District Sample Sale Weaves Charity With Shopping; Stylish Fall Fun Ensues!

NORTHWEST -- With thrift and charity now as fashionable as the latest designer collection coming off the runway from Paris or Milan, more than 700 of the District’s savvy shoppers flocked to the corner of 19th and M Streets on Monday evening for the Fall 2011 edition of the District Sample Sale (DSS).

Founded in 2006 by Liberty Jones, Barbara Martin, Jayne Sandman, Mary Amons, and Shannon Haley, the bi-annual event fuses high-end bargain shopping with fashion, food, and fun, with proceeds from ticket sales earmarked for a variety of local charities.

For the cost of a few drinks out on the town, DSS provides frugal fashionistas with access to the end-of-season inventories from more than 20 of the city’s top designer clothing and shoe boutiques (Urban Chic, Ginger, Wink, Julia Farr, etc.) – all marked-down to liquidation-level prices.

Between shopping splurges, guests are treated to complimentary cocktails and hors d’oeuvres from close to a dozen sponsoring restaurants, including Barcode, Blackbyrd, Georgetown Cupcake, and Hudson Restaurant & Lounge.

A fashion-focused silent auction, raffle, psychic readings courtesy of 94.7 Fresh FM’s The Tommy Show, swag bag, and DJ Neekola’s kickin’ soundtrack top-off the event, which is expected to have raked in close to $30,000 for WEAVE (the night’s primary beneficiary charity) and a handful of past beneficiaries.

WEAVE was created in 1996 by four students at American University’s Washington College of Law, as a way to provide holistic services to victims of domestic violence in D.C., including legal representation, counseling, and community education.

And with DSS having donated more than $240,000 to non-profits since it was first conceived, it’s pretty obvious why Washingtonians keep coming back each spring and fall: Fashionable philanthropy simply never goes out of style…