I Spent 7 Hours Digging Through Saks—39 Items I Discovered That I Now Need

I’m a department store girl. I still remember walking into Saks Fifth Avenue with my mom as a tween. I’d take the escalators up to the contemporary floor where I’d discover a new designer (I still remember the excitement I felt when I learned about Marc by Marc Jacobs for the first time) or spot a flouncy bubble-hem dress I’d seen in Vogue months before. While I got my start in luxury shopping ahead of the internet age, these days, more of my shopping is done online, merely out of convenience. 

And yet, when I have an afternoon off, one of my favorite activities is to take the train uptown in Manhattan and take the elevators up through Saks once again. There’s something so soothing about the in-person experience of walking through a quiet store and trying things on, and I love that I can find a mix of runway pieces and everyday staples.