Sabrina Carpenter’s birthday dress from Depop sparks conversation on ethics (and prices) of reselling

Sabrina Carpenter celebrated her 25th birthday in a dress her stylists got off Depop, a popular secondhand clothing app. But when the original seller came forward, it sparked a larger discussion about fashion, affordability, and the ethics of resale.

Over the weekend, the singer — who’s originally from Quakertown — posted photos from her party in New York where she sipped on espresso martinis (naturally) and posed in a yellow satin slip that called back to Kate Hudson’s iconic dress from How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.

Carpenter’s team of stylists found the dress on Jules Berg’s Depop shop, which had fewer than 2,000 followers when the photos were posted. On TikTok, Berg explained that the dress was a vintage piece from Caché, a retail brand known for its event dresses (think lots of ruching and sparkles), with hundreds of stores in malls during the mid-2000s.

But Berg’s sudden popularity has drawn ire from some users in the form of response TikToks, in part because of her savviness, taking 15-year-old shorts from Forever 21 and Abercrombie and selling them for hundreds of dollars. Like other independent sellers, Berg capitalizes on finding clothing, including fast fashion that likely retailed for $30 or less, photographing it on a model, and flipping it for giant markups.

It’s not against Depop’s seller policies and her page shows dozens of sales, suggesting it’s been going well so far. Now that Carpenter’s team purchased a piece, people are noticing.

Fashion expert and pro-thrifter Virginia Chamlee says stylists sourcing items from resellers isn’t remarkable.

“Buying from Depop is a little more unique, but it’s just a newer way to purchase vintage pieces. No longer do you have to source vintage pieces from exclusive, expensive stores in New York or Paris. Now, you can just buy direct from a 20-something who has an iPhone and a penchant for thrifting,” Chamlee said.

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Berg said she thrifted the dress for around $50 in New York and cropped it into a mini. She said she sold it to Carpenter’s team for $256.

The clothing reseller, whose Depop shop is called jbeescloset, described the sale as a milestone since she’s only been seriously selling on the platform for about a year.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think that the dress I thrifted a few years ago would end up in Sabrina Carpenter’s closet,” Berg, who did not respond to a request for comment, said in her TikTok.

But her post, which has been viewed nearly 3 million times, also prompted scrutiny.

On Monday, within hours of Berg’s video going live, a TikToker named Kiana (who goes by @kaym0neyyy) posted a viral series of videos examining Berg’s Depop shop, revealing a paper trail for some of her flips and lofty price hikes.

It started with a pair of sequined leopard (or perhaps cheetah) print shorts.

The shorts — which were sold in fast fashion stores like Charlotte Russe and Wet Seal in the early aughts, capitalized on the club and indie sleaze crowds. Today, they’re experiencing a viral resurgence, where girlies clamored to snag a pair in time for Coachella. (Coincidentally, one of Carpenter’s own background dancers appeared to be wearing a pair of similar shorts during the singer’s Coachella set.)

Chamlee says the popularity is part of Y2K-core’s influence on today’s fashion scene.

Until recently, Berg had a pair of the shorts listed on her Depop shop, describing them as, “Forever 21 RARE vintage sequin leopard print shorts, identical to Charlotte Russe! ... Price is FIRM.” Shorts like these originally retailed for about $10 to $20. Berg’s asking price was $298.

That’s what Kiana said sent her spiraling. “How do people have the audacity to take a Forever 21 article of clothing and sell it for $298?” she said in her initial video, which was viewed more than 2 million times. It sparked a deluge of comments and made its way to other social platforms.

Some users sleuthed enough to find Berg’s secondary Depop account, where she appears to buy articles of clothing to resell from her main account.

This practice is pretty common in the reselling space. Still, TikTok users took issue with some of Berg’s price tag inflation on several items, including two pairs of “vintage Hollister” shorts. Since Kiana’s videos were published, Berg removed several listings from both Depop accounts, including the leopard print shorts.

Commenters were also salty about Berg’s use of vintage as a buzzword descriptor for many of her listings, including the leopard shorts.

“Forever 21 and vintage cannot be in the same sentence,” one user wrote.

In reality — and while this may be painful for some readers to learn — Chamlee said Berg may not be far off.

“Most experts agree that the term vintage should be used to reference items that are more than 20 years old,” she said. “Sadly for those of us old enough to actually remember the time period, Y2K fits that bill.”

Reports show that thrifting is more popular than ever. A survey by the online used-clothing marketplace ThredUp said the secondhand market is projected to be worth $350 billion by 2027.

U.S. Census data shows that Gen Z consumers are more comfortable shopping secondhand than older generations. Chamlee chalks this up to factors including sustainability, affordability, and the uniqueness of older items.

In turn, the practice of flipping secondhand scores has also soared. Supporters say charging more than what you paid is a basic fact of life, and the price to pay for someone else’s time and labor. Clothing resellers will parse through troves of items to curate a small feed of winners.

In some cases, an item might also be upcycled or altered — like how Berg cropped the dress Carpenter would end up wearing. Still, critics insist some resellers are going too far.

Chamlee suspects some of their ire is because sellers profiting from the practice are often young women. But, she says, it’s no different from what antique dealers have done for decades.

Chamlee said that when it comes to pricing, “worth” isn’t always about a label, the material, or even the original listing price.

“Even if a pair of shorts cost $15 originally, they might now — because a celebrity wore them, for instance — be more trendy, or rare,” she said. “Remember Beanie Babies? Or, more recently, the red Stanley cups? Or the Trader Joe’s reusable canvas bags? It’s all about what someone is willing to pay.”