A little under a month ago, when I had only just begun self-isolating, a couple of my friends and I held a Zoom clothing swap. It was mostly for something to do on an otherwise blasé Friday night in quarantine, but also, it was a way to switch up our wardrobes without having to spend any money. After lots of “I want that!” and “No, it’s mine!” (and one too many quarantinis), we all managed to agree on a few pieces from each other’s wardrobes, printed off shipping labels, and sent our belongings to their new, be it temporary, owners.
Bringing back high school swap parties was more fun (and rewarding) than any one of us could’ve imagined. And now, thanks to insider fashion startup HauteTrader, you can trade designer clothes, shoes, and accessories not just with your friendly neighborhood Houseparty guestlist, but with fashion-minded people from around the world, too.
Here’s how it works: Without spending a dime, shoppers can obtain pieces from brands including Chanel, Gucci, Balenciaga, and more by simply trading in lightly worn designer goods of their own that are of equal value and swapping them for something new (or at least, new to you). There are two ways to trade. The first option is an Item-for-Item Trade, which allows you to offer up an item of your own to be directly exchanged with an item of someone else’s that you’d like to “purchase.” For every trade agreement, you’ll also be rewarded with Haute-Points, HauteTrader’s exclusive currency. Your other option is to list your items in direct exchange for Haute-Points to be used later on once you’ve found an item that you want to receive. Haute-Points are given on a tier basis, with more exclusive or expensive items being put on a higher tier than other less sought-after pieces.
In the world of HauteTrader, there are four tiers, each with their own point amounts. Tier one equals 100 points, tier two equals 200 points, and so on. Spend them all at once or save them up. Whatever route you choose, we’re betting big that you’ll come out with one hell of a designer haul.
Think about it this way: Say you were to save up and then splurge on an Alexander Wang handbag for $1,000, only to realize after wearing it once that it’s just not the bag for you. To resell it, it’s likely that you’ll be forced to reduce the price to around $600. From there, between shipping costs and other fees, you’ll probably lose even more value. That’s where HauteTrader comes in. According to founder Hope-Noelle Davenport, with HauteTrader, “You can simply trade that Alexander Wang bag for a Miu Miu bag, (or shoe, or garment) of your choice.”
The concept for HauteTrader came from former fashion designer and stylist Hope-Noelle Davenport as an answer to her quest to find a safe and innovative way to switch up her designer wardrobe without having to drop thousands of dollars. Instead, with this new fashion-friendly platform, you can do it essentially for free.
“We take fulfillment in being the first trade-only luxury fashion marketplace,” says Davenport. “Even still, HauteTrader’s concept is far more valuable than just being the first. We are giving America’s most stylish women the ability to shop without spending, and because of our reward currency, they are also expanding their wardrobes.”
Log on to HauteTrader.com to explore the endless options available right now, free of charge, and get to work clearing out your own wardrobe. With any luck, you’ll be swapping out your giveaway pile for something more your style in no time.
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
If you had a bat mitzvah or went to prom in the last 20 years or so, your look probably came courtesy of Betsey Johnson, the iconic fashion designer and entrepreneur known for her perfect party dresses — and for doing celebratory cartwheels after all her runway shows. Now 77, Johnson has releasedBetsey: A Memoir, a chronicle of her life so far, and a fashion legacy that’s, yes,cartwheeled her right into our hearts.
When I was 26, it was 1968, the year I got married to John Cale [the famed musician, who was also in the Velvet Underground].
It was a whole different kind of life for me. College had been the last of my cheerleading, la-di-dah, WASP-y life. I had just graduated when I won the guest editor contest at Mademoiselle and got to New York. And everything that happened after was luck. To me, success is hard work, talent, and a lot of luck.
I started out on an amazing New York roller coaster of working at the magazine for about a year, then they connected me with that genius who invented Paraphernalia [an iconic NYC boutique]. In my neighborhood, there was Max’s Kansas City, there was the Chelsea Hotel — I was just so lucky as this like, white, WASP-y, very non-drug-taking kid to hang out at Max’s Kansas City, which was the living room for all us crazy kids. I was just in the right place at the right time.
I do not believe in regrets, period. And thinking back, I don’t have any.
We were all so passionate. In your 20s, you’re trying to imagine getting something together. My people were dancers, theater people, artists. It wasn’t like, okay, I have my bachelor’s in law or medicine. You don’t need to take the clear-cut path in life if you have passion.
In New York, I got to do what I loved. At Paraphernalia, I had to make my patterns, I had to sew my first sample, I had to be at the little factories, because the quantity that we made was quite small — 50 of this, 100 of that. That was the important part: Know every step of the process, even the smallest ones. If you’re in the commercial business, your stuff has to sell, and pretty immediately. So there’s always that terror balanced with the wonderful feeling of walking the streets and seeing somebody in your dress, or whatever. Being an artist means being totally scared all the time.
The Velvets asked me to design their clothes — we were all hanging out together anyway and I fell in love with John Cale, and we got married at City Hall. I was on such an up. It was terrifying, but wonderfully scary,
John and I split about two years later. He realized he had to get out of New York. It’s when he left the Velvet Underground — he and Lou Reed never saw eye-to-eye. So John left, and it was good for our relationship in a way, because he moved to California. And we’re still friends.
When we got divorced, I was like, okay, moving right along, moving right along. My mother baked me like a dozen chocolate chip cookies so I would feel better. And I just felt like I had no time to dwell on that. Where would it get me?
You can mourn something, but if you don’t let go of it, you lose what you’re supposed to be doing.
I can only handle two things at the most: my work life and my love life. And the work life always won. It’s always my happy place, and my place to keep going. You should try to find something that gives you that happiness.
It happened that my friend’s boyfriend was playing basketball with this big garment guy who was the main salesman for [fashion brand] Alley Cat, so the next thing you know, I’m getting interviewed for this job at Alley Cat, which was a young, junior company. They just could not find a designer that stuck. And they had been through some good ones, it’s just the fit was wrong. But we clicked. I was still making most of the patterns. Alley Cat was kind of my shining, lucky star kind of time, where I was acknowledged.
Again — see how much luck has to do with it?
I was never into the one-of-a-kind custom thing. I loved the idea of making something unique, but I wanted to be able to make 50 of them, 100 of them, and have it all at a good price — because you don’t get to a good price unless you make quantity.
But also, I thought of designing and making clothes, which was a very, very artistic thing as a job. The only fashion course I took was fabric designing. I made a lot of strange fabric designs with my fingernails cutting through the screens and stuff. Now my fabric designs are all over a couple of dormitories. I liked the commercial side of things, not the lonely, frustrated artist side of things.
And luckily I worked in design places where I could do what I wanted, so I could be very creative. My art translated over to the knitting machines very easily. My print design stuff and my artwork were always a part of my fashion stuff, as it is now.
I always sewed. And to me, it’s like, I don’t believe in anyone being a designer unless they’ve cut and sewed their own clothes. I think that goes for any career really. You have to know it inside and out.
The thing I really learned when I had my first job was, if it doesn’t sell, you do not have a job.
Back in the ‘60s, ‘70s, there were trends, which I didn’t really follow. It was like, petticoats and Little House on the Prairie dresses. But, to me, any good trend doesn’t last any longer than a marriage, and my longest marriage was two-and-a-half years. Alley Cat did last about four years, but they started telling me what to do and I hated it. I had to pay money to get out of my contract with Alley Cat, but I just couldn’t stand it anymore. And I felt like I had lost my entire career.
You will probably go through most of your shit — the good, the bad, and the ugly — in your 20s.
And then one day I met a guy on the street. I always knew I wanted a kid. I didn’t know how I was going to get one, but I always wanted a kid. So I met this guy and we lived together a couple of years and all of a sudden I got pregnant. My daughter Lulu has hung out backstage throughout so many of my fashion shows. I was so happy to have her. But my connection with the guy was off… and I knew it was going to be over. And right after Lulu was born, I threw him out. I mean, there was just no way he was able to be loving or caring to me or Lulu, and I was tired of him depending on me for money.
Never, ever be afraid to do something on your own. I felt being a single mom was the best thing that ever happened to me. Being alone, or being a single mom, is better than being in a bad relationship.
After Alley Cat, I scraped up some money. My parents had saved me $10,000 I made from doing a Bayer Aspirin commercial. My business partner kicked in with a little, my father kicked in with a little, and we opened our own business — on my birthday, during the holiday season. Which is not a season you open a company. But I had a designer friend who was so great, and he said, “Betsey, you’re ready? Do it.”
I’ve never grown much as a designer. I just kept doing the same old thing I’d always loved and always did. I just changed it up with new fabrics, new prints, new colorings, new stuff. But basically I’m the same tight sheath dress, ballerina dress, or short miniskirt dress.
My repertoire was very limited. But that was the reason for my success. I just always did what I believed in. And I, luckily, made it happen on my own. We were working for nothing, but we saw that creating our own stores was the ticket.
Be independent. Don’t care about trends.
My business partner Chantal and I — our store was our own little pink palace. And after opening one store, we thought, Hey, this could be the way. And any money we made, we saved up, and another store. And now, who knows? I swear, my granddaughter, Ella, is going to be as good as I was and better. She’s already making her own hoop skirts and clothes. She’s nine.
When you’re ready: Do it.
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
If you, like us, have been receiving near-constant reminders from your phones that screen time is at an all-time high, you’ve probably already caught a glimpse of Instagram’s latest quarantine challenge: comforters and pillows as fashion statements.
If you haven’t yet succumbed to boredom-induced scrolling (how?), here’s what you need to know: Following posts by Sweden’s most influential fashion duo @stylebynelli and @myforteisfashion on April 5th, which included each of the women styling pillows like mini dresses, cinched with big belts around their waists, a movement began. A movement known as the #QuarantinePillowChallenge.
A post shared by @ stylebynelli on Apr 5, 2020 at 11:40am PDT
In the initial posts, @stylebynelli can be seen wearing a teal blue pillow, fitted with a Zara belt, and accessorized with multicolored satin scrunchies, chunky sneakers, and Nike tube socks. @myforteisfashion’s post is similarly styled, except that her pillowcase is lilac-colored and she included a matching Pretty Little Thing handbag and New Balance sneakers. Both posts called for their followers to recreate the at-home ensembles, saying that they’d each repost submitted #QuarantinePillowChallenge looks in their stories.
Given that between them, the duo has nearly 380k followers on Instagram, it’s no wonder that more than 70k submissions have already been posted, with more being uploaded by the minute.
A post shared by 💫💫 💫 (@myforteisfashion) on Apr 5, 2020 at 9:16am PDT
With most of us stuck indoors, the #QuarantinePillowChallenge has created a fun way for fashion-hungry quarantiners to show off their favorite accessories, from Gucci belts to Simon Miller platforms, all without having to actually get dressed. In addition to pillows, participants have also begun styling their comforters as maxi dresses, creating black-tie-esque ensembles using only their cloud-like bed linens.
The #QuarantinePillowChallenge is hardly the first social media competition to garner widespread attention since the stay-at-home order was put in place three weeks ago. French designer Simon Porte Jacquemus also held one, which he called the #JacquemusAtHome challenge, as did L.A.’s Getty Museum, which asked followers to recreate famous works of art and post using the hashtag #MuseumChallenge. Heaven only knows what bizarre competition will be next.
One thing we do know, though, is that we’re most definitely hopping on board. Pillow: check! Big belt: check! Otherwise unnecessary pair of statement shoes: check! #QuarantinePillowChallenge, prepare to be amazed.
Get inspired to post your own #QuarantinePillowChallenge submission by scrolling through our favorites below.
इंडियन क्रिकेट टीम के ऑलराउंडर हार्दिक पांड्या () जितने अपने चौकों-छक्कों के लिए मशहूर हैं उससे कई ज्यादा यह प्लेयर ऑफ फील्ड अपने ड्रेसिंग स्टाइल के लिए जाने जाते हैं। ये बात तो हम सभी जानते हैं कि बड़े-बड़े सेलेब्स हों या फिर क्रिकेटर, जब तक उनके पास महंगी गाड़ियां-घड़ियां न हों, तब तक उनके दिन की शुरुआत नहीं होती। कुछ इसी तरह की लिस्ट में हरफनमौला खिलाड़ी हार्दिक पांड्या का नाम शामिल है,जो इन दिनों घर में रहते हुए भी अपने फैंस को फैशन गोल्स देना नहीं भूल रहे। हमेशा लग्जरी ब्रांड्स के कपड़ों और गैजेट्स के बीच घिरे रहने वाले हार्दिक ने इस बार एक ऐसी शर्ट पहनी, जिसे देखने के बाद हर कोई दंग रह गया। हाल ही में ऑलराउंडर बल्लेबाज हार्दिक पांड्या ने अपने इंस्टाग्राम अकाउंट पर अपनी एक तस्वीर शेयर की, जिसमें वह रीमैगिनेटेड स्ट्रीट स्टाइल की ब्लैक शर्ट पहने हुए नजर आ रहे थे। हमेशा की तरह हार्दिक काफी स्मार्ट लग रहे थे, लेकिन इस बार हमारा ध्यान उनकी स्मार्टनेस ने नहीं बल्कि उनकी पहनी हुई शर्ट ने खींचा। हार्दिक की इस शर्ट में वो सबकुछ था जो इसे खास बना रहा था। नोकदार स्टाइलिश कॉलर के साथ हाफ स्लीव्स, सामने की तरफ झरना प्रिंट, उससे मिलते-जुलते बटन्स और कमाल का फेब्रिक। लेकिन क्या आप इस शर्ट की कीमत जानते हैं? यकीनन इसके प्राइस को जानकर आपके होश उड़ जाएंगे। ( ये भी पढ़ें: ) यह शर्ट दुनिया के महंगे ब्रांड में से एक 'ऑफ-व्हाइट' की थी जिसकी तक़रीबन कीमत 40,997 रुपए है। इस कीमत में एक आम इंसान अपने घर बाइक तो ला ही सकता है। अगर आप बाजार में निकलेंगे तो आप इस कीमत में Bajaj CT 110 खरीद सकते हैं। जिसका शोरूम प्राइज 40000 रुपए है। ऐसा पहली बार नहीं है जब हार्दिक ने इतनी महंगी शर्ट को कैरी किया हो, इससे पहले भी वो अपने लोफर्स और गाड़ियों को लेकर चर्चा का विषय बन चुके हैं। वैसे आपका हार्दिक भइया के स्टाइल के बारे में क्या क्या कहना हैं? हमें कमेंट करके जरूर बताएं। ( ये भी पढ़ें: )
