Good news for vintage clothing sellers...

The Vintage Merchant

The Vintage Merchant

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Harry Rinker (antique and collectibles professional) forecasts for 2009:

"look for significant changes in what customers buy and why.
As the economic crisis worsens, more and more antiques and collectibles will be bought for reuse.

Many categories, e.g., furniture (especially Colonial Revival and 1950s-1970s), dinnerware, stemware, flatware, musical instruments, glassware, vintage clothing, jewelry, etc., are cheaper than new. Functional and utilitarian items will sell better than decorator pieces which will sell better than objects whose sole role is to be collected."

:excited:
 
heh heh, i wouldn't pick up Colonial either, but i think his point is there are a lot of folks that will have limited funds that would rather purchase 2nd hand furniture than go without...and omg, there sure is a ton of colonial crap in nearly every thrift we've hit lately.
 
What do you mean by Colonial furniture? Is that maple early american?

If so I have to agree with the unknown Harry man. At the antique store I recently rented a space from, the high end early american maple furniture was in high demand. This was all the solid wood, high end stuff such as the ethan allen styles.
 
That sounds like a good forecast on vintage clothing!

I just bought a used Broyhill sofa from the 70s..I liked the long sleek shape of it..sorta modern looking. The springs and back and seat cushions were in good shape and the structure was sound. Bad thing it has this horrible yellow and green flower upholstery. Good thing, I had a brand new surefit slipcover for it. It was well worth $10.00!
 
Good to see that others are discovering the value in used and vintage furniture. We almost always buy used furniture, anyway.... We have two pieces of furniture in our entire house (aside from computer desks) that were purchased new, and neither can hold a candle to the older pieces in terms of quality and longevity.

I'm not fond of "Colonial" furniture, but we got my oldest son a used Ethan Allen maple dresser (not blatantly Colonial, more Early American traditional) in near-perfect condition for $225 a few years ago. What a bargain! And we bought at the same time used matching twin solid tiger-maple beds for the boys for a ridiculously low price. They look great and will last forever.
 
Originally posted by vintageclothesline
I just bought a used Broyhill sofa from the 70s..I liked the long sleek shape of it..sorta modern looking. The springs and back and seat cushions were in good shape and the structure was sound. Bad thing it has this horrible yellow and green flower upholstery. Good thing, I had a brand new surefit slipcover for it. It was well worth $10.00!
Click to expand...

$10?? You can't go wrong at that price!
 
I think that colonial & early American style are the same???

As many of you know, I also run estate sales. EVERY SINGLE HOUSE I've ever done a sale at has at LEAST one piece of Early American somewhere.
More often, there are several pieces! And every now and then, a whole house full!

Our dining table is Early American - it was my husband's Granny's table :)
 
I buy into that forecast because 50s-70s colonial/early American is so abundant. I personally don't own any, not my fave style, except for a couple heirlooms, but I can see this becoming a trend. People can pick this stuff up at thrifts.

For clothing, only the super young hipsters are buying '80s. If we tried to wear 80s, we would just look like we didn't know any better and were wearing our clothes from 20 years ago :D
 
This Harry Rinker

I googled Harry Rinker and got this info.

Rinker is a principal in Rinker Enterprises, Inc., a firm specializing in providing appraisal, consulting, editorial, educational, media, personal appearance, research, and writing services in the antiques and collectibles field. The company’s headquarters is located in the former Vera Cruz (Pennsylvania) elementary school. In addition to a staff of qualified researchers, Rinker Enterprises draws regularly on the expertise of advisors located throughout the United States and Canada.
Rinker is a frequent television and radio guest. His television credits include Oprah, Home Matters, Martha Stewart Living, Inside Edition, Wall Street Journal Report, the NBC-TV Today show, the ABC-TV Good Morning America show, the CBS This Morning Show and Sunday Morning, CNBC-TV Market Rap, and MPT Wall Street Week With Louis Rukeyser, along with many regional and local talk shows. WOR (New York), WHO (Des Moines), and WCCO (Minneapolis) are among Rinker’s hundred plus radio credits. Rinker on Collectibles, a twenty-six week half-hour television show focusing on post-1945 collectibles, aired between Spring 1994 and Summer 1995 on WFMZ-TV, Channel 69, in Allentown, PA.
Rinker is often quoted in the nation’s leading magazines and newspapers such as Business Week, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine, Newsday, U.S. News & World Report, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Your Money Magazine. The Associated Press, Chicago Tribune, and Knight-Ridder services have circulated feature articles to the newspaper media about Rinker and his collections.
Rinker serves as a spokesperson for eBay’s Collectibles Division USA and for eBay Canada. He was a featured speaker at eBay Live! in New Orleans (June 2004) and eBay Live! in San Jose (June 2005).
 
Well, I'm not sure if my distinction between Colonial and Early American Traditional is accurate, but I think there are techically differences.

I tend to think of Colonial as the heavier, bigger furniture, like cannonball beds, big dressers, and dining room tables with the thick, turned legs--much of it in done in oak or pine-and slightly more rustic looking. And Early American Traditional as a slightly "lighter" style in look and feel. Hard to explain without photos.... I also think there are regional differences in what is called Colonial vs. EA.
 
This could be because people are realizing that their Granny has been sitting on the same chairs for neigh on 50 years, and they're on their third set of Ikea crap. Hmm, maybe real wood IS good (no pun intended).
 
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