In case you missed it, Lilly Pulitzer announced their annual After Party Sale on their Instagram account just yesterday. This year, The After Party Sale will take place on January 3rd and 4th starting at 8 a.m. with a presale beginning on January 2nd in stores. This sale only takes place twice a year and it is one you definitely do not want to miss out on!
What exactly is the After Party Sale? It is a sale held by the official Lilly Pulitzer website https://www.lillypulitzer.com/ and official Lilly Pulitzer stores/select retailers that carry Lilly Pulitzer products. The sales typically take place twice a year with one sale in January and another in August. Since Lilly Pulitzer hardly ever has sales, these are two events you will want to take advantage of if you have not previously shopped them. During the sales, Lilly Pulitzer releashes new products every hour that are marked down tremendously from the original price. If you are a fan of Lilly but the costly prices prevents you from buying their merchandise, then this sale is the perfect opportunity to purchase their items for a great bargain!
Before shopping the sale, it is best to have a plan and prepare yourself. If you have your heart set on certain items, then going into the sale blind is not the best idea. Although the sale begins right at 8 a.m., once you enter the website, you will be placed in a virtual waiting line. In the past, I have had to wait at least an hour or two before getting on the website to make a purchase. Getting on the website as early as possible is your best chance at finding the products you are looking for. Personally, I set up my laptop and my iPhone at least 30 minutes before the sale begins to prepare myself. Using more than one device to wait in the virtual waiting line is also helpful. I have found that my laptop loads the website much faster compared to the app. Remember not to refresh your page while waiting in line! If you refresh your page while waiting, the website will direct you back to the beginning and you will have to wait in line all over again. I also recommend signing in to your Lilly Pulitzer account and filling in your credit card and shipping information prior to the sale so you do not have to do this while checking out. Just because you have items in your shopping cart does not mean they are safe!
Once you get into the sale, shopping as quickly as possible and then exiting the website will work to your advantage. Seek out the items you are set on purchasing by selecting your size and the type of item you are in search of to eliminate other products that will prolong your shopping time. For example, I had my heart set on purchasing a white dress and a navy dress during the sale in August, and I selected my size and dresses to skip right to the options the sale had for these products. The actual shopping experience is fairly quick if you already know what you are looking for. Once you purchase the items you set out to buy, you can always wait in line a second time to browse the rest of the products for sale. All products are final sale, so once you purchase something, you cannot return it.
If the website is too challenging or stressful to use during the sale, shopping at signature stores or local boutiques is another beneficial option. Certain signature stores such as Splash of Pink (a Lilly Pulitzer signature store located near me in Connecticut) take part in the After Party Sale and presale events. By shopping signature stores or their websites, it may present the shopper with a less-stressful shopping experience with more opportunities to locate the desired products. Sometimes, the signature stores may also offer cheaper prices on certain items.
Another helpful tip is to spend your money wisely. Since Lilly Pulitzer releashes new items every hour or so, spending all of your money at once is not the best option. You may find something else later on that you would have preferred much more to the items you had already purchased. I prefer to select a few things during my first time in line and then check back again in a few hours to see what else has been added.
While no one knows for sure which products will be available during the sale, Lilly Pulitzer usually offers a wide variety of items in different prints. In the past, there have been dresses, skirts, shorts, popovers, Elsa tops, and more for sale! My favorite item to buy are t-shirt dresses. While these dresses normally sell for $98, during the After Party Sale they sell for around $39!
I have been shopping the After Party Sale since August of 2015. Although I have been a fan of Lilly Pulitzer for years prior, I stumbled upon the sale randomly while browsing the website during this time. Since I entered the sale very late, I only made one purchase, but this top is one of my favorite prints and a worthwhile purchase.
