GETTING into Christina Aguilera’s pants is a lot easier than you think.
Just ask Vanessa Antonelli, the professional shopping sleuth who makes it her business to get you into Christina’s shorts, Paris’ shirts and Sarah Jessica Parker’s dresses.
The 24-year-old Jersey girl is the owner and founder of nessaleestyle.com, the go-to site when you’re desperate to track down your favorite celebrity fashions.
“It started when people were talking about this bag that L.C. wore on ‘Laguna Beach,’ ” Antonelli says. “I stayed up all night, stalking Web sites and reading message boards, and someone said they thought it was Melie Bianco. The next day I called the company and ordered 20 bags.” Those 20 bags, at $50 each, sold out in one hour. Eventually the bag became one of her biggest sellers – more than 600 pieces flew off the site, all on pre-orders.
Antonelli, who makes a commission off the sales, even gets designers to reissue some of the most-requested styles especially for her site, like the hugely popular $176 Rachel Pally gaucho pants Jessica Simpson wore at MTV’s “Spring Break” in 2004.
“Jessica could have wore a garbage bag, and we would have sold 8,000 of them,” she says.
Her clients know that if there’s a celeb sporting an outfit they want, she’ll find it. Antonelli decodes denim, tracks T-shirts and TiVos about 20 hours of TV a week looking for clues for her more than 5,000 clients. Right after shows air and photos hit celebrity tabloids, her phone starts to ring off the hook – her customers need their fashion fix fast.
And they’ll do anything to get it, including beg, plead and cry. Antonelli says she’s heard it all – “I’ll die if I don’t get this bag” and “I absolutely need those pants” and the hilarious “I’ve been saving my baby-sitting money, do you take cash?” “That’s the thing with my store. It’s not stuff that looks like what they wore, it’s what they wore – exactly what they wore,” she says. “My customers know what they want, and if it exists, they know how to find it.” Antonelli founded the site in 2004 with 10 brands, including Citizens of Humanity, James Perse and C. Ronson.
Now she carries more than 90 brands and has customers in 25 countries, including Saudi Arabia and Japan. As a courtesy, she’ll even help customers identify items that she doesn’t have permission to sell.
“I’ve ordered from her site at least two to three times a month for the last two years,” says Cookie Dembner, a 23-year-old from Springfield, N.J.
Dembner first discovered nessaleestyle.com while doing a Google search looking for a halter top she saw on Jessica Simpson. A few months later, she called to find out about a bathing suit Mischa Barton wore on “The O.C.” “When I ask for it, she gets it,” Dembner says. “I have very, very, very nice parents.”
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Mischa Barton
From an episode of “The O.C.” “We get so many requests for stuff that Mischa wears,” says Vanessa Antonelli, who tracks down clothes from television shows and paparazzi pictures. “She’s definitely an It girl.” Ingwa Melero jacket, $250-$300 Coach Grommet bag, $300
Eva Longoria
Grocery shopping in Los Angeles last week Charlotte beach dress, $99 “We got around 30 calls after people saw the picture of her wearing this dress,” she says. “And Tara Reid wore it last week, too, and people called. It’s such an easy summer dress.”
Rachel Bilson
Episode of “The O.C.” Vince pants, $300 American Eagle tank, $15 Mothballs shrug, $100 “Rachel wears stuff from the set in real life, too,” Antonelli says. “Sometimes she’ll wear stuff on the show, and we’ll get calls about it all day for two weeks.”
Sarah Jessica Parker
Walking around the West Village last month Rachel Pally kaftan dress, $229
Christina Aguilera
Walking around New York City last month Siwy shorts, $162 “Jessica Alba, Nicole Richie and Christina Aguilera wore these shorts in the same week. All my pre-orders sold out,” Antonelli says. Christian Louboutin patent leather peep-toes, $700 Balenciaga motorcycle bag, $1,200
Jessica Alba
Sunbathing in Hawaii last September Vitamin A bikini, $130 “People love her, and I get so many calls about her bathing suits,” Antonelli says. “She looks so hot in them, and I think people think it’s the bathing suit. Really, it’s her body.”
Paris Hilton
Promoting her single on “TRL” Foley + Corinna top, $200 “Paris and Nikki are huge for international orders,” Antonelli says. “Paris could wear a paper bag and someone in Japan would buy it.”
Jesica Simpson
Left, on MTV in 2004 Rachel Pally tube top, $154 Rachel Pally gaucho pants, $176 “I easily sold 150 pairs of those pants,” Antonelli says.
Right, last month in Los Angeles JET sweatshirt, $88 “All the magazines said it was vintage. It’s not. I got so many calls from people asking me where they could buy it.”
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ACCESSORIES
Nicole Richie
Shopping in Hollywood this month C C Skye bracelet, $264 Haviana flip-flops, $12-$15
Mischa Barton
Vacationing in Yorkville, Canada, in May Wishbone necklace from Dogeared, $121
Ashlee Simpson
Hanging out in Sydney Harbor during an April trip to Australia J. DiSimone headband, $60 “Ashlee wore it a few times, which means she really likes it. And that means the customer really needs it,” Antonelli says.
* Most items pictured here are available at nessaleestyle.com; prices are estimates.