On TikTok, nearly 300,000 people have subscribed to Emmanuelle Sits’ erudite and entertaining decipherments, which provide a better understanding of secondhand and vintage fashion. Something that helps you know how to better navigate second hand sites and authenticate what is a good deal or a scam to avoid. Also present on Instagram and YouTube, the young woman occupies a unique place among fashion content creators, thanks to her generous pedagogy, her biting humor and her assertive sense of style.
Express interview with Emmanuelle Sits, the queen of luxury vintage authentication
Stylist, photographer, influencer, consultant… How do you want to present yourself today?
When people ask me what I do for a living, I always answer “many things! I never know where to place myself because these aspects are all more important than the others. Maybe I should answer…artist! I am lucky to be able to do what I want. I like creating videos, photos, working on the social networks of a future brand, dressing people, giving them (re)confidence. Also, I always had an extra job to be able to bring this work of art to life.
Where does your passion for fashion, especially vintage and second-hand, come from?
My parents are interior designers (sometimes architects too). I really don’t think the apple fell far from the tree! All my life I have watched them hunt, search, unpack, buy and even sell pallets of items from all over the world and from all eras. My dad loves fashion, he used to take me shopping when I was little! Then, slowly, my sister introduced me to thrift shops during my adolescence, a temple of one-of-a-kind pieces and bargains. Now, at 28, I hardly ever buy anything new, from decorating my apartment to my bag collection.
What prompted you to make it your job?
The fact that fashion is so discreet and at the same time so present, that it is reserved for a certain elite, and the dream that it represented and that we saw every day on TV or in magazines, made you want to give it importance (a little masochistic, you would say). I immediately took it as a challenge. When I was younger, I would sneak into fashion shows, befriend the bouncer to try and get in. When I was 16 I even managed to get into the backstage of a Kenzo fashion show, I’ll remember that for the rest of my life!
I’ve always had this artistic streak, and being multitasking and touching everything is very good for me. I love outdoing myself and getting involved, and clearly the professions of artists are not the most recognized and/or paid. There are so many people, you have to fight to find a place, and I’m very happy I never gave up!
What is your relationship with fashion, your body and your image today?
Fashion for me is a way to stand out, certain outfits can really give me confidence. When I don’t like my outfit of the day, I can be introverted or downright uncomfortable. I know, it’s crazy, but only fashionistas will understand!
I am aware that I have been very lucky in the genetic lottery, considering the old beauty standards. I feel extremely privileged to have almost never received negative comments about my body shape and I sincerely believe it has helped me boost my self-confidence. Surely things would have turned out differently if I hadn’t had this chance.
Having said that, although I have often confronted myself, today I am in total harmony with my body with its many and varied changes. I’ve really kept this nice report and try to listen to it as much as possible. I don’t want to be perfect, or pretend to be, or please everyone.
I managed to stop retouching my photos, the shape of my nose, erasing pimples and hair. Because they are so in reality! I really don’t want to become a model of (distorted) comparison between lenses but rather an example of girls who say to themselves “Oh, I’m like that too”.
How do you perceive the public’s growing interest in vintage and second-hand fashion?
Financial interests top the list. While physical stores raise prices, the second-hand offer intensifies and becomes more and more extensive. A secondhand mottled bag can cost as much as 70% off the retail price.. It is all the more interesting that vintage models are coming back into fashion and being reprinted. [comme le Saddle de Dior, par exemple] ! I personally find that vintage bags have more cachet and are sometimes even more qualitative than contemporary ones. Furthermore, ecological urgency is a criterion taken into consideration by a large number of people. The quantities already available should be enough for us!
On the networks, I teach my community to spot these scammers, sometimes with humor
Emmanuelle sits down
To what extent can your work help the general public to better orient themselves in the vintage and second-hand luxury offer?
As I said above, supply is intensifying. Hundreds or even thousands of products from individuals are posted on sales platforms every day. Unfortunately, scammers have managed to carve out a place among these ads, thanks above all to robots and VPNs.
These scammers come from all over the world and can easily and transparently enter our favorite sales platforms. Their goal: to sell us well-made counterfeits at the price of the real ones. Or even worse: charging the buyer but never sending them the package.
On the networks, I teach my community to spot these scammers, sometimes with humorbut generally with study.
I also teach them to back out when the purchase has already been madefor example opening a dispute and getting a refund.
Beyond the harmful advertisements, I also teach them to recognize an authentic bag, not systematically to make a purchase but rather out of curiosity or to broaden their personal culture.
At the first “It’s still strange…”: stop the operation!
Emmanuelle sits down
What are the biggest mistakes to make when it comes to buying second-hand luxury items?
Buy by credit card without going through a protected system (for example Paypal B&S), or make a personal delivery without having first carried out any real checks. Trust the seller, give his address even before buying the item, give his telephone number, his email address, in short, his personal data.
Countless followers sent me relief DMs because they blindly trusted the seller. Sometimes I even threaten the scammer in question to get him to refund the buyer.
If you had only one piece of advice to give to second-hand luxury buyers, what would it be (aside from following you on all your networks)?
Listen to your gut, never trust a profile picture or good ratings. At the first “It’s still strange…”: stop the operation!
Between YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, how do you diversify your content for each platform?
Each platform is a way for me to share different aspects of my passions: Instagram serves to publish my vision of fashion, my styling, my new purchases and also to share good advice in stories for my subscribers.
On Tiktok my only guideline is authentication: show, compare, inform, give my opinion on this or that article, on this or that site.
On Youtube I think I’m launching myself towards new challenges, but always related to fashion or authentication, adding a touch of humour.
One format worked very well on Tiktok and I plan to import it to Youtube soon :jscammers scammers!
Do you think brands and the general public now finally understand the amount of work that goes into maintaining all these social networks?
Honestly not. When big brands offer us ridiculous budgets or when the public asks us what we do for a living (as if networks couldn’t be a job), we can really ask ourselves questions.
Personally, I juggle my 39 hours and my nets, and to be completely transparent, I no longer have a life next door!
Obviously no one is forcing me, it’s a change that I have chosen to undertake and I am totally satisfied with it. But it’s time to feel legitimate without having to justify yourself all the time. On networks, you have to work 7 days a week to keep them up and running, and given my data on screen time, that would be more like a 60 hour per week contract. It’s like a full-time double job!
What question are you not asked enough about yourself and your work? (and what’s your answer, of course!)
“Could you live on a desert island without technology? Without demagoguery, the answer is yes. Although I am a supposed materialist, I have a very lonely and spiritual side of me, with the ability to never get bored. I am totally capable of making different sand castles every day or making a bamboo house! Deep down, I even think that technologies are harassing us, censoring our creative side, changing our perception of ourselves and of others. But that’s another story!
Front page photo credits: YouTube screenshot
Source: Madmoizelle
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
