Tuesday, August 7, 2007

U St./Dog Days/Tax Free Shopping

When one's not concerned about "Back-to-School"shopping, it's easy to forget that many states (and the District) have certain dates where you can shop Tax Free! I know it doesn't seem like a lot of money off, but trust me; the tax on all those purchases adds up quickly.

In addition to last weekend being tax free, there was also this sidewalk sale (and other assorted events) taking place in the U St. vicinity as part of Dog Days of DC. Each store had different specials that were anything from 50% off summer clothing to a shoe store offering buy one pair, tell a joke, get the second pair free (my mother offered the following joke: What do you call a cow with no legs? Gound Beef).

I haven't really mentioned U St. shopping before since it's not really a place I'd go to find super, amazing deals. However, I LOVE many of the stores in that area. I really like finding different, unique clothes and accessories and there is no shortage of that on U St!

This weekend, I found amazing pieces on sale at three must-shop stores: Nana, Shoefly, and MooJoo Ken.

Nana is a clothing store that sells a few pieces of jewelry, some handbags, and some vintage clothes in addition to regular clothing. They carry some great, hard to find labels as well. This weekend I became the proud owner of a skirt that was made from a vintage trench coat; how fabulous is that?! AND it was 50% off. Almost everything, except for the fall pieces, was marked down 50-70%. I did some research on the trench skirt; it's a label out of Canada called Preloved that takes vintage pieces and turns them into completely different articles of clothing. Needless to say, I'm obsessed.

Shoefly's selection reminds me a lot of what you might find at Kitson in L.A., but better. This weekend they had tons of shoes for only $20 or $30 and Havaianas for only $10!

MooJoo Ken is not only a store, but it's the label on a great line of shoes and handbags that the owner designs. The styles are named after various streets and landmarks in D.C., which is quite nifty. I found the cutest pair of flats named after the beltway and it wasn't just a generic print on the shoes, oh no, it was highways with little cars driving on them. I couldn't possibly leave the store without them (p.s. I love cars almost as much as shoes). They were a mere 20% off, but for an up and coming local designer it was the least I could do to help the cause.


U St. is a great place to peruse and be sure to mark your calendars for next year's sidewalk sale. Also, you simply must stop by CakeLove and pick up a delicious cupcake; I mean shopping burns a lot of calories, right?