chic shopping tip: press sales

here is the lowdown on the press sales in paris. if you work in PR or fashion or have good connections, you can get invited to advance sales, which happen several weeks before the twice-yearly sales. [translation-- they are happening now!] we went to a zadig & voltaire sale the other day, where scads of hip-but-nearly-identically-dressed young women were waiting out in the cold to get in-- only to find out that the cashmere, zadig's hot item of the moment, had all been snapped up by the first few who got in. lucky for me, i had baby lucie in the stroller, and got to enter tout de suite, bypassing the line and drawing some very mean stares from the hipsters in the cold.

not on the invite list? well, if you see a big line of greedy looking girls huffing and puffing in the cold, ask what sale it is and jump in the line. might be worth it, if you have the time. and make friends with store employees and sign up for mailing lists whenever you can.