I gor my first mystery box of the year

 

This picture does not do the contents of my latest Universal Standard Mystery Box justice. Hanging these dresses on cheap coat hangers, and not put on a body makes all of them look lifeless.  However, they feel great.  And one of them I had planned to purchase the next time that their dresses go on sale.

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I stumbled onto the Universal Standard brand a few years ago, and I found that their goods were of higher quality than I was finding in the plus size stores I was shopping in at the time.  Two of the three plus size stores are now gone, with their brands absorbed into the "Full Beauty" group.  This leaves me with only the Lane Bryant stores and various online merchants such as Ulla Popken where I've made my online purchases over the years.  Universal Standard is one of these online stores.

Before Covid, Universal Standard had one store in lower Manhattan.  After Covid, they had both trunk sales and on-premises sample sales, from which I have bought many garments.  But my favorite deals tended to be the Mystery Boxes, where one garment could be worth the price of the box.  In this case, all 3 dresses look like they will be keepers.

With this being said, I am hoping that they will resume sample sales in their new DUMBO location.  Yes, getting to DUMBO is much less convenient than getting to the southern part of midtown.  But it's worth it to be able to try on clothes and get steep discounts at the same time.

It might be the last sample sale for Universal Standard in Manhattan

 

The other day, I received an email from Universal Standard saying that they would be holding a sample sale this weekend.  Given that the firm is moving out of their Manhattan offices, it is likely that their showroom will be moving as well.  So, I made arrangements with RQS to meet her at Grand Central after I've done my shopping.

But first....

I woke up this morning feeling barely awake.  So, I lollygagged a bit until I noticed that the clock had hit 10 am.  This meant that I was already an hour late, and had to rush in order to make a 11:42 train.  Luckily, all my ducks were in a row, and I was showered, dressed, made up, and out the door by 11:15 am.  Although I may have had enough time to stop for an egg sandwich on the way to the station, I decided not to take any chances, and go straight to the parking lot - just so I had enough time to find a spot before the train came.  I needn't have worried.  There were more than enough spaces.  But the coffee shop at the station was closed.  This meant that I'd have to get a bite to eat when I reached Grand Central.

A little under 60 minutes later, I was at Grand Central and looking for something to eat.  In the past, I'd go downstairs to Zaro's and get a couple of franks.  Sadly, they don't sell hot dogs anymore, and I ended up getting my pair of tube steaks at Frankie's.  It's hard to feel comfortable with the reality of today's prices - 2 dogs and a soda for $14.  I'm used to dogs that sell for $2 each, and sodas for $2.  

Once done with lunch, it was off to Universal Standard.  20 minutes later, I was on the elevator to their store. Within 15 minutes, I had bought a nice sweater and a nice dress for $75.  This is pretty good, given their usual prices.  While there, I found out that they are moving to Dumbo at year end.  So I may be traveling a little bit more to get to their next sale in Dumbo.

Now that I was done shopping, I went to Grand Central to meet RQS.  Around 2:30 pm, we met, and it was on the train headed to Croton.  Although I could say a bit more about the day, I'd rather keep it brief.

Another long, hot weekend was started early.

 

RQS and I discussed coming up early this weekend.  Although the "Lobster Truck" would be elsewhere, I was able to entice her to come up a day early with oysters - 12 Oysters for $12 at Whole Foods on Fridays between 2 and 5 pm.  So we made plans for her to meet me at Grand Central Terminal after I went to Universal Standard's Sample Sale.

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I got dressed in a comfortable dress on Thursday,  then left my house around noon, proceeding to Manhattan on the 12:42 pm train.  When the train got into Grand Central around 1:45 pm, we got delayed because the train couldn't make it al the way into the station, and had to discharge passengers through the first two cars of the train.  I was totally exhausted by the time I made it to Universal Standard.  (The heat both under and above ground was gruesome, and I was a little dehydrated by this point.)  So, after stopping for some air conditioned comfort, I went upstairs to do some shopping.

Once I was upstairs, I was greeted by a staffer who has seen me at several of the sample sales.  Then, I proceeded to browse the racks to find things I might be interested in.  As much as most of the stuff wasn't worth my interest, I found two items of worth: A blue sleeveless dress (that I wasn't sure that I should buy) and a pair of leggings that I could always wear when the weather gets cooler.  $75 later, I was out of there with garments that would normally sell for over $175 ($40 for the dress and $35 for the leggings)

Leaving the store, I decided to take the East Side local to Brooklyn Bridge, then back uptown to Grand Central.  This way, I could be assured to have a seat in an air conditioned car on its way uptown.  (The last thing I want to do is stand on a subway car being delayed due to problems ahead of us.)  While on my way, I found that RQS was 45 minutes behind me, so I knew I'd have to wait for her at Grand Central.

Around 3:30 pm, I arrived at Grand Central and waited for RQS to arrive, then we took the train back to Croton.  Since there was nothing ready for us to cook, we picked up some food at Trader Joe's and had dinner a little later.

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Friday came, and the focus of the day was to have oysters at Whole Foods.  So, I donned the blue dress I bought the day before, and we drove to Chappaqua.  RQS thought we were going to White Plains, and I wanted to see what it was like on the former Reader's Digest campus.  We got there at 2:30 pm, and the supply of oysters was already starting to run out.  $24 later, we were eating oysters normally selling for twice the price - and they were yummy!  If scheduling works out, we may make this a semi-regular part of our routine.

Once done with our meal, it was off to the jewelers to have a few links taken out of her watch band.  And then, we drove to Cold Spring for Ice Cream before returning home for the night.

Guess where I'll be going soon....? (And, NO, it's not another cruise.)

 

By the time you read this, the Universal Standard sample sale will be over.  To its loyal customers, Universal Standard made many of its current sample pieces available online, so that they could clear out some inventory.  This T-Girl loves the quality of the store's products, and can only wish I had a nicer body on which to wear their garments.

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My late wife would be laughing at me, as I have become quite a clothes horse.  It's nice to receive a new article of clothing in the mail (or from Amazon, UPS, or FedEx) and have a chance to wear it.  Unlike my late wife, I tend to wear the stuff I buy - especially now that I'm buying clothes of a higher quality (preferably at a deep discount).  When I pass, I don't expect that there will be any garments in my closet that still have price tags, as most will have been worn several times.

As I've mentioned in prior entries, I have bought some exercise wear, so that I can go out walking and not get my good clothes ruined by sweat. I have also bought some nice casual clothes to wear on warm days - and will be wearing them soon.  But the question remains: what should this T-Girl wear in colder weather?  Fewer women are wearing dresses in cool weather than they did when I was a kid, and I don't want to stand out - I want to blend in with the other women around me.

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On other matters, RQS and I were discussing the personalities of our Texas friends.  One of these friends is very observant, saying relatively little, but shows quite a bit of confidence.  The other shows her rough edges, and I'd love to help her smooth them out.  But unless asked, I'll keep my mouth shut and give advice only when asked for.

One of these days, I'd like to be presentable enough to spend the day in their area as Marian, and then revert to my male presentation for maximum safety.  This might mean bringing a little bit of both male and female wardrobes with me if I were to visit, and then switch between modes only for that part of the trip.  First, I want to see a Democrat elected as Governor again in that state....

This brings me to politics.  We're seeing a snow motion coup being staged by the GOP, with Trump as their charismatic leader.  What frightens me is that the people who'll being him to power will not be able to control the beast they have unchained.  We've seen this scenario 90 years ago in Central Europe, and I'm afraid it might happen here.  If the worst happens, Canada will only be a way stop for me, as I want to get completely out of Dodge before High Noon.  I wonder how many people will be able to make the last train out....

Universal Standard - How quickly things sold out.

 

The other day, I visited Universal Standard's showroom to look at their new Linen Collection.  As much as I wanted to buy several items, I deferred any decision because I wasn't sure if I wanted to spend several hundred dollars on three garments.  By the time I made my decision (less than a week later) to buy two of these garments, they were listed as being sold out.  Were these limited edition pieces?  I don't know.  But I intend to make another appointment at their showroom the next time a new collection is made available.

This weekend, I plan to visit the same store for their sample sale.  I expect it to be chaotic, where cisgender females will likely strip to their undies to try on some of the garments put out for final sale.  As for me, I'll be wearing a unitard under a duster, so that I can try on clothes without stripping down to my unmentionables.  (This will be he same thing I'll wear when going to Flax's "Barn Sale" next month.)  Hopefully, this trip will be a worthwhile use of my time....