Its called the Peter Pan Sale (in aid of Barnados Australia) and has been going on for over 40 years by a committee founded in 1940. This length of time is a testament to its success. The sale is magic (read: gold), just like Peter Pan.
The sale is run twice a year, for the Barnados Children's Charity and the hard work behind the scenes is done by a dedicated committee of hard working women, some from the northern suburbs and most from the eastern suburbs of Sydney.
The committee's origins definitely has its benefits for us the attendees. These women network with the wealthiest of Sydney ladies (& from Melbourne) to clear their designer wardrobes and sell it for Barnados.
If you have ever considered recycled or vintage dressing, this is the sale for you.
The adage, one women's cast offs are another women's treasures is no where more true than this type of sale...the sale is a veritable gold mine & I will explain more later...
The committee runs the sale twice a year in May (winter clothing emphasis) & October (summer clothing emphasis).
They advertise in some if the eastern suburbs press, however have a dedicated email mailing list that is serious & robust & all you have to do is ask to be placed on it. They dont sell their list to anyone & they dont bug you with other stuff. With this committee you know what you're getting.
Location, dates, times etc
Currently the sales are held at Paddington Town Hall which is roomy, well lit & central to transport.
Typically the sale starts at 9.30 on a Wednesday & runs til Friday. Their days end at around 4.30 pm. Whatever is left on Friday is discounted 50%. But the real treat is the stuff that is there when the doors open at 9.30 am - this is the stuff that is lucky to last half an hour before being snatched by some savvy shopper & will not be discarded.
The behind the scenes information
The Committee getting the register table ready at around 8 am on Wednesday 25th May 2011.
Four or five girls (customers) are there by 8.15 am & it was a cold, wet, windy day. Better weather and you would have had more there and earlier. The Paddington Town Hall external door is open, so everyone makes their way into the building & sits on the stairs just outside the door of the hall which holds the bulk of the loot (to the left of the cash register area in the photo above).
Across the corridor in an open area (to the right of the cash register area in the photo above) is the mens & jewellery area. Geez, I need a strategy to cover everything....hhmm...thinking....
Both sets of stairs are filling up - sure its alot warmer in the Paddington Town Hall building than queued up outside on the street....but everyone really just only wants a better posi to get in & grab the goodies....
By 8.45 am, around 50 ladies are there...one lady says "no, no, dont take my photo, I am supposed to be at work!!"....so I have excluded her....the rest are happy to be snapped!
by 9.10 am around 200 ladies.....
and steadily increasing numbers from then on....
..at 9.25 am...
at 9.27 am....
at 9.28 am....
The loot - working out a strategy
The committee is dedicated, efficient and delivers results. Their sales are gold.
What do I mean by that?
The loot on offer is typically:
(10%) Mens - clothes, shoes, ties, scarves, some belts etc
(85%) Womens - clothes, all accessories (bags, jewellery, hats, shoes, scarves, belts)
(5%) Childres - all ages
The accessories are displayed on large well organised tables, so bags are separate to jewellery, separate to shoes etc.
The clothes are on wheeled racks, with jacket racks separate to suit racks, separate to top racks, separate to skirt racks, separate to pant racks, separate to evening wear racks, separate to "young & funky stuff"...hahaha...that's my terminology....etc etc.
All the knitwear & jeans are folded on (large) tables.
All the categories are clearly marked & the space is open & easy to navigate. You can even peer through the glass door before they open the doors to get a feel for the layout & plan your assault, oops, I meant strategy.
My strategy: Grab scarves as I walk in, then walk very fast (read: run) to suits, then to jackets, then to skirts, then to tops....then everything else.
This year, the racks were provided by Noni B, Lowes & Saba & thank yous were posted on the doors.
The thing that also impresses me is that there are so many ladies volunteering for this sale that their process of getting discards back on their correct racks is lightning fast. Any sale nut worth her salt knows this is the tricky (& tedious) part, but honestly, the faster you get it back out in the correct place, the faster someone else will find it & adopt it and love it. These girls have this tricky part down pat.
Have you ever "done" a warehouse sale? I am not talking about a (supposedly civilised) store sale...but an offsite sale.....You do a lap (& collect stuff), then (before you try on), you do another lap (& collect more)...then you stalk the sorting area for discards (remember another woman's trash can be your treasure)......THEN you dare try on.......
Some of you may be squinting right now & thinking "That sounds like the most arduous process in the world and I would rather stick pins in my eyes". The others are nodding enthusiastically as they totally "get it". The former hate shopping, the latter love it. Vive la difference!
What I am really saying is the girls who volunteer for these sales, make it easy to shop - not that it will "convert" shopping haters to shopping lovers, but if anyone can set it up so its possible, then these girls do.
Little details
Also there are no change rooms - yes, I know some of you are horrified, but seriously, I dont care about your body, your underwear and your lumps & bumps - the only thing I care about is trying on my goodies & figuring out what is going to follow me home.....see? follow me home...makes it sounds like I am not responsible for my shopping and its kinda out of my control....I am innocent, I swear...it followed me home....and if you saw the amount of garment swapping going on by semi naked women - TRUST ME, no one is interested in your bosy - but the eyes around you are interested in your discards....
The committee has placed a gazillion chairs all around the room (its a huge room) & each person grabs a chair & places a plastic bag on the chair to signify its theirs....as they collect, they fill up their chair & trust me, these ladies dont steal from another's chair - there are ethics amongst shoppers. Obviously you keep your handbag on your person as you scout the room....
Oh - & in the interests of recycled - the committee collects bags from the donors which are used to place the garments purchased into...you can walk out with a fresh Giorgio Armani, Hermes or Yves Saint Laurent or Cosmopolitan Shoes bag & your recycled goodies inside...typically you grab one of these upfront & use it to mark your chair for as long as you are there....
me? I dont waste time finding a chair - I zoom straight in for the kill, oops, the loot...chair, no chair, I dont care..the floor is polished wood & clean & if I pick a corner, I am happy to place my loot on the floor (neatly).
Now the good stuff.....
Brands?
Think Eastern suburbs society ladies who lunch and play tennis
Typically, think Giorgio Armani (mainly the prestige black label, some of the white label (a la DJs) not that yucky Emporio Armani), Valentino, YSL, Basler, Escada, Mondi, Akris, Dior, Fendi, Prada, Ralph Lauren, Ferragamo, St John, Max Mara, Blumarine, Cerruti, Sazha, Steilman, DKNY. The bead & butter is refined, but like any recycled sale, you can find things that are totally out there too - edgy, directional, and varied.
Shoe brands can include Ferragamo, Bruno Magli, Prada, YSL, Pancaldi 1881, the odd Chanel, Tods, YSL, Bally etc
Bags are varied...super high profile designer like LV, Gucci or Longchamp to straw totes from Moschino. In the LV camp, you are more likely to see a grafitti bag (real) than a classic monogram or epi leather...
Did anyone say scarves? I am a scarf nut...the scarf report is usually comprised of a Hermes or two, Gucci, Ferragamo, Bally, Chanel, Fendi etc Big names.
They also have local designer labels - think Carla Zampatti, Lisa Ho, Blooms, John Cavill, Mela Purdie, Ignazia, Anna Middleton (linens), Charlie Brown etc
Not the "young" labels like Camilla & Mark, Dion Lee, Zimmerman or those brands on Oxford Street etc...& I am using "young" very loosely girls, because, we all know its about the attitude not the age...more the refined Aussie designer labels you'd find in David Jones.
The third category of ladies wear is high street Australian - Sussan, Howard Showers, Katies, Noni B, Sportsgirl, Portmans etc. This third group is likely to comprise about 15% of the womens wear - by far the bulk is the serious designer loot. This caters for less affluent ladies who aren't there for the labels, but for functional clothing and to help a charity.
Prices?
Op shop prices. Seriously. Everything is priced to sell. Dont forget, on the last day, everything is reduced by a further 50%.
A black label Arnani suit will typically be around $140 - $170 (depending on age & condition), a black label GA jacket around $50, a Dior or Valentino suit (typically vintage 80s - after all, if you had one from the last 5 years, would you give it away?) around $70-$90, a St John skirt for $40, a Basler jacket for $50, Tods shoes $40-$80, Ferragamo shoes $20-$80 (depending on condition) and it goes on.
& the Hermes scarves? I have bought 3 Hermes scarves from previous Peter Pan sales. Each were $20 each & no, I havent dropped off a zero on that number.
New Hermes scarves retail at AU$550 at the boutiques in the capital cities, US$375 plus 15% tax in the US. Recycled, they generally go for AU$250-$350. On US ebay, depending on condition, you'll find them for anything from $100 to $1,000 depending on the demand (from collectors) of the particular print.
One was a plisse silk with slightly relaxed pleats - I still wear it & love it. The other two were 90 cm flat twills, pristine, mint condition, looked never worn. I subsequently sold one of them as it was a wrong colour for me, but I couldnt pass up the quality. Frankly, now that I have become more serious about my Hermes collection, I wish I had kept it. The other is a Chinese good luck print in (of course) red. It too was pristine & it remains so even though I have worn it (& continue to wear it) alot. I will post photos of these gems when I do the scarf tying blog post.
Hypothetical purchases
So lets say, hypothetically, that I went to the winter Peter Pan sale..... Hypothetically of course....what would I have bought?
An 100% fine cotton Gucci scarf with a white background and a bright aqua border - nautical overtones.
Price: $20 (RRP about $320)
Wow bits: Hand rolled edges -perfect even stitches - Hermes quality.
I'm sorry - but these edges are so perfect, I have to post another photo....
Bad bits: 2 yellow spots, each half the size of my small fingernail on the white bits, wouldnt come out with solvent or soapy stuff, otherwise pristine
Domestic goddess moment: I put bleach on a cotton bud & rested it on the spots for 10 seconds, hanging the scarf so if the bleach was to blead it would do so on more white areas & no colours...
Rinse, wash, spots gone...
Perfect scarf. I love it. It loves me.
Need some ideas on how to tie a scarf? Stay tuned for a future blog post!
A MarcCain stretch skirt in a floral/geometric combo in soft base tones of green and taupes with many small colours overlaying.
Price: $24 (RRP: $450 Myer)
Wow bits: Looks new & unworn, no issues, perfect. A sometimes funky German brand however not kept by Myer any more.
I actually already have this (same size, identical skirt)...I paid RRP - it was about 5 years ago.
Every time i wear it it gives me a Pippa bum, no joke....the tule inserts at the hem create a fluted effect which is feminine and girly but slightly see through & sexy.
I dont plan to keep it - the other one I have is still perfect.
As soon as I find a friend with a shape that fits this, it'll go to its new home.
A Charlie Brown black base lipstick wrap stretch frill top
Price: $40 (RRP approx $180)
Wow bits: Perfect condition, double ruffles on neck & sleeves
80% poly & 20% lycra, but breathes & falls beautifully.
It also has a long wrap tie (which I have tied at the back for these photos) which slides through one side seam and stays in place around the waist, preventing peek -a boo.
Now this is an outright blatant copy & I am normally against these - too noticeable & I wont wear it for long & so I just wont buy it....but i gave in & it looks very flattering on....
Here is the original Prada SS 2000 versions....
Anyone remember the skirt with red lipsticks as worn by Chalotte when she fell in front of Trey's car & they met? Go to episode 7 season 3 (I had to look that up) of your Sex and the City DVDs...
More versions, same collection.....
and the advertising campaign photos....
A white linen Louise Mitchell shirt (Australian designer who does great work with linen)
Price: $30
Est RRP: $200
Wows: 100% pure linen bows at the front hiding the buttons and on the sleeve buttons.
Elegant, ladylike, looks unworn.
Spare button attached - this is a sign that a garment is either lightly worn or not worn.
Once you start wearing a piece of clothing - always remove this - otherwise there is the tendency for the button to be imprinted on the outside of the garment when it is pressed - not a good look.
Place all spare buttons in a shoe box so you know where to find them when you need them. Too easy!
French seamed (this means the raw edges are sewn inside the seams so no overlocking is exposed to the eye), totally gorgeous.
The other thing I love about well made garments is the wide inside plackets - so if they move around as you do, no one can see anything but a smooth surface on the inside.
Bad bits: None, none, none
A Gay Naffine 100% cotton skirt - pale grey with large white polka dots
$30
Est RRP $180 - $220
This label was an Australian designer who did very understated garments minimalist styles and was huge in the 1980s.
Wow bits: Too cute - any polka dot skirt is cute & will work for work with a blazer or for play.
Bad bits: Too long - I have sent it to alterations to take the hem up...I will add a photo when it comes back
Total (hypothetical) spend = $134 (est RRP = over $1K)
Happy Dance!
Does Peter Pan interest you?
If you love sale shopping, it should! Its also a great cause!
Be sure to go & "Like" the Facebook page for Barnados Australia too!
Mailing list
If you would like to be included on the mailing list for future sales, just contact either:
Mrs Amanda Fisher Phone: 9363 3776 Email: fisherra@bigpond.net.au
Mrs Barbara Mortimer Phone: 9328 1394 Email: themortimers@bigpond.com
Please mention that you obtained their details from this blog!
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