Culture critic and author Cintra Wilson is best known for her florid prose and devil-may-care candor as the New York Times “Critical Shopper.” In these regular store reviews, which appear in the "Thursday Styles" section, Wilson's relentless probing, syntactic dexterity and self-effacing wit produce blistering jibes, to which neither Tiffany nor J.C. Penney, Derek Lam and Christian Louboutin are immune. While her blog and books ("A Massive Swelling," an examination of celebrity culture, and "Colors Insulting to Nature," a novel on the same topic) prove her penetrating way with prose, her columns have earned Wilson a rightfully elevated place in fashion writing. An avid eBay shopper, Wilson took time to talk about her new project and shopping rules to live by.

The Inside Source: We hear you are a fan. How do you shop eBay?

Cintra Wilson: After a day of writing when I am really burnt out, I will often take foreign words or old names or random non-sequitors and plug them into the eBay search engine just to see what comes up. It is a way to browse in the subconscious mind of the virtual flea market. You never know what’s going to come up. I have gone through phases of being obsessed with Indian advertisiana, taxidermy, Blue Willow old lady china, black basalt Wedgwood... I like weird old things made of enamel. It changes all the time.”

Cintra Wilson's eBay Picks

Roll over items for details

Blue Willow Porcelain Platter Bone China

(starting bid, $20)

Black Basalt Wedgewood Ashtray

(starting bid, $6.95)

Blue Willow Porcelain Platter Bone China;  Vintage Yves Saint Laurent Enamel Bracelet; Black Basalt Wedgewood Ashtray    

TIS: You've a rare night at home with $1500 credit in your Paypal account. What do you bid on? 

CW: That would be a rare night indeed. Whatever it would be, it would be either a fantasy in leather or something gold with snakes on it. Or possibly old Chinese Jade. Ahh, just the thought makes my fingers twitch.

TIS: The biggest influence on your career?

CW: I’ve had a great number of heroes and influences. I recently met one:  the National Lampoon alumnus Ted Mann, who was one of the reasons I became a writer, because of a thing he did in 1982 called “The Utterly Monstrous, Mind-Roasting Summer of O.C. and Stiggs.” Actually, after 9/11, the first thing I did was get on eBay and buy a copy of that magazine. It was my favorite piece of comedy writing when I was a kid, and still is, in many ways.

TIS: What are among the more memorable reactions from those you didn't write so favorably about?

CW: There have been a couple of surprisingly powerful industry moguls who have called theTimes brass to complain after I wrote less-than-glowing reviews for their stores. I get no particular kick out of writing bad reviews, but when someone that rich and powerful can’t take a few minor lumps gracefully, I confess that it increases my conviction that my criticism of them was somehow well-deserved.

TIS: The biggest surprise that has come with this kind of exposure?

CW: The biggest surprise, for me, was how wide-reaching the gig actually is.  I had nothing but the most abstract and unrealistic concept of this until I wrote a somewhat controversial article and started getting hate mail from people [as far away as] Lubbock, TX.  It was dumb of me not to realize this sooner, but I never really envisioned anyone in Lubbock, TX being interested in my Manhattan-centric fashion article. I always thought it was a more local-interest piece.

TIS: Let's say that in your scouting, you sense a designer superstar in the making. Have you ever snagged something off eBay before that designer’s prices were prohibitive?

CW: Actually, yes. The more obscure the better—if you can find them in time. Word of mouth is so fast and fluid these days. But I also like to hunt for works by designers that have been neglected for a long time. I once scored an incredible piece by a Spanish couture designer named Sybilla, which was one of the most amazing pieces I have ever seen—amazing craft.

TIS: I read you have a new book in the makings? 

CW: I am working on a book entitled, “Fear and Clothing: Unbuckling the Belt Regions to Expose America’s Fashion Destiny.”  The focus is on the political economy of regions (like the Cotton Belt, Bible Belt, etc.) and how the socio-politico-economic situation of different areas affects the ways people dress themselves. 

TIS: And? 

CW: Fashion is so personal—it is your interface with the world. The way you dress is the way you create your character. The book is trying to explore how the prevailing fashions of your environment affect your personal destiny. I call this “fashion determinism.”

TIS: What shopping rules do you live by?

CW: These shopping rules that have saved me the most money over the years.

1. Buy absolutely everything in a unified color scheme, which for me, historically, has been black, black, and black with an occasional hint of flint (although my palette has recently burst into a springlike array of compatible colors I like to describe as "old prison tattoo," "burnt prune," and "bruise.")

2.  No redundant purchases, e.g. one tux jacket is enough.

3.  Never browse eBay whilst under the influence. It can result in a core meltdown on PayPal.