How would you fair at a shopping spree where rather than money as currency, it was the clothes you had on your back?
The RealReal put fashion insiders up to the task for the launch of their new book, “Real Style” on Thursday in TriBeCa. The vintage and consignment retailer surprised guests with a shopping experience turned social experiment where guests were given the option to take any item home with one condition — they had to trade in something they had on.
Louisa Jacobson, Juliana Canfield, Paloma Elsesser, Jeremy O. Harris, Annie Hamilton, Sophie Auster and Catherine Cohen were among those in attendance. The energy in the room was teeming with angst and enthusiasm as guests contended with what they might be willing to give up for what they couldn’t bear to leave without.
“I’m totally surprised that it was a trade and it was the nicest surprise of my year — I’m gonna go that far,” said Hamilton. “I’m a sucker for this. I wasn’t totally proud of what I was wearing before, so it was the easiest decision of my life to take off the red Michael Jackson ‘Thriller’ jacket I was wearing, that I think someone already took. I got this Giorgio Armani blazer.”
“Real style is acting on your impulses and being in the vortex of yourself and not so influenced by other people,” she continued. “I definitely dress according to how I want to feel and lean into the character of it.”
Acting on impulse seems to have worked quite well for the actress and writer. The Giorgio Armani blazer she picked up fit so well you would have thought it was what she arrived in.
“I love that about shopping consignment, like at The RealReal or vintage stores: it’s so much fun to feel like you don’t know really what you’re looking for until you find it and if it doesn’t fit, it doesn’t fit!” said Canfield.
While debating between an assortment of clip-on earrings, the actress and self-proclaimed “straight-edge rebel” shared the lore behind her lack of pierced ears.
“I wasn’t allowed to get my ears pierced until I was 13. When I turned 13, they gave me a beautiful pair of little gold earrings and said, ‘Now you can get your ears pierced.’ But every girl in my grade had her ears pierced and I was like ‘Well, I actually kind of feel like not having my ears pierced is counter cultural,'” Canfield said. “It was a statement!”
“Because my ears aren’t pierced, I feel like my hunt for earrings — as I love earrings — is kind of ongoing and it has exciting challenges to it. I end of up finding a lot of vintage ones,” she added. “I like that it’s not so accessible — it’s not the lowest-hanging fruit.”
Jacobson, who will soon be back on screens in “The Gilded Age” Season Four, had a similar dilemma to many other guests, wishing she had worn clothes she’d be more inclined to trade.
“I spent so much time thinking about what I’d wear tonight. I wish I knew there was a trade because then I would have worn something I wanted to trade in,” said Jacobson, who had worn a mix of her own vintage and hand-me-downs from her sister. “I think it’s important to be authentic to yourself and your self-expression. And just to be honest — if you’re not being honest, then I feel like that shows,” she added. “You have to embrace yourself and your own distinctive style.”
“I have a complicated relationship with The RealReal because my sister always resells her stuff she doesn’t wear on The RealReal and I’m like, ‘Why don’t you give it to me?’” Jacobson continued. “So, I’m just basically jealous of The RealReal. I’m a huge fan of shopping vintage and pre-owned. I’d say most of my closet is that.”
As the evening continued, the racks quickly emptied as attendees were eager to take home their new finds — but not without a bit of debate amongst themselves first about what was truly worth the trade.