I freakin' love eBay. I know, wasn't eBay the big thing about a decade ago? Yep, but it's still an awesome resource for finding great deals - especially retro/vintage reproduction style clothing. I've found many a dress on eBay from homemade items to gals cleaning out their closets to sample sales from designers.
One of my favorites? The one and only Bernie Dexter!
I have a handful of Bernie Dexter pieces - I think my total is roughly 6 (1 skirt, 1 blouse, and at least 4 dresses). You'd see my Bernie collection and compare me to Ariel: "Bernie's? She's got plenty!" or you'd think I'm rolling in the dough (I mean, the most affordable of Bernie's dresses go for $108 on sale!). To be honest, I am really not!
My secret? Come on, you should be able to guess what I am going to say...
eBay!!!
Bernie sells so many items on her eBay store. Out of my 6 or so Bernie Dexter items, at least 4 of them were scores from eBay. She sells her samples or last remaining item and let's them go for auction - which I think is so awesome. Letting folks bid on items like these makes it easier to score an item for much less than any sale on her website.
Need proof?
Fine! You twisted my arm.
See this dress? The dress I'm wearing in this post? Well, it's my latest eBay Bernie scores.
I know it must be an older item as I have never seen it on her site (I've seen the print but not in this style) but I really liked the bodice and the cut. It reminded me of the famous Ophelia dresses from Lindy Bop. The dress has has padding in the bust, which is convenient and awesome! When I saw the bids were only at $40 and the auction was ending in just 8 hours, I joined the fun.
I know what you're going to say. You're probably thinking, "Yeah, but Sara, once you start bidding, you just can't stop, and then you fight with someone else to get the highest bid so much that, in the end, don't you end up paying almost as much as you would on her site?"
Sometimes. But not all the time. I set limits for myself so I don't go crazy with bidding. I try to keep my eBay bids under $80 so I will usually forfeit a bidding war if it gets near the $75 range.
When this auction was over, I was excited to find that I was the winner! How much did I end up spending? $51 total ($41 + $9.95 for shipping)!
$50 for a Bernie Dexter dress? Are you kidding me? I have trouble finding any retro style dresses for that low price let alone a beautiful Bernie! I celebrated my victory with some key lime pie ice cream (seriously, on a side note? Price Chopper just started stocking this and I am hooked - key lime ice cream with chunks of graham cracker pie crust! Yum!) and twiddled my thumbs excitedly as I waited for my new Bernie addition to arrive.
I know that not every eBay experience is as awesome as mine was this time around but I can't rave about eBay enough when it comes to hunting down some beautiful vintage inspired gems. You just never know what you're going to find!
