Shop the luxury designer brand sales
It isn’t a little known fact that luxury and designer brands too go on sale, just like every other brand. The only difference is that luxury brands do not advertise their sales with flashy advertisements and large banners proclaiming sales of 80% off! In fact, unless you know about the existence of the sale, you might not even be aware of it, even if you walk past the store or into it.
Here’s a few tips when shopping a luxury designer brand sale:
- Luxury brand sales happen twice a year - Generally, once in June/July and once in November/December. Look out for subtle ads in the newspapers or little plaques that say “Sale” in the store window.
- Items on sale are limited and are usually from past seasons - don’t expect to find the popular IT bags of the season. Those are either usually sold out or not on sale. Classics too hardly ever go on sale. Gucci for example, rarely has discounts on their classic Jackie O bags except for those with seasonal fabric, and the Celine Boogie bag hardly ever goes on sale.
- Discounts range from 30% to 60% - The general rule of thumb is that of a 30% discount in most brands. Gucci doesn’t usually go higher than that unless you are extremely lucky (and I have been!), Salvatore Ferragamo recently went up to 60% off on very selected items at Starhill.
- Don’t be afraid to ask the price - Sometimes you might be surprised at the amount quoted. Also, the price tag tends to be hidden away and it looks awful to be rummaging through the bag to look for the price tag.
- Do your homework - If you are lucky (and because stocks of luxury brands don’t move as quickly here) you might even get the season’s IT bag on sale, or something classic. Knowing your prices help too.
- Different stores may have different stock and designs - Because the designers have a few different stores around town, you might find that certain stores have some designs that others don’t. So, do shop around before committing. It was easier when there was only KLCC and Starhill to contend with. However, now that Pavilion Kuala Lumpur and The Gardens are up, the net is cast wider.
Over the years and through trial and error, I have amassed my designer handbag collection purely by scouring the sale racks and in the process scored some excellent bargains on full leather bags I could not afford otherwise. No matter how much I want them, I cannot afford the designer items while they are on full price, so waiting for the sale is the next best thing for me.
There is one caveat however. If you are hoping to buy a Louis Vuitton on sale, don’t hold your breath waiting. As far as I know, Louis Vuitton is the only designer brand never to go on sale at all, ever. Pity.
My Chicwear.com.my experience
I went over to browse Chicwear.com.my after reading Giddy Tiger’s post about it and she has since updated with her recent order experience and some tips on how they might improve.
Chicwear being a lingerie boutique, their selection tends towards the sexy and sensuous. Don’t expect to find flannel pyjamas here, or even shorts sets (though some variety would be nice - even Victoria’s Secret and La Senza stock regular comfy but humdrum pjs). What you should expect are nighties with lace and satin - very feminine stuff. Some designs even tend towards looking a bit risque so don’t enter if you are prudish!
Chicwear presently carries designs from 4 lines - Coemi, Miran, Fantasy and Dreamgirl. I’d never heard of them before, but then I’m not that much into fancy lingerie before this. Browsing the site is easy because although its quite picture intensive, the pictures load quickly, which is useful. You don’t want to have to wait forever before the photos load.
I do have some comments for improvement though:
- I failed to notice that there was more than one page of products because the drop down page number was quite unnoticeable. It might help to have it say Page 1, 2, 3 at the top and bottom of the selection rather than having a drop down box which is easy to miss.
- The sizes available aren’t very updated and its frustrating to click to order a size only to have a pop up box tell you that its not available. They seem to have fixed it a bit since my order though.
- It would have for each item to have measurements of length because nightgowns do come in different lengths and from the pictures it sometimes isn’t clear how long it is supposed to be.
- Having pictures of the back and front of the product will help customers decide whether it is suitable for them or whether they like the look.
- Oh and the pictures of some of the models on the site are quite scary even if the products they are modelling are nice. e.g. this one below. Nightie looks adorable but model scares me.
For Malaysians, shipping is free by courier, which is awesome. I had my order arrive within a week of my order, in a lovely red gift box and wrapped in tissue. It was very elegantly packed.
Its nice that Chicwear ships internationally for those outside of Malaysia but it would be better for international commerce, I feel, if Chicwear accepts Paypal for such transactions.
Size-wise, I’m happy to report that the sizing chart provided on the site is very useful and quite accurate. I ordered the size which corresponded to the measurements shown on the sizing chart and the nightie fit like a charm, which made me happy. The colour however was a little off. On the site it looked peach although was described as “ruddy” but when I received it, it was a burnt orange shade which wasn’t ugly, just not what I was expecting.
Ordering and checking out was easy. You must sign up as a member in order to purchase an item but signing up is free anyway. When you have selected your items and are going to pay you will be redirected to the Worldpay site, where you make your credit card payments. You will receive confirmation emails to your registered address with your sales order information. I found it easy and pain-free. You can also pay through Maybank or CIMB Bank or even by cheque if you’d prefer not to transact online. The payment methods are here.
Chicwear also operates an exchange and refund policy but I haven’t used it because my item came exactly as expected and in the correct size.
All in all, I’d say it was a positive experience shopping with this online lingerie retailer. Its my first time dealing with a local online company and I’m happy to report that it was as painfree as it was dealing with an international company with the additional benefit of being able to contact them in person should a problem arise. Guys would benefit most from this online service - it saves them the embarrassment of having to walk into a lingerie store and it arrives as a beautiful gift although I’m unsure if they allow you to include a message with the gift. But make sure you know your lady’s size before ordering to avoid embarassment and hassle eh?
Ships Internationally: Yes
Accepts Paypal: No
Etailer Rating: 
My Chicwear.com.my package is here!
Whee! After reading about Giddy Tiger’s experience shopping on Chicwear.com.my I surfed on over and investigated the site. Lo and behold! They are having a sale! So, I checked out their hot picks and picked up a nightgown for a mere RM39 from the normal retail of RM129!
The package came today - in a lovely red box.
And nestled inside, nicely wrapped up in thin tissue and prettily presented, was my nightgown. It looks and feels soft and satiny. The stitching looks well done and the material is slightly thicker than usual satin which I would expect would make for it to fall better.
You cannot beat them for presentation though. I can just imagine how this would look were it to have come as a gift! I’ll review Chicwear.com.my another day. For now, I’m dying to go home and try it on to see if it fits.
Luxury Jeans at Bread and Butter
Someone emailed me once to ask where she might find Seven for all Mankind jeans in Malaysia. At the time, the only place I’d recalled seeing it was at Isetan at KLCC which had a luxury jeans section. I recalled they had Seven and Paper Denim and Cloth amongst others.
I also recalled that they cost upwards of RM500 each! So, suffice to say, I wasn’t about to explore the luxury jeans section any time soon. I wasn’t sure however, if I ever saw Seven for all Mankind anywhere else.
That is until I was walking around in The Gardens at Midvalley Megamall.
While walking around the upper levels of The Gardens, I chanced upon a store called Bread and Butter.
The store looked like a jeans boutique in that it was filled with racks and racks of jeans. A quick glance at the side of the entrance revealed the brands they carry - Seven for all Mankind, 575 Denim, Denim for Immortality, Evisu, True Religion number amongst the luxury jeans brands carried.
So now you know where to go for your luxury jeans fix. Me? I’m still swanking around in my cheapy denims 
I might walk into the store some day, if only to try out a pair or two. I know that once you get on the slippery slope of luxury jeans there’s no turning back - so I’m resisting the slippery slope for now.
