Danielle Guercio

A Midsummer Day's Dream: Vivienne Tam Sample Sale

23 July 2014

Women from many different backgrounds were gathered on 39th street between 7th and 8th avenues to scour the selection of tees, dresses and bottoms offered by Vivienne Tam and her team.

Vivienne Tam has been a part of the NYC fashion scene since the early 90s, when she released her controversial ‘Mao’ collection. This brought her center stage in the high end market, and her pieces have been adorning celebrities and luminaries ever since. The design house has a heavy Asian influence which comes across sometimes subtly and other times right up front. Vivienne Tam’s designs show her 90s sensibilities, which are becoming in vogue again, things tend to come full circle a few times in the fashion industry.

Prices were to die for at this sale with only certain pieces rising above 100 dollars. Most items were between $20-$50 and very stylish. One thing of note was a predominantly small size selection. Most sales we have been to have a wide variety of sizes to choose from, but being a traditional style design firm, this sale mainly had sizes 0 to 4 with a few 6 to 10. Skirts and pants were affordable if small, meaning petites need to hop over here asap!

There was a large selection of tee shirts with print and embellishment. Most of these were all different sizes and also oversized styles allowing for a greater variety of body type. The tees had funny prints of monkeys, chihuahuas and other animals. Some were plain, some had damask-ish prints and others were straight up basics.

Dresses were the real show stopper, though not a wide size selection, the style selection was incredible. There were sheers, 70s style wrap dresses, jersey tube dresses, fitted silk numbers, and many different embellishment styles. One of our favorite looks was the striped silks that have a geometric top, showing plenty of skin in new places, and definitely a trendy and on season look. The dresses ranged from $50 to $180, so whether you were aiming for causal or gala, you could snag something great on these racks.

Overall, this sale wasn’t large but provides for a special type of lady who goes to these sales specifically for markdowns. It can be incredibly helpful to put full price styles on a wish list to take with you to these sales. Single designer sales like Vivienne Tam are in-house, and the team will be more knowledgeable about the actual garments and what season they came from, etc. You can end up with a dress that was $695 for $150 if you are quick on the draw.

WHEN: 7/23 – 7/25; W (9-8), Th (10-7), F (10-6)

WHERE: 260 West 39th Street
between Seventh and Eighth Avenues
11th floor
New York, NY