What 200 People Wore to the Misha & Puff Sample Sale
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Misha & Puff, the Massachusetts-based maximalist knitwear brand, has the kind of loyal customers who fly in from Japan and plan interstate family vacations around attending a four-day sample sale, booking rooms at the Ace Hotel and driving up from Virginia in a van with their entire family. Founder Anna Wallack, who started the brand 15 years agoknittingclothes for her ownnewborn, has a knack for making toddlers look like beautiful and eccentric extras in a film from the 1970s. Way before every 2-year-old in Brooklyn could be seen layering multiple bold prints, Wallack’s vibrant designs, most notably the hand-knit sweaters covered in dime-size pom-poms called popcornsweaters, were providing an antidote to conventional kid clothes.
Now, Misha & Puff makes clothes for adults as well and has a growing fan base of stylish women who aren’t necessarily moms. The clothes are expensive because they’re made sustainably and ethically in partnership withknittingcooperatives in Peru. And many customers rationalize buying from the brand knowing that the clothes will last for years and years, either as hand-me-downs or as something they can easily resell once their kid grows out of it.
For Misha & Puff’s first sample sale at its Brooklyn store, I chatted with fans lining up around the block to score deals on hand-knit and crocheted sweaters, pima-cotton matching sets, and bold patterned dresses, shirts, and pants. I also shopped for my 3-year-old son, since I have wanted to dress him in one of thehooded popcorn cardiganssince he was in utero. The sale is open now through May 31 with new items being added daily. Here’s what I saw, heard, and bought:
The line was dotted with Yoyo strollers
I arrived at the sale on Thursday morning a little after 10 a.m. (an hour before opening), and a line was already snaking its way around the corner. By 12:30 p.m. I had counted five Yoyo strollers, including the recently released limited-edition Riviera collection Yoyo with green and yellow awning stripes. I also saw two Bugaboo Butterfly strollers, which is the stroller I use most often with my son these days.
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Everyone had cool pants
Many of the most stylish attendees, both kids and grown-ups, were dressed in Misha & Puff, and it was fun to see how each person styled their pieces differently. I was especially inspired by three of the women working at the sale who seemingly unintentionally coordinated their outfits in blues and browns. The patterned pants, worn by Damaris Colbert on the left, are a version of theIzzy pants that I have heard from multiple friends are incredibly comfortable and easy to dress up or down. And theslate-blue lace pantson Liz Depasqua on the right are part of a matching set that’s also available in black and off-white.
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The line was full of creative people like Nina Jiang and her friend who were shopping for their kids, ages 2 and 8, dressed in flowy layers from Jiang’s clothing line, Unisecon. I loved the combination of the balloon-silhouette pants and blinged-out Simone Rocha x Crocs clogs. “I bought a pima-cotton T-shirt, bike shorts, and a pair of velvet pants. My daughter wants to match with her friends, so I found the different sizes for them. I also got a little bag for my friend’s 4-year-old girl who lives in China,” says Jiang.
Meanwhile, attorney Anqi, who was shopping for herself, came dressed in plum tones from Leset andCoucou intimatespaired withstrappy Camper mary janes. “I like the adult pieces mostly, and I’ve been a fan for many years. I have some of their sweaters, and they’re really, really well made,” she says.
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I haven’t been able to find these Dickies with crochet flowers, but I love how they matched the different crochet pieces (granny square kids’ cardigans and crocheted purses) at the sale. I was also very charmed by the way this mom incorporated a JBL Clip Bluetooth speaker — a Strategist favorite that I also own — into her outfit.
More than a few people raved about their Plasticana fisherman sandals
I noticed three different cool moms wearing Plasticana’s Sandana Jelly Sandals, and two of them told me that they had bought theirs a few blocks down Atlantic Avenue at Salter House. Then Depasqua and Kelly Geary owner ofSweet Deliverance, who was there providing snacks, told me they own the sandals and considered wearing them to the sale as well. Geary says the sandals are great for kids too and can be worn as water shoes.
Karen Lederer and Ricki Guberman came to shop for their kids; they each have a 2- and a 5-year-old. Guberman paired her Plasticana sandals, which she has been wearing for four summers, with plaid pants from another Atlantic Avenue store, Toast. Lederer’s flower tee and shorts are fromImogene + Willieand Marimekko.
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Crunchy, gorpy sandals and clogs were on most of the feet (adult and child)
There were lots of sneakers and a fair amount of leather ballet flats. Plus one very nice pair of maroon Tabis, one pair of Fracap buckle clogs, and the aforementioned Plasticana sandals. Everything else I saw with a few exceptions was Birkenstock Arizonas (six) or Keen Newport sandals (four total on kids and adults).
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Stylist Maya Barrera was in line with her mother hoping to find a few pieces for her 3-year-old son. She gave me two useful fashion tips while we talked. When I complimented her all-black strappy flip-flops, she thanked me, confirmed that they were Tevas, and told me she takes the tag off of everything she wears. Then she told me the best deal at the sale is the kids’ cotton matching sets. “I think the cotton sets are great, and so does my son. I buy them big, like a size six, and he wears them big and baggy for years. I think the first set he’s had for two years now,” she told me.
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There was a surprising amount of farm and grocery store merch
After getting home and looking through the photos I had taken, I was pleased to discover a micro trend: farm and grocery store merch. First I talked to a social worker who was wearing the softest teal crewneck sweatshirt from Mermaid Farm & Dairy in Martha’s Vineyard. Then I spotted a rare gem: a Stew Leonard’s mini tote. I asked its owner if she was from Connecticut or New Jersey, where most of the grocery store’s locations can be found. She said no but that both are popular stops on family road trips. There were also three different people carrying Trader Joe’s mini totes in different colors.
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Then I noticed a woman at the front of the line wearing the Sky High Farm collaboration Chuck Taylors, but by the time I got close enough for a photo she had entered the buzzing chaos of the sale.
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And spotted a pair of Sky High Farm white Converse.
I talked to multiple pairs of mothers and daughters
In addition to Barrera and her mother, Janice, I counted at least seven mother-daughter shopping pairs including a trio of friends with infant daughters born or about to be born within weeks of each other. Yiyang Qian and her mom, Weihua Song, discovered Misha & Puff together years ago. “My mom knits quite a bit, and one day she showed me a picture and asked, ‘Do you know this brand?’ Their first store was in Massachusetts, and we were in Massachusetts at that time. So I thought,Let’s check it out.”
“We live in Santa Fe, New Mexico. So when I saw that Misha & Puff was having a sample sale it helped us decide on New York City for the family vacation we wanted to do as soon as the kids got out of school,” says Meredy Talbot-Zoran. “My sweater is Babaa and my daughter was just asking me, ‘Why aren’t you wearing Misha & Puff?’ It’s because this is the last day of our trip and all my Misha & Puff was dirty.”
“Owls are my favorite animal, and I like the dog on this bag. When I got it there was a little tag inside that had the name of the person who made it,” says Tierra Talbot-Zoran, who paired the tee and pants with sparkly Natives.
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“We met in the lobby of Weill Cornell hospital, and then they met through mutual friends,” says writer Alexis Benveniste, who is expecting her newborn daughter in a week and a half. “So now the three of us are friends, and our babies will be besties in matching sweaters,” says Phoebe Thompson, who is due in a matter of days, came to the sale to get out of the house and “distract myself from my baby not being born yet. If I find anything that I like, that is a cherry on top.”
Everything I bought
I ended up spending around $180 for five pieces: a hooded popcorn sweater, a football-jersey-style cotton T-shirt, a stripey patterned camp shirt, a zip-up terry-cloth hooded jacket, and a reversible kids’ bandana for me. Considering the popcorn cardigan retails full price for $278, I got a great deal.
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The Strategistis designed to surface useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Every product is independently selected by our team of editors, whom you can read abouthere. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.
