Small News Item for Local Readers (if any?)

A small addiction to fine clothing was triggered at the Ark on Milwaukee Avenue in Wicker Park.
A local woman wandered in for a quick browse after buying greens, tofu, and snack bars at the supermarket across the street. She discovered that today (Friday) all clothes were half off and the red slashed $1 items were actually 2 for $1. She found many gray and steel blue clothes (so flattering to her myopic eyes and calming to the "high" coloring of her cheeks) in cashmere, linen, and silk, some skinny jeans for her skinny teenagers.  The single highest priced item was $9, a lovely ruffled, quilted light spring jacket. Serendipity intervened when her beloved husband called to say he was nearby and did she need a ride.  She accepted happily, pushing down a bit of trepidation at his anticipated reaction.  All was well after all.

Crazypants! Clothes for $1.00 per Piece

Had a dizzy afternoon at the Ark on the 1200 block of N. Milwaukee Ave (in Chicago).
Partly dizzy owing to low blood sugar and the very tight aisles, partly to the happiness of being distracted from real life worries, mostly to the "blowout" prices.
Blowout is a most unfortunate word, I will forever associate with diaper accidents.
Crazy or sensible pants and tops if marked $1.00 were $1.00.
Clothes marked  $15.00 or less were $1.00.
Clothes marked $16.00 or more were 1/2 price.
Seems that "clothes" does not mean shoes, scarves, coats and jackets, but still thousands of choices in cashmere, wool, linen, denims galore!
This applies to today and tomorrow, not sure for how much longer.
If any local readers please go forth and enjoy.
For some reason, my choices were pants-heavy, probably because I could not carry any more after a while. Olive green jeans for husband & son, silk pajama pants, gray career (Talbot) slacks for me, linen pants for son, a couple of silk tops for self and daughter, french blue shirt for son, and, and, what?, I don't even know.  15 things for about $16.50.

Also, happy Packi Day , yum yum.

super sale story sharing

Not sure if I have local readers, but just in case, through Wed the 30th of January, the Ark on Milwaukee Ave in Wicker Park is having a bag sale for cold weather clothes for $10.00. This price is for what they call a medium sized bag.  It was actually quite large, almost the size of a typical kitchen garbage bag.  I came in a half hour before closing and got 7 merino wool sweaters from the men's section and happily a pair of jeans for my son. I say happily because I assumed they were priced at $6.00 separately from the sweaters and cold weather gear in the sale category.  More could have fit if I had more time to browse were greedier than I already am. Funnily and yet sadly and yet funnily again, the gloves and mittens were not included in the sale. Oh well.  I paid $10.93.  They turned the lights off in the back of the store as I was putting my little purse into backpack I noticed I no longer had my own mittens tucked under my arm anymore. I asked them to turn the lights back on so I could hunt, but a young man working found them it the dark.  So good to get them back.  They were a gift from my mother some 20 years ago.  I lost them one time before trash picking in an alley.  I found them hours later on the ground.

Last week I got a black cashmere sweater for 1/2 off the regular $10.00 price.  The merino wool ones in the bag sale were marked for $6.00 each.    I tend to like the selection in the men's section because the sweaters there are broader in the shoulders (like I am). Oversized is fine, if they shrink a little, no problem, usually they still fit.  If tight they are a good layer underneath.  Or they can be pieced together to make a bigger Frankensweater.  So many good books on the subject.  Some time ago I read a blog post on Mr. Peacock about how he make a patchwork sweater from his dad's black cashmere socks.  I imagine wool and cashmere would take dye as easily as cotton, so a lighter blah color can be transformed into something more flattering (more shrinkage than cotton probably).

OK, that's it happy hunting.  Any good finds on your end?  Any reconstructions?