Kristin Goes Shopping

Polo Park hosted the inaugural Winnipeg edition of LouLou Magazine’s Shop Till You Drop event on Thursday. I heard about it only days before but as soon as I did, I knew I wanted to check it out. I’ve read my share of fashion mags, but this one is unique in that it separately presents all the pieces you need to throw a great look together then shows you real-life examples of trends, explains why they work and how you can pull it off. It’s more of a how-to guide than a scandal rag and I like that. Plus it’s available in both official languages.

Shop Till You Drop has been happening around the country for years, some cities even get it twice a year. But this was the first time the event was held in Winnipeg. It wasn’t well advertised but according to the fine ladies at Guest Services, people were lined up as early as 3:15 pm. The “deluxe swag bags” for the first 250 shoppers were gone 15 minutes before the event was scheduled to begin at 5.

were gone 15 minutes before the event was scheduled to begin at 5. My evening got off to a pretty sweet start, with a chocolate truffle from Godiva, a free magazine, giveaways and a few draws to enter. (Fingers crossed I win that Pandora bracelet, I’ve already picked out the charms I want.)

I watched LouLou editor Claude Laframboise give a quick talk on some of fall’s hottest trends and watched a little fashion show, before shopping for almost 2 hours! Here is an overview of the event and here is a list of the participating retailers. There were some serious deals on!

I didn’t hang around to get a hand massage or get a sticker picture of myself on a magazine cover, but I did walk away with a handful of samples and a bag in each hand. It was a great time to stock up on some basics: I got 2 shirts regularly $74 each for $93!

There were line ups at certain stores at times but mainly it was easy going. My biggest criticism was that only a handful of shop people even knew there WAS an event much less what their role in it was. I definitely think next year will be bigger and better.

All in all, I’d say it was a success and here’s the picture to prove it. Can’t wait for next year!