the link, select “Invited by a Member,” and then enter the email address VIP@ruelala.com as your key to get in.)

Through Thursday, get to the Openhouse Gallery on Mulberry for what appears to be INVEN.TORY overflow, including Cheap Monday jeans for $70, 3:33 minimalist kicks for $50, and Rxmance tees for $30.

Openhouse Gallery – 201 Mulberry St between Spring & Kenmare – 12pm-8pm daily – Map

What makes a great polo? We agree with An Affordable Wardrobe — a hardier, more traditional Beggar for the Boston area — that it’s mostly fit and (lack of) features… though we’d argue that fabric is important, too. The fact that most labels — Polo by Ralph Lauren, Fred Perry, Lacoste, … — suffer from logo overload graciously narrows down the field. For their simplicity, variety, and disposability, AAW endorses the wide selection from Land’s End. But, while a little e-commerce experimenting never killed anyone, we prefer to guarantee good fit and quality in store. For a few more bucks (which inevitable markdowns make negligible) we therefore prefer J. Crew. Our hearts, however, still lie with a flawless shirt that Banana Republic produced for one season back in, say, ’01 — “athletic” fit, unstructured, in solid navy or gray, a stretch without sheen made possible by what we guess was a 95% cotton/5% polyester blend, no logos, no patters, no pockets… Simple perfection — a path from which BR tends to stray.

Monday through Friday, find up to 70% off spring basics — jackets, shirts, sweaters — from venerable French label agnès b.

**Update 2: As of Tuesday afternoon: “Not much men’s stuff worthwhile,” according to another reader.

**Update: From one helpful tipster who came away empty-handed: “Rack of dress shirts and jackets (casual and dress), nothing especially to catch the eye. Endless pants — it seemed like there were a few fun pairs of lightweight dress pants in spring pastels. Unfortunately no cardigans, nor any sweaters to be had.**

Red Bag – 250 W. 39th St between 7th & 8th – 212-719-0001 ex. 11 – 10am-7pm daily – Map