Of course they don't shop at Goodwill, the women said.
At least that was their line at the start of the French Embassy event Thursday night. Buy secondhand couture? A toss of salon-fresh hair accompanied the "no, not me" wave of a well-manicured hand.
Then they saw the taupe-and-blue bugle-beaded number going for a mere $17. The $7 to-die-for green suede jacket. The $8 graphic print Diane von Furstenberg cocktail dress.
So wives of board members, friends of French envoys, lawyers and lobbyists flitting across the embassy's lobby dived with gusto into the racks. The scene was a fundraiser for Goodwill that featured a fashion show culled from the thrift store's donation bins.
These well-heeled Washingtonians were discovering that it's still possible to look fabulous without a Wall Street severance package, a realization that's sinking in across the country.
Goodwill has seen a 6 percent jump in sales nationwide as the economy has worsened in the past year. A recent survey of about 200 thrift stores found that more than half enjoyed sales jumps averaging 30 percent.
Castoffs turn to chic
On Thursday at the embassy, a contemporary mansion on Reservoir Road, the white marble floors, soaring ceilings and skylights helped make castoffs look chic.
As Patty Edwards surveyed the spread of Goodwill donations that were up for a silent auction, she cast her eyes across an array of gold rings, mink coats, Lladró statues and even a custom gown worn to President John F. Kennedy's inauguration.
The Bethesda resident said she has never shopped at a Goodwill before. But Thursday, she bid $75 on a size 4 eggplant-colored St. John knit outfit.
"I don't even know if it'll fit me, but for $75! St. John!" she said.
After they sipped wine and nibbled on salmon in champagne sauce, the crowd settled in for the fashion show.
Catherine Meloy, president and chief executive of Goodwill of Greater Washington, gave a speech extolling the value of the organization's job training programs and the pride and dignity they give to people.
Meloy twirled on stage, and the glitter threading on her fuchsia evening gown sparkled.
"You, too, can buy this for $28," she said.
Goodbye, decorum
Then the rest of the fashions arrived on leggy runway models, and dignity and decorum went right out the French doors.
"That's Goodwill?!" one woman gasped as a model wearing an impeccably tailored French wool suit peacocked down the runway.
The chocolate-colored, satin sheath gown!
That velvet, midnight-blue suit!
The mink, oh, that MINK!
Eschewing any facade of fashion ennui, members of the crowd cheered and whistled and clapped for the clothes they loved.
About 70 outfits, pulled from local Goodwill stores by Alexandria designer Tu-Anh Nguyen, were shown on the runway. Then they were returned to racks and wheeled out of the dressing rooms.
Giddy on bubbly, the women in crisp Tahari suits and Stuart Weitzman slingbacks turned the lobby of the French Embassy into something resembling a Middle Eastern souk.
"The blue plaid coat. Where's the BLUE PLAID COAT I saw on the runway?!" said Kim Jones, a sales executive at the Westin in Alexandria, as she pawed the racks frantically.
"Look at this purse! It's $9.99!" said Henrietta Smith, who owns a human resources consulting firm and couldn't quite believe she was shopping at Goodwill.
Most gowns went for $8.98.
$25 gown? 'Terrific'
Husbands who often sweat such fundraisers were delighted.
"Honey! This gown is $25!" one woman said to her husband, who stopped tapping his BlackBerry to actually listen.
"Really? Only $25," he said. "That's terrific."
Lobbyist Ellen Teller strode across the room wearing an exuberant Kelly green kimono she had just bought for $25.
"I'm going to have to start shopping at Goodwill. Look at this!" Teller said. "Chinese New Year. Party. My house. I'm going to have to throw a party to go along with this dress."
Tom Kennedy, the general manager of the Carlyle Club in Alexandria, said he was worried when his wife began obsessing about the copper sequined pants that strutted down the runway. Then he saw the price.
"They were $6!" he said. "Can you believe that?"
Enough $6 pants and $9 dresses were sold to raise about $160,000 for Goodwill. At night's end, valets pulled up to the embassy in BMWs and Mercedes Benzes. They hopped out to open doors for women who tossed their white plastic bags with the blue Goodwill logo onto the leather seats.