220. Why I love vintage, my first Ebay dress, the Oscars front row seat I was never given, the stodgy, glamorous parties I never went to, and the times I thought I was just a bird in flight
December 15th, 2009 § 25 Comments
I have a long story related to this dress. (All of my stories are long, sorry.) I found this dress on Ebay for $3.99 during my freshmen year of college. I think I forgot to bid on it and then emailed the woman directly and she sold it to me for the asking price. The dress was called, ‘Birds in flight dress.’ I think I had vague delusions of wearing it to dorm party (even though everyone just danced to ‘Baby Got Back’ in jeans anyway.)
When I was younger, my family was a lot lot lot poorer than we are now, and for the first ten years my parents lived in America, we never bought a single new item of furniture. We scavenged everything, waking up early or going out late at night on garbage days or hanging outside of apartment complexes where people were moving out. In my mythology of my parents, they pulled a couch out of a dumpster in Chinatownand carried it all the way over the Williamsburg Bridge to their rented room in Williamsburg. My grandfather used to scavenge used fish bait and kept the rotting used bait in our freezer.**
When I was young, all of my clothes were from garage sales or other people’s trash. I was the first child among my parents’ friends circle so I never wore hand me downs (although the evolutionary cycle of my clothes is probably still whirring somewhere in the South, where last I heard, my favorite purple velvet jumper dress has just now circulated to a family friend of my uncle who used to live in Tennessee.) And like a lot of things that began as something I was ashamed of–how badly I wanted to buy jeans from a department store like all the other girls instead of my weird garage sale pouffy dresses–my rejection of secondhand clothing transformed into obsession. In high school and college, I was drawn back to my sartorial past of secondhand clothing, and maybe in my own bumbling way, I was seeking to reclaim it. I wonder how many other vintage-loving ladies have similar stories to mine? And I wonder if this is also part of the dilemma of buying, and of course, selling vintage–what ethical code should we hold ourselves responsible to when we thrift not out of necessity? And how many of us began (and continue) our thrifting journeys for financial reasons?
This is a long way of saying that as soon as I got to college and opened up a debit card account, I began madly searching for ‘vintage dresses’ on Ebay and I would spent hours, maybe three or four at time, searching every single listing under the vintage clothing category. Does anyone remember using Ebay, say seven or eight years ago? I could have sworn everything was 3.99 or at most 9.99. This amazing silk green dress with a ruffled halter has flocks of flying birds. It’s hard to see because my photo taking abilities are so shoddy. When I first got the dress, I let my roommate try it on before I did, and she kind of ended up ripping the bodice because it was way too small for her. You can probably see that the seams are all messed up. The first thing I need to do is get this dress professionally fixed. The next thing I need to do is find some muthafucking reason to wear it! Anyone up for a fancy frock party?
I know you aren’t supposed to wear ribbed black tights and ballet flats with silk halter gowns, or leather jackets with long, sheer, pink gloves, but you also aren’t supposed to eat a thai birds-eye chillis raw with salt and that’s my dad’s favorite snack so…
(Silk gown from Ebay, jacket from Miss Selfridges, black and pink flats from French Sole, and long pink gloves available at my etsy store)
Love, Jenny
**Related tangent: Michael & I recently watched Agnes Vardas’ The Gleaners and I, and I thought of my family–a family of gleaners and Michael who gleans what I waste. We also saw The Beaches of Agnes and basically had tears suspended in our eyes and hearts the whole time.
aww, such a great story! love the dress
)
Thanks lady!
What a great dress! I was on eBay when it opened up about 10 years ago or so. I went on a vintage spree and got some AMAZING things. I used to have to go down to 7-11 to purchase money orders since I didn’t have a checkbook or a debit card. I still have a lot of the things I purchased back then, including a lot of Rainbow Brite stuff, like a portable record player, which I am still happy I own!
Wow! I really want to see all of your Rainbow Brite stuff! Oh god, money orders used to scare the beeswax out of me. I would start shaking uncontrollably whenever I had to use one because for some reason I never could figure out how to get a money order.
You are a really good writer! This is an awesome story and I love your dress. Wish I’d known about eBay then…
http://anordinarygirlsworld.blogspot.com
Thanks, you’re really sweet!
Yes! I remember ebay in its early days and I was thrilled by how many cool stuff was on there. Well, Ebay still has many cool stuff, but it’s no longer super-cheap anymore.
I don’t know how or why I got into vintage fashion. I guess it’s just because for the longest time, I’ve always liked watching old Hollywood, Hindi, and European films. Since I’m a playwright and I’ve been working in theatre since I was a child, I also like costumes, anything shiny, colorful, and glittery that catches my eye.
I’m also very interested in Indian fashion, vintage and modern.
Great post, by the way! :-]
I’m the same as you! Anything shiny, colorful, or glittery is always appealing to me. I just need to work on actually having the guts and the fuck all to wear it out for no occasion (so I can stop feeling guilty about all of my dusty shiny clothing!)
i like your posts–the longer, the better imho. wow, we’ve had similar childhoods—though, never any used bait in the fridge (yikes!). i still think I’m being thrifty by shopping at thrift stores, though my parents wouldn’t be caught dead in one nowadays—it’s a sign of their pride. definitely am conflicted about my ‘habit,’ especially when I’m shopping next to a woman who’s using the goodwill to stay warm and a cashier who comments on my purchases as ‘good for church.’
you look so classic and beautiful here, i am so into long dresses right now and i’m glad to see someone else is too!
Thanks Kennedy! I gave away so many of my long skirts and dresses and now I want them all back…
This is a truly awesome shoot. I LOVE juxtaposing clothes with the environment like this. And honestly, if you don’t get a ton of chances to wear a gown like this, why not go for an awesome photoshoot in the woods?
Thanks Cammila. A part of me feels guilty for not wearing so many items of clothing that I own and I need some way to justify not giving them all away. (Pack rat : ((
Your dress is so gorgeous!!! I love it paired with the tough jacket.
Thanks Maria!
It’s like you took the post I as writing out of head. Damn!
But I probably only did .0001 ounce of justice to the post you were writing in your head!
Oh love your story, love your blog (came from threadbared). I always love knowing where a certain sartorial love came from! I think I’ll write this up when I have the time as well.
Thank you! I can’t wait to read your stories of sartorial love.
gorgeous story and lovely dress xx
Thank you, you’re so sweet!
that is such a gorgeous dress. the fabric and pattern are fantastic
and for only 3.99 that is quite a steal.
I wonder if you can get any vintage clothing on Ebay for 3.99 anymore? Sometimes, you can’t even get those prices at a Goodwill..
hey I came over from chictopia! I remember my first vintage from ebay, it was a pretty apricot shade dress with real godessy wing sleeves
Maybe I should take it out one of these days..
[...] (as promised) on the politics of vintage. (Meanwhile, Jenny at Fashion for Writers continues to be one step ahead of me! Curses, foiled again!) Fortunately, this mountain includes papers and other final projects from [...]