Los Angeles: Last Chance Designer Boutique Offers Great Deals

Pictured: The colorful mural outside the Last Chance Designer Outlet.

Hidden away in Culver City, across from the Helms bakery furniture shops, is a little gem of designer savings.  It’s called the Last Chance Designer Boutique. The store is on Washington Boulevard at Helms.  Inside you’ll find brand names like Primrose, Velvet, Cynthia Vincent, Eva Franco, Stella McCartney,  Tulula , Vereck, James Perse, Beautiful People, Helmut Lang, Alexander Wang, Gary Graham and Geren Ford. The designer names are big, but the price tags are not. If you visit, be prepared to spend an hour going through the racks and the bins on the floor with items for $5.00 and up.  The savings are there, but you may have to dig.  But if you are willing to take the time, your efforts will be rewarded.  Most items at the Last Chance Boutique are well under $100.00, with a few stunners from top name designers under $200.00.  According to manager Mia Hanks,” We get in new items weekly.”  She notes that top sellers are Los Angeles designer Cynthia Vincent, $30.00 silk scarves, and items from Eva Franco.  In addition to clothing, there are also deals on handbags, accessories, costume jewelry, and event lingerie (think Valentine’s day.)

Pictured: Stella McCartney pant and top.

Thumbing through the racks, it’s hard to believe there are so many good deals, but there are.  Granted, if you are a size, 2 or 4, you’ll find more to choose from than if you wear a size 10, 12 or even 14, but they do have some larger sizes too in addition to smaller sizes that may have been designer samples. Be sure to try everything on before you buy, as there are no returns at Last Chance.

Although the store is the size of a small boutique, rather than a Loehmann’s or a T.J. Maxx, I found their selection of items to be very good. The use of space is very good, but, be sure to look at the wicker bins on the floor where you’ll find sweaters from Beautiful People, Scarves and maybe even Yoga Pants. There’s even a bin with all items in it for $5.00 that features some great tops and tanks.

Pictured: The Last Chance $5.00 bin contains some treasures.

I left the Last Chance Boutique with a gorgeous teal blue modal jersey blouse from Kismet.  It looked like it was from their 2009 collection, a piece I recognized that had sold for well over $100.00.  I bought it for a mere $19.00 at Last Chance.  You can’t buy a blouse at a big box retailer for that price or quality of fabric and design.  I definitely have my eye on Last Chance Boutique, and I’ll be returning to check out the store on a regular basis. On my next visit, I’ll be looking for some comfy tops from Velvet (sold at Anthropologie for much higher prices) and some pieces from Vince. I’ve also signed up for the Last Chance Rewards program (which I found on their blog.) The program allows you to accumulates points for spreading the word on Last Chance via social media (Facebook and Twitter.)

Pictured: A view of the boutique, and its sale racks.

If you’re interested in checking out the store, Last Chance Boutique  is offering a **ONE-TIME** discount for “The Recessionista‘s” readers: simply “Like” Last Chance on Facebook & print proof or show proof on your smart phone when visiting the boutique, & mention you were “referred by –The Recessionista Blog” & you’ll receive $10 off at Last Chance Boutique.  This is a deal that I am going to use myself! (Note: Without proof of “liking” Last Chance Facebook page & mentioning that you were “referred by The Recessionista Blog”, you will not receive the ONE-TIME discount)*