<p>Not their online site, the actual store at 39th. Their merchandise is different in that store.</p>
<p>When I was a teen I loved department stores - Famous Barr in downtown St. Louis and Marshall Fields in Chicago were so exciting. But now I only go to dept stores when I am truly desparate/have looked everywhere else. But should we give one dept store a try while in NYC? Where best (again for teens) - Bloomingdales? Macy’s? Lord & Taylor? (The L&T in Dallas was so dull that the very thought of it makes me yawn.)</p>
<p>As an FYI, two things to note: first, no sales tax on clothing if your purchase is under $100 (I have known cashiers who will do more than one transaction to help you with that) and second, if you hit up Macy’s go to the info counter and request a “visitor’s discount card”. It used to (last year) provide a 15% discount (add that to the zero sales tax & it’s a great bonus!)</p>
<p>Oh one more thing. A lot of the younger crowd loves “Strawberry”. There are several in the city. Tons of shoes and great sales on already cheap items. </p>
<p>Also H & M. Also several in the city.</p>
<p>I would hit the Macys in Herald Sq. I had to go to a wedding recently and bought a very cute cocktail type dress there for $40. It is prom season in the city right now and all the prom and prom/after prom types dresses are on sale in the Juniors department and they have a pretty good selection.</p>
<p>Oldfort, I looked online at the dresses at Lord and Taylor and not enough there to likely work for her but if you say the Manhattan store has different merchandise and that you think a 20 year old would like the dresses and one could be had for under about $200, I will pass it on. Thanks.
(sometimes I wonder, though, if she gets overwhelmed by huge stores like that as she is not used to shopping in such large ones)</p>
<p>DG…nice to see you. I had looked at Macy’s online a few months ago and thought there were several possible dresses there but when she went to look at Herald Square she did not like anything she saw and so I doubt I could convince her to go this time.</p>
<p>I also second Strawberrys, though they are sometimes hit or miss. There is one on East 42nd st.</p>
<p>Soozievt, ah to be 20 and not have a collection of black cocktail dresses…I guess that’s a benefit of age…</p>
<p>Soozievt-check out BCBG. The one here in Santa Barbara had lots of short dresses. Most of the store was also 40-70% off. My D got a short black dress that was orginally $244 for just $70. It is quite short!</p>
<p>Mom60, I also have heard of that store and had looked online on their site a few months ago when she also needed such a dress. One issue is that what is online is not always what is in the store. I will mention it to her. She doesn’t like me bugging her about this. :D</p>
<p>Here’s one for missy who has the 13 year old daughter…My D had a short cocktail dress for her 8th grade dinner dance (she was 13 at the time) and it was a very pretty dress and actually would be in style today and even good for this performance. When my D was home one time in the past year or two, she took that dress from her closet here at home and took it back to NYC saying she hopes to fit into it again. I don’t even know what size it was…a four? She wears size six I think and is thin and I don’t know why she thinks she needs to fit into a dress she wore when she was only 13 as she is now 20!! And she can just buy a dress like that. I know she still likes that dress but come on.</p>
<p>soozievt–I was just going to mention BCBG–there should be a nice short-dress selection in the $200 range (or less if sales work out). And the Lord and Taylor in Fifth Avenue is probably worth a trip–it has a nice dress-up section and is pretty orderly, not overhwelming or cluttered the way some of the other big dept stores can be–and prices don’t start that high, though there are more expensive things there as well.</p>
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<p>I am so hoping that as the years go on, the 13 year old wil be willing and able to wear the one-time-only banquet dresses being collected in her older sister’s closet.</p>
<p>Thanks so much you guys. I looked again at BCBG online (it has been a few months) and one issue I now recall is that many of the dresses are closer to $300. I see one that seems like her style and it is close to that price. </p>
<p>Mattmom, you are saying that they may have ones more like $200 and so I think I will tell her to check Lord and Taylor and BCBG and if any other suggestions come along. I have heard of stores that are a chain but I don’t know single shops in NYC at all. Now, to get her to actually GO shopping and not at the last minute. You guys can’t help me with that. Ha ha.</p>
<p>soovievt-I also just looked online and the prices were high. In the store almost everything was on sale. My D must have tried on 25 dresses and of those 25 only 2 of them were not on sale. With one of them the manager was willing to give us 40% off anyway to make the sale. There were many racks that were 40 % off and take another 30% off. I think they have a larger selection in the store. We were shopping only last week and I don’t see many of the dresses my D tried on online.</p>
<p>Not that you asked, but a fun teen activity in NYC is to take trapeze lessons. Seriously. My teens and 2 friends did so and had a memorable time. Just google and you’ll find the link.</p>
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<p>They did that a few cycles ago on America’s Next Top Model.</p>
<p>Professional shopper here: (I answered shopping question on another forum for Los Angeles. I have two daughters…I shop… a lot…much to my husband’s chagrin.) First you must determine your price points and the daughters’ style. My girls liked: Bergdorf’s (NOT inexpensive), Bloomingdales (with outof state driver’s license you receive an extra 11% off). Please note: 7 months ago there was no sales tax on garments under $150…I believe. Make sure that they give it to you. If you open a charge at Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s…you receive an addition 10 or 15 % off for that day. We went into a place called Daisy, I think, not so much. Missed Lord and Taylor…understand that is ok. Wandered in SoHo, Chelsea wherever. Saw some cute stuff, most really overpriced. My daughter told one store that a certain brand name was fake (she knows the designer)…they were passing off certain things as real and at $200 a shirt it damn well better be real. When they challenged her my daughter asked for a piece of white silk…they went pale…she picked up a white silk shirt (to rub on their “designer” shirt)…they grabbed the shirt back. It was fake. So, be careful. Saks has an INCREDIBLE shoe department…d bought her prom shoes at Berdorfs. </p>
<p>Note: sometimes you can hit the Bloomingdale’s take 50% off the sale price…you can make out like a bandit. Since I have a special Bloomingdale credit card they sent everything home (to L.A.) free. I spend $500 and got about $3,000 in merchandise retail.</p>
<p>There are boutiques all over the place. Many are expensive (check Mango online sometimes they have better prices than in the store.) Oh, when I say expensive…I saw a “cute” dress for my 18 yr old…$850…for a day dress. </p>
<p>Please do not go to canal street to purchase fake stuff. It is fake, not seconds…and against the law. But, I envy you your trip. But all together now: One, two, three…swipe the card! :)</p>
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<p>Believe me, my little princesses want real, not fake. They are not above scrounging the racks at Century 21, but they want it to be real.</p>
<p>soozie, this might give you some ideas for designers and makers to search for:</p>
<p>[Designer</a> Little Black Dress at Bluefly](<a href=“http://www.bluefly.com/Designer-Little-Black-Dress/_/N-7i2s/list.fly]Designer”>http://www.bluefly.com/Designer-Little-Black-Dress/_/N-7i2s/list.fly)</p>
<p>Century 21 - I never heard of that store. Is it like a gigantic version of the designer corner at Nordstrom Rack?</p>
<p>I’ve been to Zara in Stockholm, and I always though of that store as a good place to shop for clothes for the 35+ crowd.</p>