EBay reportedly wanted a piece of the action. Instead, organizer Ellen Hayden, 49, lured a refined clientele to Chianti's Ristorante on Broadway from as far away as Kentucky. The guest list included the man in charge of David Bowie's wardrobe.

More than three dozen people bid on everything from vintage designer clothing, squirrel belly fur coats, minks, costume jewelry, hats, quilts, undergarments, pajamas, robes and box loads of stained linens and aprons.

Sipping wine, more than three dozen vintage experts – some dressed in items from their own collections – bought a couple of dresses for more than $450 each, a bonnet for $110, and a mannequin head for $75.

They also bought an entire rack of dresses for $10 and five leather coats for $10 apiece, all part of the 4,000 items representing more than a century of fashion starting in the 1860s, Hayden said.

The event was advertised in newsletters and on-line to vintage connoisseurs. Most were from Manhattan and Connecticut.

The upscale thrift sale displayed items in generally good condition, although some clothes were damaged.

A dove-skin dress worn by a famous actress, 13 unused infant girl dresses, a Versace shirt, a Gucci purse, all went cheap and in a flash.

One woman bought more than $1,000 worth of items, including a top-hat, a golden night dress, and boxes of jewelry sold as one lot.

The contrast between the streets outside and the catwalk inside was camouflaged by Chianti's, which has already hosted Paris Hilton, Denzel Washington, Colin Powell, Harrison Ford, Muhammad Ali, Donald Trump and Ray Charles.

"Culturally it's of interest that an event like this can even go on (in Newburgh)," city resident Hayden said.

Hayden's partner, Garry Arceri, 53, thinks this can help the city. "Newburgh might be in decline, but that doesn't mean it should stay that way."

Last week's auction started with a gourmet lunch while people scoured through items from five estates.

Before it started, more than 50 bids had been received on-line for the items, including some from Australia and England. That's why eBay offered to hold a real-time Internet auction, but Hayden said there were technical difficulties.

Most of the vintage experts resell the items in Manhattan and Hollywood, Hayden said.

And there are those who actually wear their glamorous collectibles. The man in charge of David Bowie's wardrobe shopped around, said Hayden, although it was impossible to confirm whether the English music legend will be wearing the old clothes.

Manhattan native Tziporah Salamon, 54, says she takes "dressing to an art form." She wore a 1920s cloche (a bell-shaped hat), a Persian lamb caplet, (a small cape) men's cotton pajama pants from the 1950s, and green pointy high-heel shoes.

"I'm sure the locals are asking what we're doing here," Salamon said.