Finding clothing that has been sold out and discontinued

Does anyone have some tips on how to find clothing that has been sold out and discontinued?

I am so bent out of shape about this dress. It fit so awesome and then I put it in the dryer and shrunk it. Now it looks like I'm trying to squeeze into a little kid's dress. Or a sausage casing. Uncomfortably tight, and inappropriately short. Nothing I can do.

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I've found discontinued makeup products by Googling "where to buy discontinued makeup".

How about you take the tag from the one you already have and Google "where to buy" with the information on the tag? You should be able to find it online.

Tried that, more or less. Googled various iterations of the tag info: RN# 55285 CA# 56842 ID# 90233 12/16

Red Print 23

Arggh.

Hi Jibralta

Have you any good dressmakers in the area? If you take the original dress to them, they could copy it and make it in which ever fabric/size you choose.

I had a similar dress in purple... shrank as well - now I only wear it while gardening on a hot day... wayyyy to short for me to wear in public

Know anyone that lives near an Express? There are a couple of near me. I'm sure it's a long shot, but the next time I'm near one I'll stop in and look. If by chance they have one, I'll let you know.

Worst case scenario, I'll just buy it and ship it out to you.

Also, have you tried contacting them directly? They will probably tell you, they're all sold out.

Lol sausage casing. I'm no help , but it seems this happens to me when do I do manage a rare find that actually fits my body properly. And tailoring gets pricey. So I'm curious to know too.

I too vote for finding a seamstress or tailor to make you one or a few, it looks pretty simple.... two piece front single piece back? simple sleeves. Could be time to learn yourself. (Granted I make some of my stuff, poorly that is)

Have you any good dressmakers in the area? If you take the original dress to them, they could copy it and make it in which ever fabric/size you choose.

Hi Lisii,

I think it would be prohibitively expensive, but it can't hurt to ask!

I had a similar dress in purple... shrank as well - now I only wear it while gardening on a hot day... wayyyy to short for me to wear in public

 

I'm thinking I might be able to wear it as a long shirt with some skinny jeans! But it's a bit tight across the top now. Might be too uncomfortable. Sigh.

Know anyone that lives near an Express? There are a couple of near me. I'm sure it's a long shot, but the next time I'm near one I'll stop in and look. If by chance they have one, I'll let you know.

 

Worst case scenario, I'll just buy it and ship it out to you.

 

Also, have you tried contacting them directly? They will probably tell you, they're all sold out.

 

That's nice of you! If you do happen to see one in a shop near you, just let me know the address or store number. I'll call them and buy it over the phone. No need to put yourself out financially!

 

I'm a medium, by the way. But I'll take a large if that's all they have--I know how to shrink em!

 

Yes, I have contacted Express directly and yes, they said they were all sold out. The store-locator button that they had on their website wasn't working, either. But I do have some Express stores near me and I will be hunting through them in the days to come.

And tailoring gets pricey.

Yes, it does.

I too vote for finding a seamstress or tailor to make you one or a few, it looks pretty simple.... two piece front single piece back? simple sleeves. Could be time to learn yourself. (Granted I make some of my stuff, poorly that is)

If the price is right, I may do that. There are actually quite a few little details on this dress, and about a million buttons up the front, so it may not be feasible. Plus I don't know what I'm going to do about the fabric, which is really soft and comfortable.

I did a google image search of the dress, and I found a few similar-looking dresses. Might be the only realistic option at this point.

Dang it. I'd just bought a bunch of accessories for it, too.

I am happy to report that I found the dress – there was one in an Express store.

Saturday, I went to the mall in my mom's town to (try to) buy white leggings. I decided to visit the Express there to see if maybe they had the dress. They did, but it was a size small. I tried it on anyway. The length was better, but it was still tight across the chest and arms.

I asked the girl in the store to check a couple of nearby stores to see if they had a size medium dress in inventory. She found three possibilities with "limited inventory," which meant the quantity was very low and might not be accurate. In other words, they may have sold the dress(es) and not yet updated the inventory.

The girl tried calling the closest store while we were there, but couldn’t get through. So my boyfriend tried calling again while I searched for white leggings in Old Navy. He got through and learned that the dress was sold out in that store. That left two more possibilities, but since we had dinner plans that night we decided to call the other two stores the next day (Sunday).

On Sunday, we called the second Express, which was conveniently located on our way to a barbecue at the beach. They had the dress in my size and put it aside for me. Oh, joy! When I got there, I tried it on, took it off to purchase it, then put it back on and wore it to the barbecue. I was so happy. Plus, the dress was on clearance so I only ended up paying $14 for it.

I guess the moral of the story is, corporate customer service is out of touch with actual store inventory and you can’t trust them to give you a good answer. Also, the item numbers they gave the dress online don't match the code on the physical tag in the store.

Silk Fred have something similar?

That's awesome you finally found one!

I am so glad. I thought there was no hope!

I was a retail buyer for a major national department store chain for many years, and this is appalling. The fact that you couldn't ever get a straight answer from corporate, in this day and age of technology, where sales are literally updated by the minute. They should have been able to tell you every store in the country that had that dress in your size, within 5 minutes. What are those little tags on the clothes with those little bars and dashes? Unbelievable.

Express isn't some fly-by-night store; it's part of The Limited, for heaven's sake.

Good for you for staying on it, and for getting it at such a great price!

I know. This is the Age of Information with JIT inventory techniques. At the very least, the rep could have said, "I don't have access to store inventory. Try calling around." But nooooo, s/he told me unequivocally that the dress was completely sold out! I'm glad the people in the store were so helpful.

Is The Limited still around? That used to be one of my favorite stores. But they shut down all The Limited stores around here within the last few years. I thought it got absorbed by Express (also a favorite).

Things have changed quite a lot at Express. They still have a lot of great clothes, but the sales people don't make commission anymore and it seems like they have tons of sales.

OK, quick search showed me that Express was sold off a few years ago and is being run privately (possibly owned by a VC firm). In any event, they still have over 600 stores, and it's shameful that when you called corporate, you got "it's not my job".

BTW, darling dress.

See if anyone on Poshmark has it