They call it a "show", because much of the merchandise is priced into the stratosphere -- dealers love to show off some of their finds without any intent of selling it--- why don't they just dangle a tag off it that says "You can't have this".
OK, OK, ... sour grapes, I know.
The truth is, there are plenty of rich designers and fashionistas at these things, and things do sell for what seems like astronomical prices to me (what with my upstate picker mentality and all). If I were smart I'd get my act together and go down there and sell myself (uh- I mean, my merch), but then I'd have to spend a lot of money, do a lot of work, and raise all my prices dramatically-- all things I have no inclination to do. I did in fact see there three different items --in three different booths---that used to belong to me, and were purchased in my shop. One party dress priced $850 that I'd sold for $75 (what- Did I miss a Chanel label or something?), one 60's boucle suit for $270 that I'd sold for about $50, and one awful 80's schmatta by Guy Laroche for $60 that I had sold in a $100 box lot. These were all things I was delighted to get rid of at the time I sold them.
Anyway, I went there expecting to be overwhelmed with the fabulousness of eighty-some vintage dealers from all over the country all in one place, yadda yadda, etc etc,--- but I was not, even though I truly enjoyed it. I also had expected to feel like a small fish in a big pond, but I did not. I came away feeling like these dealers were my peers, not my superiors-- just because they're in Manhattan charging higher prices.
I expected to get scads and scads of compliments on the dress I was wearing... and I did, thank-you-very-much J.F., even though I was advised to get over myself and just dress practically; that noone would be looking at me, for God's sake.
After almost 3 hours walking around the show,
I just wanted to buy Something, and get out of there to find a shoe store. I hadn't listened to the advice about wearing comfortable shoes, and 10 hours in my 4-inch high heels were totally ruining my day.
I finally found and bought this dress,
which I thought was totally fabulous but had no idea at the time would be a perfect fit. It was $50 and I'm going to have to keep it and wear it.I stopped at an H&M right after I left the show, to find something for my aching feet. Talk about extreme contrasts. I had never been in an H&M. It's like the Wal-Mart of trendy fashion. Pretty awful, but I was very thankful for the made-in-china sneakers I picked up and changed into immediately at the cash register; $12.90.
Oh well. I guess that's about it--Over and Out.
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