Thrifter Buys Vera Wang Gown for $18.99, Sells to Bride for $2,750

Vera Wang’s language of voluminous tulle and feathered floral embroidery played out like a scene from cinema when Chicago thrifter Ashley Cano yanked a label-marked Vera Wang gown off a Goodwill rack for $18.99. Cano, who runs a Poshmark boutique called Aileen’s Closet and posts as @aileenscloset90 on TikTok, filmed the find at the Goodwill Store and Donation Center at 3558 N. Spaulding Ave., Avondale, and announced in the video, "Vera freaking Wang. I cannot believe that I found this dress at Goodwill for $18.99." Parade later reported that Cano sold the gown to a real bride for $2,750 on Feb. 22, 2026.

The gown identified by resale specialists as the Vera Wang "Eleanor" Bridal Gown reads like Wang’s signature theatricality in miniature - a strapless bodice giving way to an A-line full skirt layered in tulle and described across outlets as finished with feathered flower embroidery. Cano herself worried about the scale, captioning the post, "I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw this dress. But I fear I may have bit off more than I can chew. It’s so big, so heavy. And I have no clue how to best sell it. Any help?" Reporters and Cano matched the piece visually to the same model Vera Wang gown Sarah Jessica Parker’s Carrie Bradshaw models in the Sex and the City film, with CBS noting, "A Google image search confirmed that it was, in fact, a dress of the same model that Carrie Bradshaw wore," while also citing Brides magazine to clarify that the film’s onscreen wedding gown was Vivienne Westwood.

The discovery went viral on TikTok, with one roundup noting the video received almost 60,000 views and hundreds of comments. Viewers flooded the post with reactions ranging from bidding estimates to bridal longing - "The way this is my size and I am getting married in 2 months and this is my dream dress," one commenter wrote, while another guessed, "$4,000! Nice find!!!" NYPost captured Cano’s deadpan response to suggestions she keep the gown - "No diet could ever have me making it work."

Market context made the resale path predictable: resale service Nearly Newlywed cited the Eleanor at an original retail of about $7,500 and typical used listings near $3,000. Cano framed the find within her practiced thrift-and-resell routine, telling CBS, "I love to thrift for myself and my home and my friends and family, but every once in a while, there's a couple finds that I come across that no one is in need for, so I resell it... So that's what the plan is." NYPost reported she intended to use proceeds toward her divorce.

Identification rested on the label plus image comparison rather than on-set wardrobe receipts; outlets relied on the label, Getty Images-sourced photos posted by Aileen’s Closet, and Google image matches rather than archival confirmation from Vera Wang or the film’s wardrobe department. Still, the full arc - an $18.99 Goodwill haul at 3558 N. Spaulding Ave., a viral @aileenscloset90 TikTok, Nearly Newlywed pricing context, and a Parade-confirmed sale of $2,750 to a bride - closes a tidy circle that underscores how secondhand markets are remaking access to designer bridalwear for real brides.