You've spotted the perfect winter boots: the heels are the ideal height, the toes are tapered but not too pointy, the leather is buttery soft, and they fall at just the right place below your calf. But the cruel "sold out" error message incinerates your retail dreams into a pile of despondent ash.
You have experienced fashion FOMO. It's a lost opportunity. You're out of luck forever.
Nope. On Oct. 20 luxury fashion resale site, Vestiaire Collective, is restoring hope to disappointed shoppers by launching a platform called "The One That Got Away."
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The feature will live within Vestiaire's existing site and act as a digital wanted poster for clothing and accessories that have slipped through shoppers' fingers.
"After surveying our members we noted that over half of them were coming to the site to locate rare or difficult to locate pieces," Vestiaire Collective cofounder Fanny Moizant told Mashable.
Vestiaire -- which is a French word meaning the clothes and accessories that constitute a desirable wardrobe -- has 4 million global members buying and selling premium preowned clothing and accessories. The clientele ranges from everyday fashion lovers and trendsetters to top tier celebrities. (Kim Kardashian is vocal about her love for the online marketplace.) Though, most stars login under a pseudonym.
If you purchase Balmain products from the site, there's a chance they could have belonged to Kardashian beforehand.
No matter what the premium brand, Vestiaire Collective hopes to simplify the hunt for your missing fashion treasure.
After creating a free account, community members will be able select "The One That Got Away" button from site's homepage.
From there shoppers will be prompted to complete a wish form, uploading an image of the item and noting its brand, fabrication and desired size.
Once the wish is submitted and processed, it will appear as a pin on a real time news feed where members can view the latest products and search for specific pieces.
Not only will buyers be able to keep an eye on the feed for items they'd like to purchase but sellers will be able to know if someone is dying to have their pink Prada backpack from the '90s that's been sitting in their closet.
When a seller uploads a wanted item to the site, the wisher will be alerted that it's available for purchase. Vestiaire's team of specialized experts will examine the merchandise in person to ensure it is authentic and the quality is suitable before approving the transaction.
"[Our community's] knowledge of fashion sets a standard not found on other resale platforms, as they are constantly combing the catalog, commenting on items and serving as an additional resource to one another," Moizant says. "They know what they want and are some of savviest shoppers in the world."
The site boasts over 2,500 brands from both vintage collections and the current season. Prices range from 30% to 70% off the original retail value, with Vestiaire's commission rate averaging 25%.
With active community members in over 40 countries and curation teams based in Paris, London and New York, Vestiaire Collective is the "missed connections" of fashion.