I will never forget the shoes I wore to my 8th grade dance. They were four inch black patent leather DKNY wedges. I didn't think they were special until I arrived and saw all the other girls wearing boring strappy kitten heals. No one knew or cared what my shoes represented, but I did. They made me feel like I walked out of the pages of Vogue. I think my life might have changed that day. But the weirdest part about that miraculous moment isn't the shoes, it's where I bought them. That life-altering footwear was purchased at a Marshalls in Niles, Illinois.Yes, the discount store. In fact, I bought most of my clothes there. They were cheap, accessible, and allowed me to be a slave to fashion on my allotted budget. There was no way in hell my parents were going to spend thousands of dollars on my shopping habit(Ahem, Sea of Shoes, Ahem).
Up until a couple months ago I forgot how much I loved those stores. Marshalls invited me to partake in an informational seminar to learn a little about what goes on "behind the seams" at their stores. There I learned that, like department stores, they have buyers but the main difference between theirs and someone like Saks, Marshalls sends theirs out 46 weeks out of the year instead of just 4 times. They do this to ensure that their stores have the freshest crop of merchandise on hand at all times. I was pretty impressed.
They let us roam free to check out the goods ourselves. Just as I had remembered, their selection was bountiful. With my $100 gift card I purchased Frye sandals for $30, which are "on sale" at Zappos for $105, two summer dresses, and some intimates.
If you're like me and you turned your back on discount retailers when fast fashion came to power, I would give them another try. You might have to dig a little but it's totally worth it.
