by: ss_shopgirl
Last night I went to heaven.
And by heaven I mean a warehouse full of vendors offering designer clothing and glittering jewelry amidst music, Midori cocktails, and likeminded women!

If you haven’t heard of Shecky’s Girls Night Out annual shopping event, you don’t know what you’re missing. Every year, Shecky’s hosts a shopping event in about 13 US cities that features fabulous designer clothing and jewelry at a fraction of the cost you would pay regularly (read: $150 jacket only $30) and services like laser hair removal, massage package deals (yes, I caved into this) and free cocktails.

Just imagine…a room full of clothes and tons of fellow shopperettes…

Barker Hanger, Santa Monica, Los Angeles

My first stop was at O’Dorsay for some hats. I just couldn’t resist trying these on. I mean, really — 20 or so amazingly cute hats in many different colors? That easily took about 30 minutes of my time.

Boy, was I tired after trying on so many hats! It was still early in the game so I restrained myself from buying any — I had to scope out the scene first! I took a breather at the Midori station (they have EVERYTHING here) then browsed a bit more.

Naturally when you see a group of seated people so engaged in what they’re doing that they’re even ignoring Midori cocktails, you’ve got to wonder what’s going on…

So I investigated further and found out that there were some designer Nintendo DS’ cases out there (with actual Nintendos that were available for testing). Take a look:

Designer Nintendo DS Case (even more glittery in person)

So the clothing was OK — a lot of colorful knits and tweeds (I got some tweed Dokie Okie short pants from Burning Torch) but overall I wasn’t totally moved by many of the collections that I saw. What really caught my eye at this Shecky’s event was the handmade jewelry.

I LOVE handmade jewelry. Something about the presentation, the lighting, the glitter, the colors — I can’t get enough of it. So my pick for Shecky’s Los Angeles vendor favorite is… jewelry from Yumi Chen — I bought some jade earrings, then came back for a necklace made from real Venetian glass. (It’s for a birthday present, don’t think I’m a spendthrift.) It’s gorgeous.

Here’s Yumi with her fantastic array of necklaces, earrings, and more. You’ve got to check her site out — her jewelry is really well made and comes in so many different colors and designs, you’ll love it! And maybe if you tell her you found out about her through The Shopping Vine, she’ll give you a little discount?? Just go to www.yumichen.com.

So those were the highlights from my evening at Shecky’s Girls Night Out in Los Angeles. WAIT! I forgot the best part — when you leave, they give you a deluxe 2LB goodie bag. Wanna know what’s in the 2 lb goodie bag? You’ll just have to go next year… it’s ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!