What comes around goes on eBay

I wandered into that famous famous famous vintage store What Comes Around Goes Around today, because I was by it, and I've read about it (and seen it's name in fashion spreads) more times than I care to count, so I thought it would be fun. Well, it was certainly fun, but it was a bit on the shocking side, too. I mean, I grant that their collection is extraordinary, but their prices are as well. The cheapest things in the entire store are these printed vintage circle skirts, a bargain at a whopping $98 dollars. Now, their collections of vintage Manolo Blahniks and Alaia knitwear are pretty damn impressive too, and I've never seen so much literally MINT vintage all in one place, but they had the nerve to charge $300 for denim miniskirts made out of vintage jeans--in my hometown, there's a store that sells those (and they're great, too, they use corduroy and engineer-print denim as well) for around $20. And they're the EXACT SAME THING.

So even though I admire What Comes Around Goes Around for the fabulous collection they've amassed, and I hope that their new label is successful, let's take a look at the best ever website and see some price comparisons.

The bid for this delightful vintage circle skirt, which, unlike the skirts at What Comes Around, has a delightful crinoline lining, is currently at $8. Now, granted, you'll have to pay shipping for the eBay skirt, but it's still $90 less.

This positively lovely vintage slip, which I think could easily be worn as a mini dress with the assitance of a belt, is currently going for $17. It looks as mint to me as anything at the shop today. Plus, the purple is an awfully cute touch.

These sweet little vintage Manolos are currently going for $80. I will grant that they could go up a good bit before they end, but I promise you that they'll still be less money than the ones at What Comes Around were (I do grudgingly have to grant that the ones at What Comes Around were better and more true vintage, though. Argh. Defeat).

Finally, the piece de resistance, the Alaia, is currently going on eBay for $200. The auction is almost over, so I'd be surprised if it went up too much from there. The Alaia skirt that I checked the price on at the vintage shop was $400, and I'm sure the dress that they had was significantly more. Furthermore, this one has more detail work, so it's probably worth more anyway.

Now, I didn't dare touch the bags at What Comes Around with my possibly greasy hands that could cause the leather to distintegrate a milosecond sooner than it would on its own, but I know that vintage Hermes bags (the ones they had looked like Hermes, and I doubt they'd take much else) can sell sometimes for $8,000--Christ, that's almost what a new one costs--and I'd be shocked if the ones at the vintage store weren't going for the average market price, if not more. The vintage Kelly bag (Yes, that's a KELLY bag by Hermes, people. Fo' real) at left is currently at $300. Once more, that's $300. Now, I'm sure it'll go up before the auction ends, but since it's engraved (can you see it?) there's no way it'll go for more than $1,000. I believe that's $7,000 less than you'd pay at upscale vintage shops.

Sooo, the moral of this story is that if you want to save $7,000 (or more!), you should skip places like What Comes Around Goes Around and Resurrection, and get on your browser asap.