Spending and Saving in New York City: Part Three
Editor’s Note: This is part three of Noel’s ongoing series about her adventures navigating the NYC sample sale world, adjusting to life without total financial support from her parents, and learning where to spend and save to support her love of fashion while staying within budget! In case you missed them, see Spending and Saving in New York City: Part One, and Spending and Saving in New York City: Part Two.
“I can’t believe I spent more than you,” remarked my suitemate as we sat at the counter, eating Crumbs Bakery cupcakes and watching the passers-by ogle our giant cupcakes.
We had spent the entire day wandering SoHo and the West Village — two neighborhoods that are known for their designer boutiques and not for their college student budget-friendly shops. The two of us were determined to find suitable winter gear for the North East, as I am from California and she is from Texas. I was used to wearing sandals in December back at home, after all.
I introduced my suitemate to Uniqlo, a popular Japanese retail chain store that I have been obsessed with ever since I ventured into the SoHo store during the summer of 2008. Uniqlo sells high-quality basics and casual wear from Japan for a much more student budget-friendly price than American Apparel. Additionally, the retail chain has collaborated with a variety of contemporary fashion designers, such as Alexander Wang and Phillip Lim.
The store in SoHo is also their only store in North America. You can imagine how eager I’ve been to convince my fellow Columbia students to venture downtown for the sake of Uniqlo.
Photo Credit: 1
The moment we entered the store, I walked towards the shelves of denim. You see, I only have one pair of jeans in my wardrobe — the black Uniqlo skinny jeans that I bought two summers ago. Being so short, it’s difficult to find properly fitting jeans. After that fateful summer day when I discovered that Uniqlo sells size 0 jeans and tailors them for free, I didn’t bother wasting my time buying jeans elsewhere. If I’m going to buy jeans, I’m going to buy them at Uniqlo for less than $50 — why bother spending $200 on a pair?
I was in desperate need of pants for the winter. Skirts and dresses with stockings were perfect for the Mediterranean climate back home, but I was already shivering in October in New York City. So, I bought a pair of dark gray skinny jeans for $30, a pair of black “Satin Leggings” that look like high-quality pants but only cost $20, a pair of legwarmers for $10, and a woolen beret for $10. $70 for practical gear? Not bad.
I then ventured into Madewell, which is owned by J.Crew and is still only fractionally cheaper than its sister store. I bought a pair of black stirrup leggings for $32 — oops, I was not aware of the 15% student discount, which I discovered shortly after writing an article about student discounts for the Columbia Daily Spectator’s weekly features and arts magazine, The Eye. Ah, dear store associate, could you not tell that I was hesitant about spending $32 on a pair of fairly opaque leggings?
Photo Credit: 1
Still, $100 for three new pairs of bottoms and two winter accessories is not a bad deal, and my suitemate was equally satisfied with her new purchases — including a beautifully retro umbrella for only $8.
Of course, we wandered around the boutiques in SoHo and the West Village (I had to introduce my suitemate to an oversized Stella McCartney clutch I was eyeballing at Intermix, after all), but we decided to relegate our indulgence of the day to cupcakes at Crumbs Bakery. Only $3.75, and almost just as satisfying.
What is your favorite place to get basic pieces? Have you experienced the amazingness of Uniqlo yet? Do you have any favorite NYC shopping spots? Let us know with a comment!
Posted on on November 17, 2009 / Filed Under: College Life / Tags: Money, NYC, Shopping
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Anna
There’s a jewelry store a couple doors down from Topshop that sells really cute bib necklaces for $25-50. They are a little more expensive than jewelry from Forever 21, but whenever I’m in a bind and need to look good quick, I just throw one on with a t-shirt.
Carol
Perfect timing! lol I was googling cheap places in NYC when saw you tweet.
I´m definitely checking out this japanese store in January :)
*eLLa*
Great finds, will definitely keep this in mind when I go to New York as part of the trip I have planned :)
LM
I live in Japan so of course I can go to Uniqlo anytime I want :) last time I went in only wanting to buy one turtleneck… they were so cheap (690 yen apiece!) that I walked out with four! Poor wallet, but at least I’ve got a lot of basics to work with now.
if you like Uniqlo you should go hit up Mujirushi too! they have everything from clothing, to furniture, to kitchen and bath goods.
Webmistress27
Lovely, thanks for posting very eye catching yet simply and fashionable SoHo is great
wendy
You make me miss home! I love Princeton but I miss NYC so much! Thank goodness Thanksgiving is soon because I need to come home and do some shopping. BTW, Uniqlo makes the best workout gear and cashmere sweaters!
alyssa
Uniqlo is an interesting store! I visited NYC this past summer and I wish I would have picked up a pair of jeans from there!
Julie
I was waiting for a new post from you. I like your series, you should post more often.
This post was 10 times better than the second one. I could totally relate to this one.
Great work!
lalalina
I totally agree with Julie, this post was 100% more relateable. I’m in DC so I have never heard of Uniqlo but I have a sister in NYC that probably knows about it. I really liked this post and hope your next ones are a lot like it!
V
I went to London a few summers ago and I picked up a nice top and a t-shirt for 5 pounds altogether at Uniqlo! I wish I had taken more time to look around in there.
Jen
Now that’s what I’m talking about! Good post. I will look for Uniqlo on my next NY trip.
Luinae
I’ve heard about Uniqlo from so many people now, but there is no way Canada has any!
Jacks
CRUMBS! :)
Rosalyn
Why not return with the leggings and ask if it’s possible to get the 15% discount reimbursed? Or, return the leggings and then buy the same pair with the 15% discount?
Evelina
Wow! You can tailor jeans for FREE at Uniqlo??? :O
I’ve visited some Uniqlo stores when I studied abroad in Japan, but I did not know that! :( (Nor do I know how to ask if they tailor jeans or not… lol)
m
is Mujirushi the same as muji? i really love the muji in hong kong & i think they opened one in nyc too. one of my favorite places is tokyo joe’s. it’s a thrift store, but you can find some really great stuff there.
Sarah
this is so awesome!! i’m going to nyc in jan!!!! yayy!!!!
Kitchen design New York
Hi, just visited your blog first time, and found it quite interesting. Nice post indeed. Thanks for sharing it to all
Regards
rama
Kitchen Cabinets New York
Hanna Kasper
Between Union Square and Bleecker subway stops, like if you walk down Broadway, there is a chain of stores called Necessary Clothing…it’s super cheap and they always have the best stuff.
meghan
I remember seeing Uniqlo items at department stores like j.c. penneys and such. The stuff never struck me to be so great style wise…