There was this place I used to shop when I first started building Luv Luxe. For the sake of the blog, we’ll call it the “Discount Den.” It was one of the only places back then where you could occasionally score discounted designer pieces if you were willing to put in the work.
Picture this: doors opening and grown adults practically sprinting through them. Elbows flying. People shoulder to shoulder digging through racks. If you know me, you know this environment makes absolutely no sense for my personality. I don’t even like people standing too close to me in line at Starbucks, and somehow I willingly entered these chaotic designer war zones on a regular basis. But at the time, I was hungry and so desperately wanted to make Luv Luxe a true brand.
I became friendly with a lot of the regulars. Some of them were very kind, some were absolutely savage, some incredibly rude while all of us were there for the same reason: the thrill of finding hidden luxury treasures before anyone else did.
Then the company announced they were opening a store on the East Coast. Game on!
Every reseller I knew immediately started quietly plotting their trip, but nobody wanted to fully admit they were going. It was like this weird secret competition where everyone pretended they might go while simultaneously booking flights behind the scenes.
Meanwhile, I had my entire trip mapped out down to the minute. Only one small problem…I almost missed my flight because I thought departure was at 12:30 AM when it was actually 12:30 PM. Cue full nervous breakdown in the airport. I had saved money for this trip. Planned everything perfectly. I was convinced my luxury resale career was ending right there at the check-in gate. Somehow, by the grace of God and pure chaos, my boyfriend (now my husband, Mr. Luv Luxe) and I managed to catch a red eye and make it happen.
The second we landed, straight to the Discount Den we went. When I tell you the line was FULL of resellers waiting six hours before opening… I mean FULL. Every person acting casual while secretly sizing everyone else up. The doors finally opened and honestly? It felt like a movie scene.
Luxury items everywhere. Bags flying off shelves. People grabbing armfuls of designer pieces. It was complete insanity. At one point I was literally handing bags to other people because I started panicking about how I was even going to sell all of this inventory.
Naturally, after a couple days of resellers buying basically everything in sight, corporate started catching on. Word spread quickly that they were “blacklisting” resellers and refusing sales.
Excuse me?
You’re telling me I flew across the country, spent thousands of dollars, survived airport trauma, no sleep, and NOW you’re saying I can’t shop anymore? Absolutely not. So naturally… I came up with a completely reasonable solution.
Goodbye Syd.
Hello… “Natasha.”
I bought a black bob wig. Yes a wig.
My boyfriend and I split up in line pretending we didn’t know each other. I wore headphones and refused to speak a single word because I was terrified they’d recognize my voice. Which, if you know me, staying silent for hours is basically a form of psychological torture. I’m pretty sure everyone knew it was me. Honestly, I think the employees just looked at the lengths I was willing to go for these bags and collectively decided:
“Let’s just let her shop. She’s clearly committed or slightly unhinged.” Looking back now, it’s one of the funniest memories from the early days of building Luv Luxe. At the time it felt life or death. Now it just reminds me how scrappy, determined, and slightly unhinged you have to be when you’re chasing a dream before anyone else fully understands the vision. And apparently… sometimes that dream involves a good wig.
Thanks for being here.
Xx
Syd