Daddy once flew me to Paris for a bottle of Chanel nail polish': Confessions of a Park Avenue princess - before she got 'cut-off'

For two sisters in their twenties who stalk sample sales with stealth and recreate baubled 3.1 Philip Lim sweaters for less than $9, shopping wasn't always so budget-conscious.
Sutton, 24 and Astor van Brigsby, 26, - the self-confessed Park Avenue princesses behind blog Sobbing On Fifth - have revealed what growing up in New York's Upper East Side was really like.
In a candid essay for Racked, Sutton has recalled how her father flew her to Paris for a bottle of Chanel nail polish, and how her mother bought her an entire new wardrobe after a break up to avoid 'the risk of bringing up the bad memories' - until her parents cut-off her credit card.

Park Avenue princess: Sutton van Brigsby (left) has revealed her extravagant shopping past, including how her father once flew her to Paris for a bottle of Black Satin Chanel nail polish (right) - until he cut-off her credit card

Racked later noted that the pampered 'princess' is writing under a pseudonym, and that Sutton van Brigsby is not her given name.
'Growing up on Park Avenue with a father who had all the right clients for anything you could need (Floor seats to the Knicks game? Last-minute table at Per Se? Discontinued Hermès perfume? Done.) meant shopping was a whole different experience for me than it was for most,' she writes.
Sutton, who started Sobbing on Fifth in August last year with sister Astor to 'help each other make crucial decisions, find the best deals and generally be a shopping shoulder to lean on,' explained that shopping, far from being 'just a hobby,' was a more of a deep-seated visceral reaction.
'Made the honor roll at school? Let's celebrate with a trip of the shoe department at Barney's,' Sutton explained. 'Broke up with a dreamy boy after nine months? Let's wallow by padding around the second floor of the Miu Miu store on Fifth.

 

'One particular breakup was so bad that Mom decided I could never be seen in the same clothes again, as any outfit ran the risk of bringing up the bad memories. I finally obtained my long-coveted Rick Owens jacket thanks to that particular trauma.'
Sutton, who counts Snooki, Lindsay Lohan, and Donatella Versace as fashion icons 'because they inspire me to find a better way,' said what was 'so great' about her parents was that they 'understood how dire the need for certain items was.'
She recalled: 'Some parents might scoff at their children pronouncing that they may actually perish if they don't obtain the latest colorway of the YSL Cabas Chyc tote, but not my folks.'

'I knew I needed the new Marc Jacobs I'd seen in Elle, and I needed it for the next morning'

And this included flying to Paris for a bottle of sold-out limited-edition Chanel Black Satin nail polish.
'You remember - Chanel's perfect, silky black polish sold out everywhere, and Dad understood that owning a bottle (or six) became more and more necessary to my survival with each passing day,' she wrote.
'When all of my efforts to track down a bottle here failed (even with Dad's connections!), he flew me, with a faithful shopping companion, to Paris, so I could continue the hunt there. Galeries Lafayette, Printemps, the Chanel boutiques on Rue Cambon and Place Vendôme ...I found it. Don't ask how, just know I did.'
And when Sutton, nervous about her first job interview after college, couldn't find the perfect outfit - her sympathetic father was also there to help.
'I was raiding my closet with a friend for a look that said "I'm professional, but still have time to shop more than you." I found the perfect suit, but what bag?' pondered the then recent-graduate of a Communications degree.

Shopping sisters: Sutton (left) and Astor van Brigsby, are self-confessed Park Avenue princesses and sisters behind blog, Sobbing On Fifth

'I knew I needed the new Marc Jacobs I'd seen in Elle, and I needed it for the next morning. [My] misguided friend couldn't understand, and tried to assure me one of my other nineteen bags would do—but what did she know?
'Dad called the Marc store and got them to come in thirty minutes early the next day so I could walk in to that interview with my bag of choice. I didn't get the job, but is that really what matters? I don't think so.'
But one day, after Sutton turned 21, her father sat both sisters down to explain they were being cut-off - with the exception of cell phone bills, electricity, health insurance and cable.
'Apparently, it bothered him that we had spent his secretary's annual salary in one trip to Bergdorf,' the sisters explain on their blog.
'Sample sales were things that only existed in movies,' Sutton wrote. 'Places where women played tug of war over Jimmy Choo boots while I tried on the newer season's shoes with Mom at Bergdorf.
'The first time I proudly displayed my spoils from an [Alexander Wang] sample sale to my mother, she recoiled in horror. "How many people do you think tried that on? You don't know where it's been," she shuddered.

'Sample sales were things that only existed in movies'

'You can't blame her, though. Mom raised me in the world of full price,' she wrote.
The van Brigsby sisters' grand tales of a spoiled life have irked readers, who have called the girls 'awful' and 'pathetic'.
While some roll their eyes at what they call 'one of the [most] vulgar things I've ever read,' others believe Sutton and Astor's story to be a 'satirical hoax.'
One commenter wrote: 'There's no info anywhere on the web about these girls, their last name, or anything. And it's pretty much impossible to be hidden on the web today.'
Another, who agreed, wrote: 'These sound like some young people having fun, maybe being informative and poking fun at people like the soulless Kardashians who have endless money, drama, and lunacy.'
The sisters, who do not have Facebook or Twitter accounts, and whose family name yields zero Google search results, told MailOnline that they 'like to joke around and be dramatic to have some fun' with their writing.
'But when it comes down to it, we went from being children who grew up shopping with our parents to adults who work and shop on our own like everyone else,' said Sutton, who now works in marketing within the beauty industry.
'We love fashion and beauty but we're on a low budget, so we're always on the hunt at sample sales, on eBay, store sales, vintage shops, or even recreating looks with DIY projects,' she added.
'It's why we wanted to start our blog - we know there's a million other people out there doing the same thing, so we wanted to bond with them and share shopping tips.'
The pair, who were born in New York and say they have been best friends since birth, were reluctant to disclose information about the industry their parents work in however, or reveal too much about their background.
'We don't bring our parents into our blog!' Sutton said.
'We've decided to take our love of talking fashion and beauty public, but that's all us and our decision. [Our parents] were part of the story told for Racked as that was about us growing up, but now our blog and writing is about us!'