The Battle Zone - Saks Fifth Avenue, Beverly Hills

How was everyone's after-Christmas sales experience this year? Though I've never been to Pamplona, Spain, I believe my after-Christmas shopping experience was very similiar to the Running of the Bulls event. This year was by far the biggest mob scene the I've ever encountered. Battling the women in Beverly Hills is no easy task anytime of the year, but the day after-Christmas is a whole other story.

It all began as a calm and sunny Wednesday morning in Los Angeles. I finally reached the valet of Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills at 8am after waiting in line to view rows of cars in front of me and hoping that I would be one of the lucky ones to actually get parking. I was still in the car at 8am when the doors opened to the store and grown women pushed and shoved their way in. Once the bottleneck was gone, I entered the store to meet one of my girlfriend’s in the shoe department but the crowd was too fierce. Women were intent in their actions and focused to find the perfect pair of Christian Louboutin pumps, Jimmy Choo knee high boots, Prada flats, Chanel booties and anything else they could grab. Experienced shoppers who had a game plan already had up to 15 sale handbags all in tow with shoes stacked on top of their arms.

Even with Blackberry messenger in full use, I was not able to find my friend so we both agreed to dive into the crowd and hope to make it out alive. After examining the melee, I too went in for the kill. After much maneuvering and scaling the sales racks, I went into a little unknown corner to try on my pile of shoes. With all sale items discounted an additional 50% until 12pm, many designer items were now somewhat "affordable" - a pair of Chanel booties originally priced at $1260 now down to $400+ and a pair of Marni ballet flats around $150. When it comes to fashion, "affordable" is all relative, right girls? After withering down my inventory of shoes to 6 pairs and finding an available and willing sales associate, I provided my credit card and walked out with 4 new pair of shoes - the other 2 pairs of shoes did not make it out of the combat arena as the mates had gone missing amongst the madness and chaos.

It was a tough battle but totally worth it! Chanel booties, Marni ballet flats, Christian Louboutin booties and Gucci platform sandals have now joined my shoe shrine. My friend and I later shopped around other parts of the store which were not as bad and also visited Barney’s New York and Neiman Marcus. Bar none, Saks had the best sale.

Was anyone else there for this experience? Wasn’t it just crazy? Please do share.

P.S. There's still time to shop! Designer Sale at Saks! Save up to 70% 12.25-12.26. Save up to 60% through 1.7.08.