Bargains/Crowds Plentiful At Sold-Out Gilt City DC Summer Warehouse Sale

BLAGDEN ALLEY -- Much like the inaugural winter one that came before it, Gilt City Washington, D.C.’s summer warehouse sale served as a popular draw over the weekend, with over a thousand frugal fashionistas turning out for the sold-out event.

(R-L) Gilt Groupe Chief Marketing Officer Elizabeth Francis and Alan Hoffman, Deputy Chief of Staff to Vice President Joe Biden.
While a handful of District notables and members of the press had the opportunity to mix and mingle during a private preview party early Friday evening, the real fun didn’t begin until Saturday morning when the doors were thrown wide open to the world.

Some of the city’s savviest shoppers began to line-up outside Long View Gallery just before 10:00 a.m., during the first of four staggered shopping sessions held throughout the day in order to keep lines to a minimum.

Each $10-$15 ticket (depending upon time of admission) bought guests access to row-upon-row and table-upon-table of some of Gilt Groupe’s top men’s and women’s fashion and home accessories brands, with merchandise all generously priced to sell quickly.

Up-and-coming designers came intermixed with the venerable fashion houses of the world, so that there really was something for everyone in attendance. And attend they did, as all 5,000-squarefeet of the historic warehouse space soon found itself filled to the brim for most of the day.

Between trips to the dressing room, guests munched on colorfully packaged snacks from popchips! and KIND while bottles of Fiji Water and Vita Coco coconut water kept them hydrated.

Not your parents’ warehouse sale, Saturday’s fun also boasted cocktails courtesy of VeeV and even a live DJ to keep the room’s energy consistently spirited.

And that’s how shopping sometimes becomes an occasion…