Why Are We All Doing In-Person Closet Sales?
A few lucky readers from Substack got to shop a Chloë Sevigny, Lynn Yaeger sale in the early AM and NEVERWORNS Live! Shopping...
How incredible is it to buy a Jean Paul Gaultier skirt that longtime Vogue writer Lynn Yaeger told you she interviewed the Jean Paul Gaultier in? You can’t buy that sort of storytelling in a white seamless format. That’s a singular face-to-face, from-the-horse’s-mouth type of purchase!
The (second, well, technically third) Sale of the Century happened at the East Village Standard this past Sunday. The sale involved three announced people: longtime Vogue writer Lynn Yaeger, Vogue former Creative Director Sally Singer, Paper Magazine’s Mickey Boardman. I didn’t announce the fourth guest for fear that there would be another human centipede of shoppers coiling around the block, which I’m sure is a hint in itself: It was Chloë Sevigny, who famously was the headliner for the last Sale of the Century. (Remember the perpetual ouroboros of fashion plates?) Her friend, the stylist Haley Wollens, who has a killer eye, also sold her fashion girl garms on a rack.
This sale comes on the heels of a fabulous storage unit I chronicled for
, who gave me some nitty-gritty details about her collection, including an Imitation of Christ bodysuit—along with a story about the label’s guerilla shows, the nuclear history of bullet bras, and the charms of vintage Yves Saint Laurent, as well as a tale about the Maison’s vault. Her sale happened in Los Angeles at the famed Arcade Vintage.
The New York sale, was, well packed. There were the usual suspects of editorial faces, Vogue and Bazaar,
of Magasin…who got a hat styled by Chloë!, but there were some new ones, too. It was a pleasure to meet Substack readers, like , , and and chat with them in person, as well as more…sorry if we missed each other in the crowd! Anyway, I feel like…we’ve known each other for years?!Laura Reilly gets the ultimate styling tip from Chloë
Sales have become the go-to over the past two years. The first Chloë-Lynn-Sally-Mickey Sale of the Century, the Jenna Lyons’s sale, the Jemima Kirke’s stoop sale, and SNL’s Chloe Fineman sale. Here’s the thing: Everyone has clothes; everyone needs to free up space in their closet.
I’ve given interviews to other outlets about why there has been such a boom in hosting sales in person, but I’ll give the whole gist here. Hosting a sale is an experience. When selling a piece on a resale platform, the seller can’t connect with the buyer.
Sally Singer explains the first bag by Derek Lam
The one-dimensional flatness of buying and selling via the internet is hard to break, even if you can add context with paragraphs of descriptions. The space can feel neutered, and the seller may feel censored. Sometimes, there is no room to wax poetic except for size and material. Of course, those resale platforms are great if you let your mind wander: I can make up my own stories about a Richard Tyler purse of fantastic executive realness or a great ‘90s-era Versace top fit for the discotheque. But, hell, another fabulous level of shopping goes down when Chloë, Lynn, Mickey, or Sally can give you the direct breakdown of when they got the piece, why they got it, and the story behind it. Who knew that Sally owned one of Derek Lam’s first accessories, a massive leather bag that she described as a “workout”? So fun!
Lynn Yaeger explains the background of her JPG skirt to the lovely Sheely.
This isn’t to knock online shopping, which is excellent. I do it all the time—and a bit too much. No touch. No feel. This brings me back to the need, the guttural yearning to be out and shop in person. I wrote something about this last summer in a piece called “Everday Aspirational.”
These feelings, in a diluted way, culminated in an article I wrote for Vogue last week about the allure of a simple shopping bag and the experiences that come with the act of shopping. I didn’t say it as brashly as this but online shopping reminds me of what pornography is to sex. Easy access, a click away, and devoid of any feeling. It’s instant gratification and low-effort. Much of the time and no matter what storied piece we’re browsing for, there is nothing spiritually fulfilling about this click-and-buy era. Where’s the work of physically seeking out an item anymore? There’s no tenderness or memory associated with a click. And that click makes our clothes ultimately feel disposable because there is no work being put in. Also, how many times are we actually wearing these pieces? This is why a shopping bag will always look so good on someone’s arm: You know that they’ve had an experience and were out in the world in order to find that slick shoe or freaky bag.
We shop online in our pajamas if that, but the shoppers that came to this sale…it’s as if they were dressing for an event, which was beautiful. Work was put into that gorgeous act of leaving the house and trawling racks for something special. Think about it: You woke up to go to a sale. You put on your clean underwear and wondered if your jeans hit your ankles just right as you inspected the curve of your ass in your full-length mirror. Then you finally enter the space: You’re in a fabulous setting, surrounded by delicious pieces. You’re feeling something smack dab in the moment; you’re actually there. It’s as if the static of that decades-old Rodarte silk dress is electrifying you. You’re present! That is what these sales are all about! You’re meeting people you love. You’re meeting people you’ve read—or read about. For five rabid hours, you’re a family of schmatta traders and barterers, and you’re all in it together. The editorial barrier has been shattered; now you own a piece of it.
However, I understand that not everyone can shop in person, so I tried something new at Sale of the Century. I hosted a NEVERWORNS Live Shopping! episode, which was an experience. (I tried to live stream it on Substack… but I couldn’t…so only people on Instagram could see it. Sorry!) There was a whiteboard with a hotline number, a rack of clothes, and former SSENSE-lover Max, who helped me host. Remember Max?!
Chloë explaining her Miu Miu top!
Lynn and Chloë made cameos. Lynn gave viewers the low-down on a massive white Dries van Noten puffer coat that Lynn bought from Sally Singer, who then sold it to Laura Wills of Screaming Mimi’s. Chloë also made a darling appearance and spoke about a Miu Miu top with an embroidered collar she wore while filming Feud: Capote vs. The Swans. She pulled up a picture of the look on her phone: A silk babushka knotted under the chin with cut-off denim shorts and, of course, the Miu Miu top. Chic.
There will be more of these shoppable NEVERWORNS Live! episodes, and I’m very excited. The second era of NEVERWORNS filmed series started right then and there.
It was a pleasure seeing friends and all the new faces.
See you at the next one.
Watch NEVERWORNS here, but you can also watch this unhinged Neverworns Live! Shopping episode below…
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truly some of the greatest merchandise i have ever seen in one room. I didn't get the chance to thank you in person but I bought your nuovo top with the "o" cut outs -- particularly exciting as I have a new silver scorpion bellybutton piercing and I need more clothes that show it off ;)
wish it had been a bigger space but can image NYC real estate is kind of impossible. Maybe worth heading to Brooklyn?
- xo, raspberry dress