She Paid $6 for a Thrift Shirt Then Realized Kim Kardashian Made It Iconic
A Depop scroll led a New York TikTok creator to one of reality TV’s most unforgettable fashion moments from 2008.
New York, December 31 EST: A $6 thrift listing has unexpectedly reopened one of reality television’s most replayed moments, underscoring how early-2000s pop culture continues to circulate, resurface, and accrue new meaning in the digital resale economy.
A случай Discovery In A Crowded Marketplace
The find belongs to Isabel Timerman, a 28-year-old TikTok creator and longtime Kardashian devotee based in New York, who was scrolling through Depop when a familiar silhouette caught her eye. The item was a multi-colored striped long-sleeve shirt from Free People, listed without fanfare and priced at $6.
According to Timerman, she was not searching for the shirt. It appeared organically on her Explore page, a function driven by browsing history and algorithmic patterning. She recognized it instantly. The purchase, she later said, was immediate and instinctive.
That reaction makes sense to anyone steeped in reality television lore. The shirt is best remembered for its appearance on Keeping Up with the Kardashians, season 2, episode 7, titled “Kardashian Civil War,” which aired in 2008 on E!.
Why This Shirt Still Matters
The episode is canon within the Kardashian universe. It features Kim Kardashian and Khloé Kardashian in a heated argument that escalates into one of the most replayed scenes in reality television history. Kim, wearing the striped top, swings her purse at Khloé while yelling a now-iconic reprimand as Khloé eats Chipotle.
The clip has lived multiple lives. It circulated on YouTube in the early 2010s, resurfaced as GIFs and memes on Tumblr, and later found renewed traction on TikTok and X. For many fans, the outfit is inseparable from the moment itself.
As it turns out, the staying power of the scene has elevated even its smallest details. The shirt is no longer just a garment. It is shorthand for an era of unscripted television that blurred the line between domestic argument and mass entertainment.
The Price That Stopped People Cold
What stunned Timerman and later readers was not the authenticity of the shirt, but the cost. Six dollars is barely the price of a subway ride in New York City, let alone an artifact associated with a franchise that has generated billions in media and consumer products.
According to People, Timerman described the moment she realized the price as surreal. She completed the transaction immediately, fearing hesitation might cost her the find.
In today’s resale market, where celebrity-worn pieces can command four and five figures, the listing felt like an anomaly. Vintage Jean Paul Gaultier, Juicy Couture, and early Von Dutch routinely fetch premium prices online. Yet this shirt slipped through unnoticed, likely because it was not labeled or marketed as a celebrity item.
Still, the discovery has reignited debate within fashion resale communities about knowledge, timing, and cultural memory. The algorithms surface inventory. Human recognition supplies the value.
Wearing It For The First Time
When the shirt arrived, Timerman tried it on immediately. The emotional response, she told People, surprised her.
She described the feeling as “like a high,” adding that wearing it felt surreal, as though she had stepped into a preserved moment of television history. She later said the piece “belongs in a museum,” a statement that quickly circulated online.
On TikTok, where she posts under the username Isabelunhinged, Timerman filmed herself wearing the shirt and explained the context. She referred to herself, half-jokingly, as a “Y2K historian” and framed the top as a cultural artifact rather than a fashion flex.
The video gained traction almost immediately, drawing reactions from fellow fans who recognized the shirt within seconds. Many expressed disbelief that it had been listed so cheaply. Others praised her eye, calling the find proof that the golden age of thrifting is not entirely over.
A Lifelong Kardashian Obsession
Timerman’s connection to the Kardashians runs deeper than casual viewership. According to People, she began watching the show in 2007, at age 10, after her older sister introduced it to her during visits to their grandmother’s house. The show became a shared ritual, woven into family memory.
As a teenager, she ran a fan page dedicated to Khloé Kardashian on Twitter, now known as X. The account reportedly caught Khloé’s attention, validating Timerman’s dedication at a formative age.
She also recalls calling DASH, the now-closed boutique once owned by the Kardashian sisters. On one occasion, she reached Kourtney Kardashian by phone. Timerman was 11 at the time.
Despite the intensity of that fandom, the striped shirt is the first Kardashian-associated item she owns. Her broader collection leans adjacent rather than direct. She owns several dresses previously worn by Paris Hilton, another defining figure of early-2000s celebrity culture.
The Resale Economy Meets Pop Memory
The virality of the find highlights a broader shift in how pop culture artifacts are valued. Thrift platforms like Depop are no longer just places for bargain hunting. They function as decentralized archives, where clothing acts as historical evidence.
That said, the system remains uneven. Items gain value not through inherent worth, but through recognition and storytelling. Without Timerman’s fluency in Kardashian history, the shirt might have remained an overlooked Free People top.
For now, Timerman says she plans to keep it. She has not listed the shirt for resale, nor hinted at an auction. Friends have suggested museums. Followers have suggested climate-controlled storage. She has laughed off both.
Still, the story resonates because it taps into a shared nostalgia, one where reality television shaped language, fashion, and family rituals. Nearly two decades later, a striped shirt can still stop a scroll, trigger a memory, and remind viewers how deeply those moments embedded themselves in popular consciousness.
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Korean-American minimalist living in Hoboken, Ren blends aesthetic writing with deep dives into wellness, home design, urban routines, and the pursuit of the good life. Think Monocle meets MindBodyGreen.
