FIDM Scholarship Store

Got my whole entire life served to me on a platter at this store. I came strictly for the fabric and didn’t even look at anything else, but I got SO MUCH FABRIC for SO LITTLE MONEY that I couldn’t have even carried anything else home. All the fabric I got was $ 1/​yard. ONE DOLLAR. PER YARD! Oh my god. I primarily make clothes, so I was sourcing knits, and they had an unreal selection. I got 11 different fabrics, plus a gigantic wheel of thick black elastic and two untouched spools of trim for $ 35 dollars. The elastic and trim spools were $ 2 each, so that’s 29 yards of fabric. I’m gonna be busy for months!
It’s very easily accessible by subway (the 7^th/​metro station is closest) but honestly, please love yourself and bring a rolling suitcase. I brought a backpack and two large canvas bags and they were all stuffed full, and they were so heavy I woke up the next day feeling like I’d gone to the gym instead of the fabric store. I intended to buy 8 yards and I left with 29… So beware. And come prepared!

Let’s face it. Going here is akin to going to the thrift store. You’ve got to be in the mood to sift through the piles but, when you strike gold, it’s definitely worth the work. They’ve got stuff the classes have worked on and very often pieces gifted from department stores that were not deconstructed at all. Sometimes they even have untouched designer pieces available on the cheap. Tons of clothes here but don’t sleep on the accessories. Why drop big bucks on an outfit when you can get key pieces or an entire look complete with accessories for $ 25 or less!

Really great place! I didn’t look much at the clothes but they have a fabric section in the back with killer prices. Great place to buy buttons as well.

Ninety percent of the current stock is absolute junk, but there is one phenomenal bright spot– a large collection of Tadashi Shoji gowns, all for $ 100 (including his wedding gowns!). Tadashi fans, book it there right now!!! It’s unfortunately mostly small and extra small sizes, but if you are teeny tiny, there are some great gowns

My step-​grandmother used to have a dress-​making business. She had a great deal of quality fabric that she had never used. However, it was such expensive fabric that she only wanted to give it to someone who would recognize the value and appreciate having the fabric. FIDM met her criteria. The staff was very friendly and very accommodating, and came out to the curb to unload the boxes, one of which had fabric roles about 6 feet high. It’s easy to think that anyone would want such great fabric, but it’s not true that just anyplace would value it for its quality. FIDM was not the only place we contacted, but it was the only place wanted quality fabric for its students. My step-​grandmother was very happy that this aspect of her life’s work went to people who valued what she did.

I found this store on my way to an interview, and I was very pleasantly surprised. I just happened to be walking around the area, when i saw a bunch of jewelry laying out on tables at the front entrance. I had time to kill, and I love costume jewelry, so i sifted through the items they had and found a nice pair of pink earrings. the best part was that all of the jewelry for sale outside was 4 for 1 $!! I ended up getting the same pair of earrings in 3 other colors.
Inside, the store was very well kept, with amazing deals on designer pieces, by the fashion students at fidm. I ended up finding a pearl choker that I had been looking for all over the internet, and I got it for the best price imaginable = only 4 dollars! My mother had one just like it when she was younger, and they can be very hard to find in stores. I couldn’t believe my luck! The cashier carefully wrapped my new necklace in purple tissue paper, and I went home a happy camper!
overall, i would have to say that this store is clean, well organized, has good customer service, and is the ideal store for someone who likes to dress up and be fashionable on a budget. Its the kind of store you go to, and then end up finding a treasure. If you look hard enough, you will most likely find something that you love at a great price!

I love this store. I went in today and bought 3 swim suit bottoms and a full matching bikini from Mikoh and another bikini top from Mikoh. If you’re unfamiliar, Mikoh is a luxury swim suit brand and each piece of a swim suit is ~$ 110 and up. (So I got around $ 330+ of Mikoh swim wear for 6 bucks a piece. Total; $ 18) A pair of bottoms were Wildfox and are this seasons, looked them up on Nordstrom’s, 80 bucks. Another bottom is from luxury swimwear brand Marysia and are $ 120 on their website currently. My last pair of bottoms are from Guria beach wear and are 75 bucks on their website right now. If you have a good eye and know designers and quality you can make out like a millionaire. I’m gonna guess my haul was around $ 600 retail. I spent 36 bucks. :) It’s defiantly hit or miss, there’s a bunch of low quality stuff too. Just gotta find those diamonds in the rough!

If you are a girl or woman with fashion sense and a tight budget this is the place for you. If you’re a guy with a girlfriend that you’d like to impress don’t take her here; Buy her something from here so she wil think you spent two weeks of lunch cash on her.

I want to keep this a secret but I can’t help myself. This place has exceptional deals for those of us ladies who don’t want to have the same thing that 20 other people bought whilst staying within budget.
The dresses I have purchased here that would have cost me more than 5 times as much at full retail so this make this little store worth the trip for me. I wish I could sew better as I would try my hand at tailoring the beautiful gowns at the back corner of the store. When driving, I always park in the lot after getting a ticket on one of the surround streets during my first visit here. You never know what you will get so be ready with a good few hours to have a thorough look through the shop — from Versace-​esque heels, to wedding dresses and dress forms, you will have to make time to rummage through the racks. Most of these items are all donations it really is a toss up as to what you will find!

This spot was highly recommended to me by a bargain-​hunting friend and though I’m sure it is hit or miss and changes frequently, it is worth a stop if you are in the area. About a third of the store was designated to Bebe when I was in there, not my thing but if it’s yours it would’ve been a super deal. They have womens and mens goods — hubby found some J Brands and I found a silk/​leather dress with no designer (maybe a sample?), a Brandy Melville sweater and awesome jewelry. Some items had holes, cut-​outs or missing pants snaps, I suppose to prevent them from being returned to the regular stores, so make sure you examine anything you purchase and are able to do simple fixes if needed.

Great place to browse for cheap deals. Mainly a store for fidm students. They buy their fabrics here for school projects. Cheapest deals in town. All fabric is pretty much donated so you can fabric as cheap as a $ 2-​$ 3 a yard. Hard to get to fabrics due how they are organized. They are stacked on top of each other. They also have some cheap accessories. Students get an extra discount but even if you’re not a student its still great deals.

The Fidm scholarship store runs off of donations from companies, designers, manufacturers, showrooms, etc. NOTHING is made by the students. The store is a non profit organization, so they’re at the mercy of the donators. NOTHING is used though. Some of what they get is damaged, or was a sample of some sort. You really just have to look. The prices are made by the managers and advisors and you can’t negotiate with the cashier. The store is a hit or miss depending on what you’re looking for. The store closes at 5 from Monday-​Friday. And at 4 on Saturdays. Completely closed on Sunday. The fabric and fitting rooms close 15 – 20 minutes before the store does. No. They can’t hold the door open for you to run in quick at 5. If the students aren’t out before 5:15 the managers and advisors get yelled at for «overworking» the students.
Just to clear anything up

Suzie Q’s Fun Facts:
The FIDM Scholarship Foundation is a non-​profit organization separate from the for-​profit FIDM, which is dedicated to providing FIDM scholarships to needy design students. The organization is funded by clothing, shoe and accessory donations by more than 400 designers, which items are sold to the public from this store.
=≅≅≅≅≅≅≅~
A bargain-​hunting friend of mine recently recommended this scholarship store to me. She’d described it as selling high-​quality designer clothing at ridiculously cheap prices. But because this store is stocked with (often one-​time) designer donations, it can be hit-​or-​miss.
I live in Santa Monica, and would never haul my butt downtown on a Saturday just to visit this store. But happily, I was already downtown to meet friends for food and drinks, and had some time to kill. So I was excited to see what this place is all about.
Talk about a hit-​or-​miss selection. The store has a bizarre combination of student-​made clothing (very cheaply made, and cheap-​looking), designer donations (I saw some expensive looking gowns, including wedding dresses), vintage clothing, swimsuit separates, used stuff a la Buffalo Exchange, crappy swap-​meet quality jewelry, and then — ta da! — a bunch of gorgeous Chan Luu jewelry.
After a quick perusal of the racks of clothing and shoes, I saw quickly that there were no good clothing/​shoe deals to be had on this visit (the stuff all looked used and/​or desperately tacky to me). But the Chan Luu stuff was gorgeous. I bought a ton of nice necklaces priced from $ 18 to $ 40 each, some for me and some as gifts. The cashier explained that the designer had made a one-​time donation of $ 300k of merchandise, and this was what was left of the original donation.
As long as you’re willing to hunt around, and for the stock to change constantly, my experience proved that you can get a pretty good deal here.

This is a cool little store with design-​student projects and accessories. TONS of hot heels for $ 12 a pair that look to have just been worn a couple times on a runway. Jewelry as well, but the coolest part is the clothes — stuff the students designed and made, sold really quite cheap. I saw lots of stuff in the $ 2 – 20 range and then also some very formal dresses and even wedding gowns. I was unable to find any prices on the wedding gowns, though I think I remember them being in the $ 80 – 300 range when I was here a few years ago.
Yes, many of the outfits have flaws, but they can often be worked around. Cute club dresses for $ 5 that just need a replacement zipper or something that has a spot or small hole. May not work for your own personal wardrobe, but great for me as a photographer who needs wardrobe on the cheap that I can touch up digitally after the shoot if there’s a small blemish!

I came here after reading some reviews. I got a great parking spot and had two hours to shop around. I ended up only staying for 15 minutes or so because it was so obvious that there would be nothing I would like.
The bulk of the store is tacky evening dresses with some torn/​stained stuff thrown in. Everything is very poorly organized and they use cheap hangers which makes shopping a pain in the butt.
As an experienced thrifter, I saw stick with goodwill. You’ll have much better luck finding something nice.

Seven years ago, I was young and broke and engaged. And making peace with the fact that a low rung, basic, cheap gown was in my future.
There were other options, I was told by a friend in the know who worked downtown and had made frequent lunch break stops at the FIDM Scholarship store.
I went in October, and because Halloween was coming up all of the wedding gowns were marked down to $ 10.
I bought two.
THE dress was raw silk, and had a train. It was just everything.
Now I’m old (er), broke, and divorced.
And the chosen dress is in a landfill.
But. 10 bucks. You know?
Why not.

I live nearby so I usually come here about once a week to see what is new. It’s hit and miss most of the time but there are some amazing deals on some amazing clothing and jewelry.
I purchased 2 new Tadashi cocktail dress and 2 new Tadashi formal gowns for about ¼ of their retail prices. I also purchased several Chan Lu pieces of jewelry for a steal.
This is not used clothing. It is clothing donated to the school from the designers/​manufactures. This is a non-​profit store with all proceeds going to scholarships for FIDM students.

I love shopping. I love browsing. I don’t care if I even buy anything (actually, I’d rather not!). I love TJ Maxx, Nordstrom Rack, and Ross.
But I live downtown so there is no TJ Maxx or Nordstrom Rack and the Ross here has a terrible selection. Terrible.
What do I do for my shopping/​browsing fix?
I go to the FIDM scholarship store baby! Sometimes they have nothing BUT sometimes you find an incredible piece at a bargain.
If you love to shop, there’s no reason not to check it out.

I don’t sew, so don’t pay any attention to the fabric. The pieces of jewelry may
be a ‘bargain’ but i was dismayed to hear one of the salespeople (buyer?) telling a custom dhow much they would save if purchased here, as opposed to the
retail cost. I’m not sure the description was ‘accurate’ and that kind of
salesmanship at a Scholarship Store seemed out of place, if not downright
bad taste. I HAVE, however, found great bargains here-​and on the last
Friday of the month, the very very nice man who work as a cashier told
me everything is l0% off-​they have socks and cards, sometimes, as well
as clothing, jewelry, purses, fabric, etc. You have to go with an open mind
and see what is available-I’ve gotten some fabulous pants for as little as
2.00!!! But buy when you see the item, because there is a huge turnover.

Love this place! It can be a hit or miss but at the least you’ll be able to walk out with some great jewelry deals! I even bought some brand new boots for just $ 15 and a cute party dress for $ 5 (no defects at all).
I’d also recommend coming here if your looking for a prom dress or other evening gown of some sort. You could easily walk out with a brand new dress for a steal!