How I almost bought Céline Yves Klein dress
Even if you didn’t follow Phoebe’s Céline as closely as I did, you would still probably be aware of the Yves Klein dress from Spring 2017 RTW collection.
It’s one of the most sought after pieces that Phoebe Philo ever created and one that every Old Céline collector wants to own. Me included. Also it’s one of those pieces you’re pretty sure you won’t be able to afford because realistic price would be around €5000 if not more. It has recently been sold on 1stDibs for almost €7000. Ouch.
Imagine my shock when it appeared on Vestiaire Collective (which is now my main destination for Céline) for €550 new with tags in my FR38 size! In that moment I was in Turkey lying on the sunbed on the pier drinking fresh carrot juice. My brain immediately turned on “hunting for Céline” function and my story began.
When the listing appeared on Vestiaire the seller had a holiday mode turned on which meant you couldn’t buy the dress straight away. All you could do was to write a message and ask the seller when she would be back. She answered she didn’t know when exactly but probably on the weekend.
While people were writing comments that her price was ridiculous and offering a higher price my brain started to think of a scheme that will get me the dress, I was ready to do anything for it. So almost in a code (Vestiaire blocks messages containing phone numbers, emails, words like PayPal etc) I sent her my Instagram username and asked to write me there. What she almost immediately did!
And we agreed that I would send her a €100 deposit on her PayPal and buy the dress through Vestiaire when she’s back from vacation. I won’t be lying if I say that it was one of the happiest moments of my life, just a thought that I might own this dress! I was so happy and so excited thinking of how I would wear it, of the photos I would take, of the story I would share.
I noticed that she answered some comments on Vestiaire saying that the dress was reserved for another buyer (me) and people were very disappointed at that point saying that tomorrow it would appear on Vestiaire for €5000 minimum. Imagine how many people wanted this dress and it’s me who bought it!!! I couldn’t believe it.
The seller asked to make a PayPal transfer with a “Friends and family” option but we didn’t have it in Israel so I sent €120 to cover her fees. We agreed that she would call me on Sunday, and while we’re on the call she would turn off holiday mode, change the price to €450 and I would make a purchase on Vestiaire.
On Sunday I was super excited and couldn’t wait for 9 pm. When she called I didn’t see her number, just “No Caller ID” which was weird, but then we had such a nice conversation, she said that the dress was a present she didn’t want, she thought that RRP was €1500 and she didn’t know so many people wanted this dress. She said that she’s super happy that someone like me would own it and wear it and she’s absolutely ok with this price.
For some reason I couldn’t see that holiday mode was off, and while I was refreshing the page for the hundredth time someone else bought the dress. Being an amazing person she was, she canceled that purchase, and we agreed that I would send a remaining amount on her PayPal and she would send the dress to me in a few days.
Before continuing I have to say that I have 10+ years experience of buying things on resale platforms, I found amazing pieces for amazing prices (subscribe to read about it in my next newsletters) and only encountered unreliable sellers maybe 2 or 3 times.
So our conversation was only on Instagram, she disappeared for a week, then came back saying she had a crazy work schedule, then disappeared again, then came back with a message that she sent the dress and put some gifts but did not send a tracking number and by that time almost a month had passed and I knew something was off but still was hoping for a happy end.
I asked for a tracking number several times, and as I didn’t have her phone number DMs were the only way to contact her. Usually when there’s a package coming my way I get an SMS from Israel Post with a tracking number but it was not the case here.
Probably at this moment I kind of knew there would be no dress.
I filed a complaint on PayPal, chose “I didn’t get a tracking number” issue and had to wait for 10 days for resolution. In a few days I got an email with tracking number. WAIT WHAT. There was a package coming from Germany to Israel.
It was sent with Deutsche Post which meant it would take minimum two weeks to arrive. I had a flight on June, 25th (Sunday) and June, 22nd (Thursday) was the latest I could receive the package (Friday and Saturday are weekend in Israel). Miraculously it arrived on time. I had to pay €100 fee because she put a price on the package (which I specifically asked not to do) but it was here. AAAAAAA.
I knew something was wrong but at the same time I was hoping to open a box and find the dress.
So when I got the box at the post office… I immediately realised it was empty. It was so small and so light - nothing could be inside. I made a video of opening the box as a proof almost crying but kind of expecting it to happen. It was a fraud from the start, she knew how many people would try to buy the dress any way possible so she would just pick someone and send an empty box. This someone turned out to be me. She even wrote “Celine Yves Klein” on the box, how funny.
Luckily, I didn’t have “Friends and family” option on PayPal so my transfers were marked as payment for services or goods which meant I could file another complaint. I attached all the screenshots of her messages and video of me opening the package. It took around three weeks but I got all my money back excluding €100 customs fee.
Looking at all of this now, of course it was kind of obvious from the start. During her first disappearance I looked her up, couldn’t find anything, but someone left a comment saying that she sent them an empty box. Part of me still wanted to believe it was a coincidence and I would get the dress. A thought of owning this dress outweighed any reasonable arguments. I HAD TO TRY.
When I was in Berlin, I met for a coffee with my friend Erica, founder of this amazing sourcing platform Sourcewhere. It was the first time we’ve met in real life after knowing each other for more than 10 years (story for another day) and we were talking about this and that, and I’m saying to Erica: “I have a crazy story to tell you about!”. She’s looking at me and asks: “Is this about THE dress from Vestiaire?..”. “YES!” I almost screamed and told her everything. Erica had also seen it and couldn’t believe the price it had sold for but at least now we know that there was no dress at all!!
Anyway, we all know that buying on resale comes with a certain risk. But sometimes you have to take this risk and trust your gut! And trust people. It’s not my first time buying directly from someone but it was my first time getting an empty box. So the odds something like that would happen were 1/100! Not everyone is making money on the reckless Céline collectors :) And also now I have a story to tell!
And maybe next time the dress will be real!
Yours,
Veronika