Hunting down a vintage sweatshirt via lightly creepy DMs

Plus: My closet sale!

We’re starting this month’s Buy Bitch with a guest post by my pal Kate Knibbs, who tracked down and acquired a sweatshirt from her childhood through a series of “lightly creepy” DMs. My buys and tabs I bravely closed are at the bottom.

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Never Give Up: A Water Rat’s Journey 

In January 2020, I put a moratorium on buying novelty clothing for myself. I’d just started a job that required “serious work outfits.” (At the time my favorite shirt featured the Mona Lisa dabbing, so I needed help.) Then something happened that spring—can’t remember what—and I never went back to the office. Boom! Moratorium lifted. Now almost all my clothes are unserious. Recently, I acquired the crown jewel in my Stupid Wardrobe. 

Growing up, my swim team was called the Ridge Park Water Rats. For reasons that remain obscure, our mascot did not depict any actual aquatic rodent. Instead, the Chicago Park District went with the Looney Tunes Tasmanian Devil® with flippers on its feet. As a kid, I had a sweatshirt with this bootleg Taz on it. I loved it. 

Last year, my son started swimming lessons at Ridge. Nostalgic, I asked if they sold Water Rats merchandise, only to learn a) it was just for children currently on the team and b) it no longer prominently featured Warner Bros.’ intellectual property. 

Undeterred, I got home and googled “ridge park water rats sweatshirt for sale.” 

I didn’t think anything would turn up—but it did! One item, on the whole internet: A perfectly weathered XL crewneck for sale on Depop. I smashed the buy button. But when I tried to check out, I got a message saying it didn’t ship to my area. This confused me, as the seller was from Chicago, too. I messaged them to ask what was up.

I got no response; months passed. Occasionally, I would try again—put it in my cart on Depop, go to check out, and get stymied by the “won’t ship” message. In October, I switched tactics. I found the seller’s Instagram account, and messaged him there: 

Yet again, no response. This is probably where a normal person would’ve given up. But I kept thinking about this damn sweater. It was still listed for sale, so I tried to buy it for the dozenth time. This time, although I did nothing different, the sale went through. I was surprised and delighted. 

Then the date it was supposed to ship came and went. Another week went by. Then another, and another. I started to wonder if I was getting pranked. I’d already paid! I followed up a few times on Depop, but it was radio silence again. 

I thought about just letting it go, but then I thought—no. That’s not what a Water Rat would do. 

Victory Belongs to Those Who Feel Comfortable Being Lightly Creepy on Instagram

Since the seller’s direct social accounts had been a dead end, I decided to expand my net. I noticed that he tagged his wife on social media. I felt bad dragging an innocent party into this mess, but I’d also shelled out $34 to acquire this sweatshirt, so I sent her a message, too, attempting to seem more normal by telling her I was a journalist (??):

A week later, I got confirmation—she sent the sweater. She also closed the Depop account, since they hadn’t been using it, which triggered an automatic refund for me. Then she told me that since I’d waited so long to get the sweater, I could just…have it for free.

It didn’t come for another week and a half, and I wondered again if I was being pranked…but then it arrived. 

And it was beautiful.

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Veronica’s closet sale

Jill and I helped clean out each other’s closets. I have a bunch of great stuff looking for a new home. Check it out here and email buybitch@substack.com or DM me on Instagram if you’re interested in any of it. I’m happy to ship things!

What I bought in January & February

Ear Muffs: I’m mad it took me so long to get ear muffs. I’m a little baby and get ear aches at the slightest hint of a cold breeze. I got these from LA Apparel and love them. They’re adjustable and super soft. Shout out to Jill for convincing me to get them in bright blue.

A big-ass bench: Josh and I went to DC in January and of course found a massive bench at a vintage furniture store called Goodwood that doesn’t ship. Normal people would have moved on with their lives but, as Kate said above: That’s not what a Water Rat would do. We bought the bench and used a company called Uship to find someone willing to bring it to Brooklyn. The shipper kept rescheduling, making us think we had gotten scammed. Seven anxiety-filled days later, the bench arrived and wowowowow

New fleece jacket for Archie: I bought this fleece for Archie last year and got a second one in blue. I love the colors and the sizing is great for his weird, long body.

Merewif mood ring: I spotted this at a “shoppy shop” in DC and couldn’t leave without it.

Beauty of Joseon eye serum: I picked this up on a recent visit to oo35mm in Chinatown. If you haven’t been, it’s a teeny tiny store on Mott & Canal that’s packed with skincare and makeup products from all over the world, with a heavier emphasis on products from Korea and Japan.

Vintage Seiko watch: I fell deep, deep into a vintage watch hole on Instagram and bought this one on eBay. Ninetenvintage is a good reseller to start with, even just for inspo. I found my watch after reverse image searching one they had just sold.

Pivot cabinet: I’ve been drooling over this office cabinet for years and finally got it during MoMA’s presidents day sale. I love her so much!

Repairs

I’ve written about my vintage red coach bag before. I bought it a few months into moving to NYC with money I found in an ATM. I then beat the crap out of it for 12 years, without really taking care of it. Last year, I cleaned and conditioned it at home, and it looked much better but still pretty beaten up. I took it to Vince’s Village Cobbler and they replaced the dried, cracked binding on the strap and painted the body of the bag to restore its original color. Painting is is very controversial in the “vintage Coach community” but my bag really needed it. Look at this before & after!

Tabs I bravely closed:

• Look at this Farm Rio trench that is exclusively sold at their new London store! (UK girlies…who wants to scope this out for me?)

• I’m not one to lust after runway styles but these bedazzled coats in Miu Miu’s Fall 2024 show reminded me of this ($10,000!!) Loewe coat. I’ve seen dozen’s of TikToks of people DIYing this with pins and charms.

• These embroidered tablecloths have me in a chokehold.

• The owner of Goodwood in DC (where we bought our bench) was wearing these boots and I’ve opened/closed this tab several times since mid January

• These clogs sold out before I could buy them but it’s probably for the best.

• I continue to be amazed by this dress.

• If you somehow haven’t seen the IKEA/Raw Color collab…

• I can’t stop thinking about leopard print pants.