A stunned shopper was amazed to find vintage Jean Paul Gaultier online, but when she checked back days later, she realized that she’d truly hit the thrifting jackpot.
Syrona Buchanan-Jones, 31, has been thrifting high end vintage clothing since she was just 16. She has found many secondhand treasures over the years by scouring the likes of eBay for unwanted items, and she recently made one of her best discoveries yet.
While scrolling through eBay, Buchanan-Jones came across a vintage Jean Paul Gaultier jacket made of black denim with red distressed velvet detailing. She told Newsweek that she was “in slight disbelief” after seeing the jacket and knew she had to bid.
The starting bid was £99 ($133), but Buchanan-Jones, who resides in Costa Rica, placed a bid of anything up to £350 ($469) because she was so desperate to get her hands on this piece.
“Having been thrifting for as long as I have, you develop an eye for things like stitching, label fonts and hardware,” Buchanan-Jones said. “I realized pretty quickly that it was legit. No one else bid, and with postage I got it for £107 ($143).”
The jacket is in “pristine condition,” and the red velvet detail doesn’t show any signs of deterioration.
As if that purchase wasn’t special enough, there was yet another thrifting surprise in store for Buchanan-Jones.
Just days later, she checked back on eBay and saw that the seller who listed the jacket was also selling the matching skirt. Indeed, Buchanan-Jones “audibly gasped” when she saw the maxi skirt and it felt only right to try and get that too.
Buchanan-Jones said: “I thought for a split second that I was wrong, but when I saw that it was the same seller, I knew no matter the cost I had to reunite the two pieces. This time there were other bidders, but I still got it for £97 ($130). This is my first time reuniting a set and I’m very pleased.
“I’m 99 percent sure they’re the Jean Paul Gaultier diffusion line from 1998, I also have a couple of other pieces from his 90s diffusion line, so dating these wasn’t hard,” she continued.
Buchanan-Jones had no reservations about buying these secondhand pieces, and now they’re among her favorite purchases. She shared pictures of her newest treasures on Reddit, and the post went viral with over 1,000 votes.
Many people were delighted that Buchanan-Jones was able to give these unwanted garments a new lease of life, and she hopes to inspire others to give thrifting a try. Whether it’s in a local thrift store, or scouring the internet for secondhand pieces, she believes there are countless gems out there waiting to be found.
“Around 95-98 percent of my wardrobe is thrifted, and it’s also at least 70 percent high end or couture,” Buchanan-Jones said. “The key is patience—thrifting is really almost a second job. I spend around 4 hours a day hunting. In the same way other people use TikTok, I use eBay.
“My mantra is a paraphrase of Dolly Parton’s; It really doesn’t have to take that much money to look this expensive,” she told Newsweek.
Reddit users have taken to the comments section to praise these remarkable finds. One comment reads: “Iconic set, and really not a bad price considering!”
Another person wrote: “Love vintage Gaultier, amazing that you found both pieces separately. Found a jacket from this same line for $6 once, it’s still one of my greatest finds.”
While another commenter added: “This is so cool, can we get an update with it worn?”
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