Where Vintage Never Gets Old...
Vintage Massacre
Hello Vinties! I am an avid long time collector and seller of vintage clothing and related items.Today I was getting my shop on in Etsy looking at vintage catalogs and was really excited to see lots of cool listings until I realized they were just pages. Lonely little pages torn from the comfort and safety of the mother catalog facing an uncertain future as part of a project that may be this decades version of a 70s crochet beercan hat in 20 years.This stuff is relatively rare and getting even harder to get and now its just useless to me and another piece of vintage history gone.Makes me sad and kinda peeved.Maybe Im cranky cause I just ran across a lovely light up Christmas tree made out of fab 50s rhinestone jewelry and an amazing dress/bolero hacked into a micro mini in the 80s in my recent non Etsy shopping but I wish people would consider just leaving things as they are.Not trying to start a huge controversy but just wish people could consider offering stuff as it is before resorting to dismantling it.Rant over:)
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Purple Daisy Jewelry on -
I totally understand, however, it is possible some of these items were already imperfect when upcycled. I have had tons of single vintage earrings, pins missing backs etc. I am sure some do damage good items to make other items, but not all do. :)
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Permalink Reply by LuAnn Smith on -
It is a bit of a shame. I hate to see typewriter keys taken off of vintage typewriters. I only use damaged vintage tablecloths/textiles for my handmade work and often sell items I feel are in too good of condition. You do remind me that I need to make it very clear in my listings that I only use damaged vintage textiles...
LuAnn
http://backhomeagain.etsy.com
http://backhomeagain.typepad.com
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Permalink Reply by ElsiesAttic ~ CEO on -
It's a tough issue. I think some items must be left in tact and never altered. I think books are a perfect example.
But at the same time, I love altered vintage because it can rescue something from being tossed.
If there is a book that is damaged, I think "rescuing" pages for new items is great. I love seeing broken pieces brought back to life by turning them into something new.
Research is key. You need to know what you have before you dismantle it.
This is a great topic! :)
Lora :)
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Permalink Reply by Metro Retro Vintage on -
I am *so* with you on this topic, and always dismayed to see perfectly good items taken apart and 'upcycled', because they sell "better" as individual pieces or simply dismantled to create the latest trendy craft du jour.
Rescuing damaged and hurt items of course is another thing altogether, but all too often, magazine ads are torn from their bindings, antique plates are removed from books, old rhinestone jewelry is taken apart and glued to make those Christmas tree portraits that was the 'in' thing some time ago, beautiful old dresses are hacked into Halloween costumes -- and so forth.
I recently picked up a 'Hawaiian' style quilt at a thrift that was made of old Aloha shirts -- most were rayon with a few that were cotton, but all pre-war (30's and 40's) with handscreened prints. I counted more than a dozen shirt designs, and although it's possible that they were all damaged, with so many shirts it's doubtful.
The contemporary fabric used for the backing, leads me to believe that it was a recent project. Sigh. I will use it as a study piece but how sad for those shirts.
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Permalink Reply by Stoverider on -
Yep! Im totally with reusing damaged things I do it myself for my art/crafty projects and noone is probably ever going to miss generic handmade 70s high necked poly maxi dresses if people make them minis(or maybe they will?)but Hawaiian shirts etc arghh its like kicking a puppy.It reminds me of on Antiques Roadshow when some poor mook is standing there with a refinished/dismantled/altered whatever and the guy goes your thing wouldve been woth $25,000 if you didnt paint it neon pink in the 80s or whatever and now its worth $10,lol.I hope I didnt offend any crafters it wasnt my intention just was shocked to see it and figured fellow vinties would understand.Love the village by the way and hope to have more time to participate soon:)
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Permalink Reply by annesattic on -
I feel the same about leaving things in tact if in good condition. I was in a Thrift store the other day looking at children's books. Another gal was there and was buying a whole stack of beautiful Dick and Jane books and others from that time frame. She was telling the clerk she was going to use the prints for crafts. I so wanted to say, please let me buy them from you I'll pay you double. I love old books, I have about 8-10 bookshelves full of them.
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Permalink Reply by COBAYLEY on -
I do agree. Years ago when I started in this business, I came across a book at a thrift store. It was written in the 1950's and it told how to "modernize" that old outdated furniture into something new and chic. My business associate who did a lot with restoring antique furniture was shocked at what the book was telling the 1950's young folks to do their grandparents furniture. And, I do see it now when I go to estate sales. Hidden behind that bright yellow paint is a piece of furniture from the early 1900's. Of course all the natural patina is gone.
Re-use, rescue but don't abuse. There is not that much left out there.
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Permalink Reply by Craig Phillips / B & C Emporium on
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if they had not moderized the stuff it would have been sent to the dump,
breaking up sets are nothing new, I remember many a sale going to the auctioneer would sell the dinning or bedroom set individually and then as a set and which ever way brought more $$ won.
it is all about $$'s
Craig
COBAYLEY said:I do agree. Years ago when I started in this business, I came across a book at a thrift store. It was written in the 1950's and it told how to "modernize" that old outdated furniture into something new and chic. My business associate who did a lot with restoring antique furniture was shocked at what the book was telling the 1950's young folks to do their grandparents furniture. And, I do see it now when I go to estate sales. Hidden behind that bright yellow paint is a piece of furniture from the early 1900's. Of course all the natural patina is gone.
Re-use, rescue but don't abuse. There is not that much left out there.
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Permalink Reply by Callooh Callay on -
Another trend with old books that I don't understand is selling a stack of them as a collection--like the only thing that matters is what the binding looks like. Don't people want to read them and look at the pictures? They're not just pretty objects!
I have boxes of old readers and children's books from the 1920s I just got from my in-laws--many of them badly abused. Really a big debate what to do with them because some of them really are falling apart, but they're still just wonderful to look at.
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Permalink Reply by Purple Cow Antiques on -
I've seen this recently at several antique shows. "Coffee Table Art" is what one dealer called it, LOL. The thing is, what I am running into in the market are younger and younger (to me :)) buyers who are more a part of the "disposable" generation. They are buying a look rather than a history so to speak. It breaks my heart to see beautiful pieces painted to become "shabby chic" to fit todays market and buyer taste, but I have to admit to doing it myself if the piece has a badly damaged finish, or the book is falling apart. There are two sides to the coin I guess.
Callooh Callay said:Another trend with old books that I don't understand is selling a stack of them as a collection--like the only thing that matters is what the binding looks like. Don't people want to read them and look at the pictures? They're not just pretty objects!
I have boxes of old readers and children's books from the 1920s I just got from my in-laws--many of them badly abused. Really a big debate what to do with them because some of them really are falling apart, but they're still just wonderful to look at.
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Permalink Reply by Aralis Bloise on -
Ohhhhh, this is a big pet peeve of mine too! Like everybody else is saying, I don't mind when something broken or damaged gets upcycled. The problem is most of the time is a perfectly good piece that is being destroyed to make something that is uglier and a lot less fashionable than the original item was making it definite garbage when before it wasn't. It always makes me think of that horrible prom dress at the end of Pretty in Pink.
About the books:
Have you guys seen those purses they make out of book covers? They rip off the pages and toss them and just use the cover as the basis for the purse. I have to admit some of them are pretty, but the fact that they ruined a perfectly good book to make them makes me want to cry.
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Permalink Reply by PaperHistory on -
We can blame this on the trend of "Designer Home Tours" and, more recently, people "staging" homes for sale a la HGTV's real estate shows. Interior decorators can be great customers to have (and if they like your stuff they'll come back repeatedly), but they're not usually looking to preserve the thing as a bit of history, or for something that will have an emotional connection for their client -- they just want something visually interesting to add to their project.
Callooh Callay said:Another trend with old books that I don't understand is selling a stack of them as a collection--like the only thing that matters is what the binding looks like. Don't people want to read them and look at the pictures? They're not just pretty objects!
I'm of two minds on this topic, as it seems many of you are as well - unsold books, regardless of their age or fabulousness, are jobbed out to be recycled into paper, insulation, etc. So I'd rather have someone make a box or a purse or an "altered book" out of an old volume, even if it's not in poor condition, than have it turned into pulp. I just bought a stack of 1920s "encyclopedias" that have cool illustrations, and I'm probably going to harvest the pics and sell the covers for use in altered art. It's a broken set (not all volumes present), not terribly scarce let alone rare, and I picked it up off a dusty back shelf at a second-hand store. I think I'm OK with taking them apart and making new things out of them.
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