After a long day that involved combing through rows and rows of Prada, Miu Miu, Gucci, Valentino, Dior, Fendi, Balenciaga and YSL, among others, I have finally arrived in Milano and the verdict is in: the outlets in Tuscany are very disappointing.My cousin Valentina and I woke up very early this morning - at 7 AM - and got ready for the 2.5 hr drive from the outskirts of Rome to the outskirts of Florence, heading first for the Prada outlet "Lo Spaccio" in Montevarchi and then for the luxury outlet shopping center "The Mall" in Leccio Regello. I had heard great things about Lo Spaccio and also had great expectations given my previous experience with Italian outlet shopping. I come to Italy relatively often and had visited the Tod's outlet in Casettedete before, having successfully obtained a pair of Tod's flats for about $100.
I must preface this by saying that the Italian sales season ended not one week ago, and had that still be going on I would probably have been telling a very different story. But the sad truth, as I told my sister in my live report over Blackberry Messenger today, is that I could have done better than the prices I saw today at the outlets I frequent in the US. The cheapest pair of shoes I saw at Lo Spaccio were about $200 for a pair of Miu Miu platforms, which is not bad considering, but every time I got excited about a pair of shoes they didn't have the size I was looking for. Furthermore the bags were beyond hideous and expensive on top of that.
The Mall, on the other hand, which I expected to be grossly overrated, had moments of great promise. There were a few leather Gucci bags for less than $300, but they were outlet quality and frankly did not look the part. Valentino had some amazing shoes for about $150 but not in the correct sizes. Burberry was outrageously expensive but had a great selection. In every store I visited there was some sort of but.
Finally, after six hours of desperately trying to find something worth buying, both for the people who made special requests and well as for reselling on eBay, I had to walk away empty handed.
But all is not lost!! During the late afternoon my cousin dropped me off at an outlet where they sell Louboutin shoes before heading back into Rome and before my scheduled departure for Milan. It was there that I finally found something I'm sure will come in handy for SOMEONE. A pair of Louboutin Jolie Noed Dorcet shoes (pictured above) in white patent in a 36.5 for an incredible price. I found a few other Louboutin gems but purchased only this one due to financial constraints. I would still like to find things to bring back for my personal shopping clients and I'd like to conserve some cash or credit to go hunt those things down tomorrow after my business meeting. After all, I am in the fashion capital of Europe. I'm sure I can dig something up at a decent price!
Buona Notte! Vado a dormire! (Good night - I'm off to sleep!)
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