One of the many adjustments that I have experienced since relocating to NYC is the hefty pricetag attached to anything vintage. In the south you can score fantastic vintage pieces for pennies relative to the price of the previously owned pieces in the shops of Manhattan. I have purchased many vintage pieces through the years and most of them turned out to be the items that I have kept with me the longest. I went through a stage where vintage clutches were kinda "my thing." I bought WAY too many....and since I am a firm believer that you can never have to many handbags, clearly WAY too many was TONS.
One in particular I purchased on Ebay. A rectangular, bright green, patent leather clutch for a whopping $6! So damn cute. In 2003, Carrie Bradshaw and Samantha Jones had been seen sporting bright colored clutches on numerous episodes. I HAD to have one too, right? So I bought it and I have used that $6 clutch to death throughout the years, getting bored with it, storing it from time to time, only to eventually bring it back out to turn heads. It is rather simple really, but the color is ultra fab.
So my second summer in NYC I was walking through Henri Bendel. At this time, they still had a "high-end vintage" area on the second floor. It was always jampacked with fantastic finds from previous decades, however like with most things at HB, the pricetag didn't exactly match my intern budget. I was walking through the vintage purses, their collection of clutches nearly exceeding my own personal collection, when I spotted none other than MY green clutch. Well it wasn't mine but it was EXACTLY the same clutch. The price? $350. I remember my mind running in various directions. The same purse that I had bought on eBay for $6 only a few months ago was priced at $350?! I thought how horrific it was that HB was requesting $350 for this clutch that I am confident they purchased at a similar price to my own. I thought, "wow, good job." I felt a sense of accomplishment for finding what was clearly a "hip purse" on my own and at my own price. Lastly, I thought, could I make $350 on mine? Of course I kept the purse, but it was at this time that I knew there was clearly a market to rip off the vintage fashion lovers of the world. A market that I refused to participate in, well, at least on the buying end. I would continue to purchase my vintage pieces at appropriate vintage prices... unless the particular purchase seemed worthy of more dough...
Today in NYC, the vintage market is even more exaggerated with their prices than it was circa 2004. You literally can pay double for a "gently worn" than the previous owner paid at full pop retail. Don't get me wrong, a fabulous piece of vintage Chanel or my vintage Cartier (a gift from my husband) is worth every penny, but some of the things out there are just simply not worth half the asking price. So you can imagine my excitement when my sister called me a couple weeks ago. "Guess what I just got at a flea market?" My sister (8 years younger) asked. "A vintage Louis Vuitton purse." WTF I thought... not fair. I was immediately green with envy. She continued, "It is pretty broken in (which only heightened my arousal as I love a good worn piece of leather) and it is one of those cross-body smaller bags that are so in right now." DAMN IT! So happy for her but sick that it wasn't my own discover. Side note: I am not always a huge LV fan. Perhaps it is due to the fact that everyone with an extra $30 has grabbed a signature tote from Canal Street, completely ruining the speciality of the authentic ones. And I prefer for the "labels" to be a little more discreet than a monogram plastered all over a piece of leather. But a vintage, cross-body, worn-in Louis Vuitton bag is COMPLETELY different. I wanted it. She informed me that the purse cost her only $10 and that it was from some lady whose husband had bought her a piece each year and now she had to sell them. Totally sad. Hated that for the previous owner. But that is the thing with investment pieces, you can always sell them later. Unfortunately this lady didn't know that she could have made SO much more of her money back with a larger price tag. "She had more." These words were like knives stabbing into my heart. "WHAT?!" I yelled "Go back!" She informed me that she couldn't as this place wasn't in the best area of town, but she would go back in the future to buy me the duffle bag that was only freaking $60! I knew that it was only going to be a nano second before someone else found this hotspot and took all the bags right out from under us. DAMN IT AGAIN! It just wasn't meant to be.
The next week when I got to see my sister, she gave me a present. Her LV cross-body bag. Of course I wanted the bag. And badly. But I never told her and I refused to take the purse. "H, this is a purse you will have forever and you should keep it. You need things like this. Just take care of it and if that lady is ever back at the flea market, you are to buy every piece she has and I will pay you back." She demanded that I take the bag. She claimed it just "wasn't her" and she wouldn't ever use it. She claimed that she had bought it for me from the beginning. And whether that was true or not, after an hour of back and forth chatter, I left with the purse in hand. I wasn't going to argue anymore about it, especially if she really wasn't going to use and wanted it to go to good use.
It has definitely been put to good use. I love my little vintage LV. I still can't believe she only paid $10 for it. The little old lady at the flea market has yet to return, but when she does, I plan to reap more of the benefits of a failing economy. So perhaps my eye for inexpensive, but high quality vintage has rubbed off on my little sis. Thank you H for a fantastic gift.... and most importantly, DO NOT EVER TELL A SOUL where this secret purchasing spot is!
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