BARGAINS Shopping safaris save the big bucks

Sarah Gardner knows how to hunt for savings.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
NEW YORK -- She doesn't wear a crown. Instead, she wears a black wool hat pulled low over her blond bob.
All the same, Sarah Gardner is a queen of sorts. Her honorary title is Queen of Bargains.
It doesn't take long to discover why.
When she is complimented on the leather coat that wraps her petite frame from chin to ankles, she responds as automatically as a soldier reciting his name, rank and serial number:
"It's a Frederick Gelb. It'd be $2,200 at retail, but I got it for $1,200."
Her mink-trimmed denim jacket, she continues, cost $600 retail, but she bought it for half that amount. "And my pants are Jenne Maag, $60. They'd be $180 in a department store."
It's way more information than was bargained for, but discount fashion is Sarah's passion and her livelihood.
What she does
Gardner, 43, is the editor of Fashion Update, a quarterly publication that lists more than 250 designer showrooms, outlets and warehouses where shoppers in the Big Apple can find current designer and bridal fashions, linens and furnishings that are discounted up to 80 percent.
She also leads shopping tours to these establishments, most of which are in Seventh Avenue's bustling Garment District. The tours are tailored to the needs, tastes and sizes of her clients. Most cost $175 per person and last 2 1/2 hours. And while most of the locations are open to the public, some showrooms are accessible only to select clients -- including those introduced by Gardner.
Her first stop is Aaron's, a large, no-frills store on Brooklyn's Fifth Avenue, about a 20-minute cab ride from downtown Manhattan.
"This is one of New York's best-kept secrets," says Sarah. "I love it because it offers a whole lot of designers under one roof. It's current fashion, the same things you'll find right now in Saks or Macys, and everything's discounted 25 to 70 percent."
It's your choice, but since time is of the essence and you're paying her anyway, it's smart to follow Sarah's lead. She quickly picks up on your sizes, your likes and dislikes, and cheerfully makes the rack-to-fitting-room run on your behalf.
"Now we take the subway into the city," says Sarah, buttoning her coat as she heads down the snowy sidewalk at a rapid clip.
Starting out
During the ride, she chatters nonstop. She's always loved fashion, she says. She grew up desperately wanting the designer duds pictured on the covers of her Vogue magazines. One day in the early 1980s, her roommate, who worked as a bookkeeper for a dress company, invited her to a warehouse sale.
"There were these beautiful peasant-style dresses for only $12, that were selling at places like Macys for $60 to $75. I think I bought, like, five. Realizing that I could look like a million bucks without paying retail was euphoric," she says.
"I had to share my secrets with others, and that's basically how Fashion Update started."
That was 15 years ago. She now has a staff of four. She makes frequent appearances on New York TV as the "Big Apple Bargainista." And she conducts hundreds of tours a year.
Her most in-demand tour includes a stop at a showroom that offers authentic Prada, Gucci and Fendi handbags at way-below-retail prices. Her largest tour was for 150 women. The most unusual was for a woman and her cross-dressing husband.
"We bought wigs and sexy lingerie," she says with a roll of her large blue eyes.
The average client spends $2,000 to $3,000. Most transactions are cash-only, and Gardner says she doesn't receive a commission.
When the train stops at a midtown station, Sarah glides through the maze of passageways and turnstiles like a trout through eelgrass. Shooting up the steep exit stairs, she pops out onto Park Avenue. Then, with the instincts of a homing pigeon, she strikes out for 56th Street -- leaving knots of disoriented tourists in her slipstream.
Back on Park Avenue, Sarah stops in front of a small, street-level jewelry store. This is David Saity, a favorite of fashion stylists seeking jewelry designs by Hopi, Navajo and Zuni craftsmen in turquoise, coral or silver for the covers of Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Elle, et al. Regular customers include Gwyneth Paltrow, Jane Fonda, Celion Dion, Lenny Kravitz -- and Sarah Gardner.
She rushes into the store, flinging a greeting to the sales staff, and bedecks herself with necklaces, bracelets and belts.
"I love this stuff -- and it's up to 35 percent off!" she exclaims.
Her final stop is outside Bresciani, a nondescript outlet on 40th Street just off Seventh Avenue. Inside, the place is large, bright and filled with rack upon rack of men's suits, tuxedos, sport coats, pants, shirts, sweaters and furnishings.
Along with the house label are designs by Hugo Boss, Canali and Pal Zileri, all deeply discounted.
Sarah points out some of the bargains: Super-100 wool sport coats, regularly $295, for $99; silk ties, regularly $45, three for $35.
Moments later, she's back on the sidewalk, checking her watch. It's two-and-a-half hours, almost to the minute, since her tour began.
"That's it," she says, with a quick handshake. She's got to run. She has a couple of new showrooms to check out.
And in a flash, like Alice's Rabbit, she disappears down the stairs of a Times Square subway station.