You know that old saying about looking before you leap?
Gorgeous -- I mean, gorgeous -- skirt that I got on eBay for a ridiculously low price. And the thing is, it's this close to perfect. It is a flawless, perfectly preserved vintage black wool YSL pencil skirt with side slash pockets. It's in pristine condition -- even the lining is perfect. And it's actually even better in person than it was in the photos. It has the same construction front & back -- four slight gathers, channel-stitched waistband, beautiful, beautiful high-quality wool fabric. It's a classic, it's perfect, it will last for years.
It should have been a no-brainer, because it's a YSL size 40 and I'm typically a perfect YSL size 38 and for the price I would have been happy to take it in and have it altered.
Except.
Apparently vanity sizing is not a strictly American phenomenon, my friends. 
Apparently even in the bastions of French high design, they are experiencing size creep. This is disappointing and disillusioning, but nonetheless useful information to have. (It's just a shame I had to learn it like this.) The skirt is actually okay over my hips, but the waist is too small. I can get it fastened, but just barely, and heaven help me if I wanted to sit down & eat. Or move. Or, ya know, breathe.
The waistband is all one piece and there's no overlap -- there's nothing to be done in the way of alterations unless I wanted to put an entirely new waistband on it and I do not.
This is my own dingdong fault. I bid on the skirt after I saw that it was a 40, without reading the auction listing carefully. Post-bid I saw that there were actual measurements listed which should have indicated to me that there was trouble coming, but I had sniped the bid and I thought, well, maybe the measurements are inaccurate and it was such a great skirt at a great price and blahblah coutureinducedhazefishcakes blah. Long story short, I was not a careful enough shopper and now I have this gorgeous item hanging in my home taunting me with its just-barely-not-wearable-ness. Serves me right, I should know better.
So. Who's a size 2? This thing needs a home with someone who will appreciate it. I'd say to wear it comfortably you'll need a 26" waist and hips not much bigger than 38". If you are that person, this fantastic garment can be yours for $25, and that includes shipping, which will just about cover what I dished out for it. (Minus the stupidity tax I'm imposing on myself.)
If you think you'd like to adopt the skirt, leave me a comment or drop me a line at shine @ austin.rr.com and let me know. If none of you wants it, it's going back on the block.
And don't forget -- read the fine print!!
5 comments:
Between this:
"blahblah coutureinducedhazefishcakes blah"
this
"26 inch waist" (I have never had a waist that small in my life!)
and the look on your face in that picture, I am ROTFL.
THANKS!
Oh Style Spy, I spy with my little eye a very tempting buy! I have to double check my size...I think I may fit into that gorgeous skirt. I'm safe with a 27 inch something, but maybe I can do 26?! Let me get back to you.
Such a shame about the skirt! And I always thought vanity sizing worked the other way round? (i.e. the sizing runs big so consumers think they're actually a much smaller size?). In any case it does look like it fits you, but I'm guessing you wouldn't be very comfortable sitting down ;-)
vee -- always happy to entertain!
Thumbie -- Oh, I hope so, I would love this to go to you, it's perfect for you.
Haute-Shopper -- yes, you're right about vanity sizing, which is something that has happened over the last couple of decades. This is why vintage clothing sizes run so much smaller than modern ones -- people have gotten bigger but want to believe they're smaller!
Oh no! It looks like a beautiful skirt, and for what it's worth, it does not look like you're sucking it in at all. That's like what happened to me when I hurriedly bid on some gorgeous vintage shoes only to find out they were ridiculously narrow when I got them. I had a sad.
And I second what vee said.
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