Most stores have not yet set exact dates for their next sale, but shoppers can often get e-mail notices by signing up for the store’s mailing list.

District Sample Sale
Galleria at Lafayette Center, downtown DC; districtsamplesale.com
Next sales: September 9; March
The area’s biggest sample sale—tickets always sell out—features merchandise from such stores as Urban Chic, Sassanova, Harriet Kassman, Sherman Pickey, and Daisy Too. A ticket is $45, but a $125 VIP pass gets an extra hour of shopping plus a swag bag. (Last season’s included a $25 gift card to National Jean Company and $20 gift card to WeOneYouTwo plus goodies like chocolates.) Afterward, stick around for free nibbles and drinks.
It’s a good idea to sign up for e-alerts. Besides finding out about local sales and trunk shows throughout the year, you’ll be notified about twice-yearly District Shopping Days, where a $15 card—the proceeds go to local charities—nets 20 percent or more off at such stores as National Jean Company and Sangaree.

Top hairstylists started somewhere, right?

If you aren’t risk-averse, you can save a lot of money by getting your hair cut or colored by a stylist in training: Beauty-school cuts cost as little as $10.

The tradeoff: Because trainees are methodical and supervisors check the work, appointments take time.

If a student armed with dye makes you nervous, consider that beauty schools also offer cheap massages and facials.

What follows are beauty schools and salons that offer inexpensive student services or training nights. Many other salons, including the PR at Partners chain and Ronnie Elias Salon in Oakton have junior stylists or apprentices who charge less. Places like Hair Cuttery can be a deal, too.

It’s no secret that everyone’s favorite fashion-design competition has been shrouded in drama in the months leading up to last night’s season-five premiere. There was the surprising news that Project Runway will decamp from Bravo to Lifetime for season six. There was judge Nina Garcia’s very public unseating as Elle magazine’s fashion director. And then there was the fact that, even in the weeks before the show, it had only been quietly promoted and the designers had yet to be publicly revealed.

Turns out the wait was worth it. The season-five designers pranced past the screen in a flurry of serious credentials and catty remarks that would have made season-one winner (and super-trash talker) Jay McCarroll proud. In some ways, the roster of already-pretty-well-established designers seemed like a departure from Project Runway’s spirit—where were the well-intentioned moms who aspired to create beautiful clothes, the tech geeks with fashion dreams?—but at the same time, it was hard to fault the fact that we didn’t have to be subjected to any Wendy Pepper-style monstrosities.

Washingtonian > Packages > Best of Washington

Best Store for Jeans: Denim Bar

Yes, this boutique carries Seven and Citizens of Humanity. But with more than 45 lines of jeans on floor-to-ceiling shelves, it draws shoppers looking for such hard-to-find brands as Ksubi, Kicking Mule Workshop, Kasil, and Nudie. The stores also stock T-shirts, knits, and dresses, but denim is the focus. Prices for jeans range from $150 to $750.

Denim Bar, 1101 S. Joyce St., Arlington, 703-414-8202; 4939 Cordell Ave., Bethesda, 301-986-5260; denimbaronline.com.

Best Vintage Store: Annie Creamcheese

The gems in this basement shop are labeled with the brand and era of origin. You’ll find pieces by big names such as Gucci, Chanel, Missoni, and Pucci. When Hollywood A-lister Nicole Richie was in town last summer, she stopped in to buy a pair of vintage Ted Lapidus shades and a Courreges scarf from the ’60s.

3279 M St., Georgetown; 202-298-5555; anniecreamcheese.com.

Tuesday, July 15: Woodley Park shoe spot Carbon starts its summer sale today. Comfy, cute, and considerably affordable shoes? Now you’re talking . . .

Wednesday, July 16: It’s baaaaack! Could we be any more excited that Project Runway season 5 debuts tonight on Bravo at 9? No, we could not.

Thursday, July 17: Calling all aspiring models! Evolution Look’s Paul Wharton—who also happens to be the fashionable face of the CW’s new TrenDC Web site will be holding the last DC-area casting call for America’s Next Top Model at Passport BMW in Marlo Heights from 5 to 8 PM. Click here for the runway rundown.

Tuesday, July 8: Local author and Washingtonian contributor Cathy Alter will read from her smart, candid new memoir, Up for Renewal: What Magazines Taught Me About Love, Sex, and Starting Over, at the Georgetown Barnes & Noble at 7:30 PM. You’ll see us there in the front row: We loved following Alter’s hilarious, heartwarming journey so much that we frequently laughed out loud while reading the book. Read our recent interview with Alter here.

Thursday, July 10: Just in time to fight a midsummer chlorine-damaged-hair meltdown: To celebrate the arrival of stylist Maurice Clark to its salon family, downtown DC’s one80 Salon is offering free scalp consultations and Phyto deep-conditioning treatments with all appointments for the day. Call 202-363-1870 for an appointment.