Help!

S

smitchik

Registered Guest
Hi:
A couple months back a dear friend of mine passed away leaving me her vintage clothes. Since I am not a fashion person but do know that these clothes are very old and were well stored. She was a wealthy women and all her clothes are designers brands. Some tags are so old I cannot find any info. There is this one beautiful old school Hawaiian dress tag is Betty Higgins? I have been doing some research on some of the names. I came across about five Nanty Dresses, 4 Ceil Chapman dresses and so many others that my head is spinning. How do I go about pricing these gowns and other clothes I have? Any help or feedback would be soooo appreciated. I will post some pics later once I figure out how to download and put on board. Thanks!
 
HI! It sounds as if you have quite a treasurefull of things there! It can be daunting to price things, but once you get a system going and you've been at it a while, it does get easier! Also, pricing depends a lot on what venue you are going to use to sell these things--eBay, a vintage marketplace like Babylon Mall or Ruby Lane, or your own private web site. FWIW, my system is this: I search eBay specifically for similar items, then do both Google & Yahoo searches (they do turn up different things many times). There's a search engine I've used before that I think several folks here use, but I lost the bookmark on it & can't remember its name. Maybe somebody more familiar with it can help.

If I find a site that has a lot of the same sort of items/designer names as I'm selling, I bookmark it and use that in subsequent searches.

I do think it's easier when you have designer and brand names to search, rather than the generic description of the item. ("50's Ceil Chapman dress" vs. "50's cocktail dress")

Once you get going, you won't need to do as much searching & figuring out of pricing. You'll get a good feel for most of it.

Hope this helps a bit! Good luck & welcome!
 
Anne:
Thanks for your reply. I never even heard of Babylon Mall. I will look into all your suggestions. I was thinking about ebay but I'm not sure and I'm so afraid that I will either under price or over price. I have been doing research on the Nanty dresses which I cannot find alot of info. She did most of her shopping in NY and she traveled alot. I have several vintage Christian Dior dresses, Oscar De La Renta, some beautiful French dress ...have you ever heard of Creations Stanley Cannes made in France? There is also many old men's wool tuxedo suits. Not much info on men's vintage wear. She saved everything! She even left me her 1950 wedding gown which looks like it was just worn yesterday. Complete with her shoes (Fenton?) gloves, etc. Is there a market for this?
I'm sorry I am rambling but I am so confused. Thanks! Pam
 
Hi Pam!

It sounds like you have some wonderful items!
Can't wait to see some pictures.
Vintage mens wear also does very well.

To post a picture or pictures, you need to use links like this.

>img src="Your HTTP Picture Link Here"<

Brackets at the end should be like < > not > < as I've shown them above.
(need to show them that way or they show an actual picture or pizza box).
 
Hello Pam, and welcome!

Sounds like you're friend was extremely stylish, and how nice to leave her clothing to you. I can't wait to see pictures :D
You are doing the right thing by researching the labels, and I would just take it one step (dress!) at a time. Some things will probably be worth more than others, and it's probably most sensible to carry on doing what you are doing and finding out what you've got.

Anne's advice re: selling and research is very sage, and I'm sure people here will be glad to help out. I'll have a quick look for the labels you mentioned that I've not heard of either myself but maybe someone will come along shortly who recognises them.

Harriet

:)
 
Thanks Ladies. I took pics of a couple of my Nanty dresses and Ceil dresses with tags and once I figure out how to download I will post. I might have to wait for my husband to help me (this should be good!) Pat (the lady who passed away) came from money and liked nice things! Harriet your advice about one dress at a time is exactly what I was thinking. Her one Nanty dress is so old (I'm guessing from around 1947/1948 because I know she got married in 1950 and this dress is a couple years before that. It's so fragile and brittle like. I believe she wore it to a debut...that is what she had marked on the box. One thing for sure vintage clothing (and well made clothing) certainly never goes out of style. I would keep some of these dresses for myself (if only I could fit into them) some of them are so tiny probably around size 2/4. They are so classy and beautiful!
Thanks again!
 
Hi,

Nice to hear that your friend kept her things...so many people did not...or only a few items.

If you are not in a rush to have them out of your home, do take the time to research them. This is a quieter time on ebay as it is summer, so it will be slightly less fruitful but it still can be used as a guideline.

Otherwise, do like the others have suggested, keep searching the internet and DO bookmark those sites which were of interest. There are also some books on fashion that you should perhaps purchase...if you have a good bookstore in your area with collectible books, you could go and check that out too.

Sounds like there will be some beautiful garments there for us to see and perhaps help you out with.

Good luck with all the homework!
 
Ebay can be a good place to sell if you are unfamilar with the value and don't want to go into business as a vintage merchant permanently. Usually, if the item is a known name, and the condition is nice, it will achieve the going value of the item no matter where you start it out at.

No matter where you sell it, you have to take care to really be honest about the condition. Mention if there are any holes, any tiny marks that are visible, and if the garment has been shortened, etc. Also, odors are important as well.

Chris
 
Honestly her clothes were so well maintained (it just amazes me!) But I will be sure to examine everything and make note of any holes, smell, etc. I want to purchase a full size mannequin...is ebay the best place or should I try a local thrift store to see if they will sell me one. Just beware that when I post my pics...they are nothing like you ladies have posted I will either havr them on my bed or hanging up...sorry. I was wondering if anyone heard of Donald Brooks...I have this most amazing (at least I think it is) dress with a jacket (like jackie o style) again I cannot find anything. Well I guess I will be heading to the bookstore today and spending alot of time on the computer. Thanks!
 
Sorry...that Donald Brooks isn't what I was thinking...it is a Thom Parker. I will take a pic later with the one Hawaiian dress that she bought in Waikki. I will try to post several pics. Thanks!
 
I would definitely check your local thrift store or auctioneer for the sake of convenience, for sure. Check also for dress forms/dressmakers dummies.

Ebay has a much wider selection. The trade off is the shipping price. You could expect to pay $anywhere from 150-299 to start out for one including shipping. You will pay more for the higher end mannequins.

Here is the info we have on Donald Brooks
http://www.vintagefashionguild.org/labels.php?labelno=38&mode=search
 
Thanks!
Here are some of the labels I found so far:
Tina Lesser
Eisa LeslieFay
Les Elles Leron
Grenelle Roberts
Joan Leslie
Getty Miller
Nan Duskin
Pringle
Estevez
Tons of Bergdorf Goodman
El Dorri
Donald Brooks
R. Keith by Thom Parker

Thanks!:hiya:
 
Hi Everyone:
I cannot figure out how to post my pics. I have them so if anyone wants to see a couple of them I can e-mail to you.
My daughter was in contact with a place in NY who wants to see my collection (What Comes Around Goes Around).
Thanks!
 
Here you are Pam. :)
If you have any larger ones it might be helpful also.
My email should accept them with no problem.

<img src="http://img.inkfrog.com/pix/ChicTrend/picture1.jpg">

<img src="http://img.inkfrog.com/pix/ChicTrend/picture2.jpg">

<img src="http://img.inkfrog.com/pix/ChicTrend/picture3.jpg">

<img src="http://img.inkfrog.com/pix/ChicTrend/picture4.jpg">
 
First of all, my heart goes out to you losing a friend.
Seems she left you with some fun work to do!
I would highly recommend consigning rather then selling outright to a store if that is an option.
If you want to take this on yourself I would take a day. Psych yourself up for it, have a cup of coffee, your breakfast. Put a good movie on the DVD or your favorite TV channel. Sit on the floor or a large couch and pile the items next to you. I would then go over each item carefully in good light. Look for holes, seams rotting or splitting, stains, fading, buttons missing and scents. I would then write down each item ie: Pink Chistian Dior Halter Dress-hem loose-small pencil eraser size stain at shoulder....
Sometimes even in well maintained vintage clothing there will be issues with just age. Less so with high quality items usually.
I would take the excellent to mint condition items and put them in one pile, the items that can be repaired in another pile and the items with unrepairable issues in another pile.
I would set aside the later two piles and concentrate on the excellent to mint pile.
I would then take them one at a time.
Google the label.
Look the label up in Ebay.
Use the search feature on the Vintage Fashion Guild for past posts about a certain label
Use the label resource on the Vintage Fashion Guild
Once you get the basics down most labels as mentioned above will sell themselves on ebay.
I think if this is all you are going to sell on ebay is this lot of clothing I would get a dress form rather then a manniquin. There are ways to accent certain things on a dress form. Lightly crunched up tissue in sleeves to give them life, a crinoline for full skirts ect...
I am trying to think of other things I take for granted as a seller that I didn't know when I first started.
If things come to me I will post them.
Try to look at this as fun rather then a chore!!! The re-discovery of your friend, a bit of peek into her that perhaps you knew nothing about *smile* If you can, take your time, enjoy the quality and beauty of well made vintage clothing. Perhaps purchase some vintage magazines and peruse them, getting you in the mood...
Ahem, I am prattling.
Good luck and we are always here for you.

I am excited for you!

Michelle
 
Thanks Michelle:
I keep going back and forth on me selling and selling to a shop. I love a good challenge and I have been learning so much already from people here and the research I have been doing. I was up late last night and realized I have a Emilio Pucci outfit that Pat had. If I didn't do my research I would have never known. Thank you for all your information!I have started that process already and I am off from work today and I have dedicated my day to concentrating on a couple pieces. There is just way to many to handle today. If I try to do to much I will become overwhelmed. Once I get a dress form I will take some more pics and try (again to post)
Thanks so much again! This is so much fun and I could imagine how much fun my friend had shopping for these treasures!! Pam
 
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