Why do you collect what you collect?

P

Patentleathershoes

VFG Veteran
VFG Past President
We have talked about WHAT you collect, and what you collect other than vintage clothing, but i don't think we have ever explored the "why?"..

With so many eras and vintage types of items out there, why did you somehow gravitate towards what you specialize in. What is your M.O? Especially if you sold other things you collected in the past to just collect this one particular type of thing. Did someone special give you your first one and "you can't just stop at one" or was there something deeper/shallower about it?

The question came to my mind when Harriet was talking about collecting vintage wedding items.

Chris

Oh, and I of course will spill the beans too..
 
Well, I'll go.

A lot of my love of vintage comes from loving history and the movies. Odd combination, but the detail and workmanship of past eras is incredible. Soutache, gold bullion embroidery, tapestry, silk velvets and chiffons.and brocades are so gorgeous by themselves, it is even more incredible when turned into a gorgeous creation.

I adore Edwardian and it is probably my favorite era. I wore somewhat of a tea gown for my high school prom. I have a few pieces but nothing that is totally wow. A few petticoats hat I wear and a black lace tabard I have no idea what to do with.

And, unfortunately, due to reading here and at the VCA years back, I have a new appreciation for the 60s and 70s which is when I was doing my growing up. I am of the frame of mind that vintage clothing is to be worn and appreciated as opposed to worshipping from afar. I have a 1960s pink Pucci, very harem and Jeannie style. It must be a style I love as I have several pieces like that. Another jeweled 60s silk chiffon. A black crepe Estevez that belonged to my mom that is gorgoues, like a piece of architecture. I have another Estevez that I want to keep, but my hips aren't cooperating. It is cream linen and a heavy Italian lace and a wiggle.

If I get my act together (never) I'll post some pictures.
Sorry for the typos; I have a sore throat and feel ick.

Great thread.
 
Emma Peel :)

Actually, I tell a lie - it's probably my mum's fault that I have gravitated towards the 60s and 70s. Throughout my childhood and teens, I would watch re-runs of old 60s and 70s music shows, sitcoms, Beatles films, Doctor Who and then eventually when I was 16, The Avengers. My mum would talk about the clothes she wore, and who she emulated. I would see cine films and photos of my family in that period.

It was actually the internet which refined my desire to collect. I thought the likes of Mary Quant, Biba etc were like gold dust - so I tended to just buy 'cute' stuff which, to me, seemed <B>so</b> rare and worth spending money on...(I miss those innocent days in a way). Thanks to eBay and the internet in general, books and magazines, I began to appreciate the British designers of that period. Once I stopped being a penniless student, I decided to collect definitive pieces. Obviously the lined is very blurred now I sell for a living, so I have to REALLY restrict what I keep.

The pleasure comes from the labels (that little tummy flip when it's a Varon/Ossie etc), certain styles (like fabric covered buttons and large sleeves - which you just don't seem to get anymore) and the prospect of finding something featured in Vogue. I frequently chastise myself for the utter shallowness of what I do and what I collect (in the big scheme of things I mean, they're only clothes), but that little tummy flip and the thrill of something totally new is unbeatable. :love008:

Liz
 
I have absolutely no reason for my bag obession. I have about 200, I just bought another 5 minutes ago!

I can't even tell you how it started. I just love the colors and the shapes and how you can own so many, but yet find one unlike any you already have!
 
I also collect handbags.

Maybe it has deep psychological meaning of wanting to compartmentalize my life or....hmmm.....maybe not. My "era of concentration" usually runs into the mod 60s or the 40s.

Of course, I like different colors, but what makes me more interested is purses with different accessories and compartments. One purse hooked me as a child. It was pink (which i am not really into pink purses today), but it had a fantastic long slip pocket that snapped shut for a comb, and another pocket where a mirror fit perfectly in and the mirror was also attached. (and yes it was patent leather...well it had pink patent trim and was pink grosgrain type of material). I tended to have since really liked purses that are like a swiss army knife with all the little compartments and accessories, even though after that pink purse and an acrylic one i had in first grade, i didn't carry purses again til college. Like my Evans with all the little matching doodads that comes with it...the lipstick holder, the mirror, the compact, etc. not that i really use them. I also collect a 60s brand of purses like that too.

(and of course....everyone knows about the patent leather handbag thing. that has to do with my mother putting patent mary janes on me as a kid and having it ingrained that that must be special and dressed upperhaps... but i am mainly going for the genuine patent ones in odd colors or fitting in with the swiss army concept, or box purses)

Oh, and any with a dachshund on it or a race horse or other type of horse. I don't actually own one yet with a dachshund on it. Can find plenty of modern but i want a vintage one. (because i have dachshunds and i also collect kentucky derby items - mostly mint julep glasses so horse purses fit in with that).

I also not too seriously but occassionally collect platform shoes when i find them. (and i don't really collect because they have to be in my size. ditto patent leather shoes) I am 5' tall. that is why the platforms. But because of my lack of navigation ability they offer better protection for the feet. (the sole hits things first, not a toe!).
 
Oh... you're going to have to prepare to have my obsessions inflicted on this thread shortly. I do have my own particular preoccupations, but I have to say I'm totally suggestable, and when I find a new research interest, I bound after it like a bloodhound.

It's historical interest most of all, though. And I do like fashion trends that link in with wider social history contexts.

Both of these points really ring true to me and my experience of how my collecting has accelerated:

<i>A lot of my love of vintage comes from loving history and the movies.</i>
(Kelly)

<i>It was actually the internet which refined my desire to collect. I thought the likes of Mary Quant, Biba etc were like gold dust... Thanks to eBay and the internet in general, books and magazines, I began to appreciate the British designers of that period. </i> (Liz)

Yup, I still can't select like a museum, or a specialist collector, for example. But I hope I'm picking relatively good pieces, and amassing some experience through acquiring more of the designers or trends that I'm most interested in. Like Liz, I really didn't think I could do this until I fully explored Ebay and gained more experience in picking 'in the cloth' too.

I'll add a summary of favourites soon (and you'll wish you hadn't asked)
:duh:
 
What the movies had me hooked on is hats and thats where i also became enamored of ladies 40s suits....the very menswear inspired ones.

I am on the constant search for the perfect ladies fedora.

I can't call that really a "collection" because i don't have many.

I have a very fab 40s one i got from Hollis and a 70s loose interpretation by Betmar, but of course am always on the scout out.
 
Fascinating thread! Chris, I'm afraid you are going to be sorry you asked!

My collecting has changed gears several times, as I'm sure anyone who has "collected" as long as I has experienced. Originally, I bought vintage just to wear, and I bought mainly cashmere sweaters, as it was the only way I could afford cashmere.

But I think really the beginnings of my interest in old clothes goes back to my teen years. I was born in 1955, so I really was quite young during the Mod hay-days (and I've spent a lot of money trying to make up for the fact that I was a bit too young for Mary Quant in 1966!). My true influences started in the late 60s, and with movies such as <I>Bonnie and Clyde</i>, which colored our historical perspective with nostalgia. I remember being 12 and watching that movie thinking, not that Bonnie Parker was one screwed-up nasty little woman, but that MY GOD! Did they REALLY dress like that in the 30s? The clothes were the most wonderful, sexy things, and I was really caught up in it. For the next few years, I bought nothing that didn't have a thirties (and then I moved into the 40s about 1971) influence.

It was about this time that people became interested in wearing vintage clothing. I read Caterine Milinaire and Carol Troy's book, <I>Cheap Chic</i>, and I was hooked! Only problem was, there were no thrift stores or vintage clothing shops that I knew of in my area. But around 1980, I discovered several that were just opening up in Asheville, and I've been shopping at them ever since.

So is this leading anywhere, you are wondering....:puzzled:

In the early 80s I really began buying vintage clothing with a purpose. I just could not relate to the fashions of the 80s, and I pretty much stopped buying new clothing. I just bought what I liked from the past - mainly the Mod things I'd missed out on back in the 60s! And I found so many nice things that I couldn't wear that I began selling vintage through a mail newsletter.

The styles of the 90s were much more to my taste, so I started mixing vintage and modern clothing. At this time I was still only collecting vintage clothing that I was actually wearing. But after discovering eBay in 1998, I was selling more, but I also was finding wonderful things to buy. So for the first time, I started collecting vintage items just because I wanted to have them. At first it was just dresses, and then separates, then I started looking for matching shoes, and handbag, and what about a Yardley lip Slicker to put in the handbag, and a pair of fishnet tights... Get the picture?

So at first it was just the Mod look, and then one day I ran across a fantastic late 1930s suit. I couldn't wear it, but I found I couldn't sell it either. So then I had to find just the right hat, shoes, handbag... And now, 6 years later, I've got a century's worth of wonderful things.

At first I just wanted to fill in gaps, but I've learned to be patient and wait for the perfect item to complete the look I'm after. In other words, I'm looking for the best example possible (within my price range, unfortunately.) Designer labels are important, but so are lesser labels that typlify the times, such as Young Edwardian in the 60s and Swirl in the 50s. I've learned that even if I make a mistake about something I get for my collection, I can always sell it. So it is constantly changing, being upgraded and shifting focus.

Lately I've developed an interest in sportswear. Finding one really wonderful piece really does spark my interest in an area, and so one great 40s bathing suit has opened up a whole new area for me. But I've found that I don't have to have LOTS and LOTS of items - I just want to find the best that sums ups the era for me. I want one fantastic Gidget 2 piece with matching bucket hat, early 60s sunglasses and straw bag, as opposed to 3 or 4 average suits with no accessories.

Something weird I've noticed is that my personal taste is really reflected in my collecting. I'll pick a blue dress over a yellow one. I really do think that the collection is how I would have dressed in each era represented. Actually, a lot of the 70s and 90s things came straight from my own closet, and I know that a few of the things I'm wearing now will eventually end up in it.

I'm winding down, I promise!

Back to the late 60s and 70s: I find that this is the hardest era for me to collect. Maybe it's because I know EXACTLY the feel I want to achieve with what I add. I want to feel the nostalgia behind each piece and I want to see the 30s and 40s reflected in the choices I make. Kinda hard to do when it's all made of polyester!
;) Lizzie
 
The styles of the 90s were much more to my taste, so I started mixing vintage and modern clothing. At this time I was still only collecting vintage clothing that I was actually wearing.

This is sort of where i was at in the 90s through 2000. I mixed a lot of modern and vintage while working, etc. Still do now, but i wear more full vintage than i did then. And now i just collect what i can wear which isn't really collecting unlike my handbags. i do have a few men's items though that i have and have to shake them out of my hands and sell them.
 
Again, I'm recognizing a lot of familiar things in everyone's collecting 'memoirs':

<i>and I bought mainly cashmere sweaters, as it was the only way I could afford cashmere.
</i>

ditto!

<i>Something weird I've noticed is that my personal taste is really reflected in my collecting.</i>

Because of continuing (and increasing!) space restrictions, I'm still 80% in the mode of excusing my purchases as 'buy-to-wear' wardrobe items. It so happens that a number of things I'm buying then go into storage <i>not</i> to be worn (but theoretically wearable!), so I'm steering a fine line.

As a result, my collecting is still defined by rather arbitrary and idiosyncratic preferences. The main categories are:

**- <b>one off 'acquisition',</b> purchases of a designer I'm curious about because of their high profile/ reputation (eg. Rudi Gernreich, Oleg Cassini)

**- <b>theme</b> purchases, not necessarily labelled or highest couture or anything, within a body of clothes I'm interested in for design reasons, eg. 40s-50s novelty prints, oriental and travel-inspired prints and designs.

Lately I've got interested in the cross-over between south-east Asian and Pacific clothing design (ie. in Honolulu etc., history of the sarong, use of 'sari' fabric in Hawaii...), and I have a continuing general interest in clothing manufactured or sold in resorts (Bermuda, Navajo areas, Palm Springs, Jamaica, Waikiki... even Isfahan, or, in fact, anywhere else) that plays off ethnic or local traditions and characteristics.
<center><font size="-1">A detail from an aeronautically-themed early 50s Bermudan skirt<br></font size>
<img src="http://worldservice.noirboudoir.com/printbazaar/planepropellor.jpg" border=1></center><p>

The travel-theme preoccupation dictates a lot of my buying of things I'll never get around to wearing, but just love to have, to document how designers cherry-picked words and motifs from the world to create clothes and accessories evoking the globe.

'<u>travel</u>' is one area in which I buy modern stuff too - not necessarily souvenirs, but modern stationery/functional travel accessories/bags etc. which use a travel or map design in an interesting way.


**-<b>'social history'</b> purchases, where I get stuck along one track of research about a manufacturer or group of manufacturers, often because they have some personal association or point of interest for me:
eg. the wool industry (Bradford, Scotland) in Britain, because I grew up in the shadows of various mouldering mills; any general industry trends elsewhere, eg. dressmaking in Mayfair or the design/wholesaling boom in 1930s St. Louis, where one can begin to see the entire widescreen historical context for a set of clothes, not just the designer and a sketch pad.


**-<b>'favourite individual'</b> purchases - you get interested in a particular person's designing history, because they intersect in one or numerous ways with the areas of preoccupation, above. You kind of begin to follow their career backwards, and in a happenstance way, through whatever purchases come your way. This is what I'm tending to do with occasional buys of dresses by Sarah Whitworth and Tina Leser.
<p align=center><center><img src="http://worldservice.noirboudoir.com/tinaleser/leserwaist.jpg" width=300 border=1><font size="-1"><br>A Tina Leser sarong dress in a subcontinental-influenced cotton print</center><p></font size>

**- and finally, the pure <b>'collectable'</b> collection. This is non-clothing, and again, I partly excuse it for personal reasons. I do a lot of writing and note taking (mostly on my computer...) but I love fountain pens, and I love writing with them.

Fountain pen collecting is a fairly macho world, with a lot of collectors going for <i>big</i> (no really), chunky pens, especially something like Sheaffer's 'Pen for Men' of c. 1959... At around the same time, Sheaffer produced a Ladies' purse pen that looked like this:
<center><p align="center">
<img src="http://escritoire.noirboudoir.com/sheafferillust.jpg" width=300 border=1></p></center>

They marketed them as fashion accessories, with engraved and jewelled finishes named after types of textile. They came with purse wallets in interchangeable fabrics, to go with your outfit. They were also good, solid pens - one of the first and last really high end mass-market cartridge fountain pens, at a point when ballpoints were about to take over for the convenience purchaser.

A few people collect them at the moment, but they don't get the recognition they deserve. So I'm buying up examples where I see them. Then maybe in 30-40 years time they'll be worth a teensy bit more...

It's kind of funny how much the exact 'Men's' counterpart of the time is a desirable artefact that goes for lots of dosh, while a lot of people know very little about the lady's equivalent...

Random enough for you???
:rolleyes:

As I have a phase of having much less room, and much less time, coming up, I foresee a time when I'll largely be selling off items only within my collecting interest, and not throwing the net wider to whatever I can find. I'm going to try to keep a stock of *good* individual pieces, but possibly not have the wider random range I have at the moment, for resale.

This has already happened with Goth for me - I'll buy a handful of dresses for resale, which I think intersect with goth trends in interesting ways. I'll keep the small cache of collectable items (mostly modern: restricted Lip Service lines, other fetish labels, Sarah Whitworth, early-ish Betsey Johnson) that I want to keep for myself, and I'll shortly be offloading the larger, more random selection of clothing that I've accumulated, out of interest, over the years.

Well, there you are - rationalisation of the irrational!!

It made me feel better that there's a radio series on here at the moment about investors/collectors of modern art. The emphasis is on the fact that it's actually affordable to collect modern art which will increase in value.

It features a selection of people on relatively modest incomes, in relatively small accommodation, who are madly acquiring pieces even to the extent of being permanently in debt to pay off their installments.

But it's hosted and commented on by a fairly sensible financial adviser type, who sees the point to what they're doing and actually commends them for it. My source of rationalisation is to put vintage clothing in the same category! :D
 
Hmm...very interesting re: people almost bankrupting themselves to invest. That feeling of "i have to buy it...I might never find another one!" definitely does apply to vintage clothing. It seems to me that such collecting (whatever it is) fills a gap for folks who see property as a better investment than stocks, but don't have the means to buy a series of land plots or homes, or don't prefer to. It also achieves the "diversification" requirement. However, upon dispersing of the assets or turning it into liquidity, the challenge is that the items are not always a universally recognized commodity, such as land is. It takes some know how to approach the segment of the population that does. (I suppose placing my shingle up as a "commodity broker" officially in spirit of that is not too far off LOL).
 
I come at it from more of a historical perspective. I've always been interested in "personal" history - how people really lived. When I was in high school I'd check out clothing history books at my local library. I read everyone they had many times over. I had no idea that such clothes were actually available. When I discovered that there were 1920s dresses out there that I could afford - well that just opened my world.

I'm partial to 20s/30s clothes. I initially bought only clothes for me to wear. A bit unfortunate as my curvy, slim shouldered body just doesn't work well with those clothes. Lately I've developed a taste for 40's dresses which is nice as they fit my body shape very well.

In general, designer tags don't really do much for me. I wonder if it isn't because I thought about majoring in fashion design in college and then changed my mind because it was too "shallow"? If I had known that it was possible to get a degree in fashion history back then, I'm sure I would have gone for it. I don't care if fashion is "shallow" I still love all those old clothes!

If I had money and space, I would collect Regency/Napoleonic era clothing. I just the love the long, simple lines of those clothes. So beautiful! As it is, I own one dress from that era. It was a special treat for myself after selling my first painting. I don't have any where to display it so its kept safely in an acid free box. I take it out once a year or so and just admire it. All that hand stitching - so tiny and deliicate and perfect. Sigh. One day I'll have more...

Connie
 
Have you ever photgraphed the Napoleonic dress?

:)

As far as personal history, I have always wanted to own something from imperial or republican rome. some type of belt or jewelry piece. but that is a way far off aquisition and then there is the question of authenticity. coins are easier to come by, though.
 
Originally posted by Patentleathershoes
Hmm...very interesting re: people almost bankrupting themselves to invest. That feeling of "i have to buy it...I might never find another one!" definitely does apply to vintage clothing. It seems to me that such collecting (whatever it is) fills a gap for folks who see property as a better investment than stocks, but don't have the means to buy a series of land plots or homes, or don't prefer to.
Click to expand...

I have to admit, I was flat broke when the opportunity to buy the Hockney portrait Ossie came along - but I had JUST got a credit card so I splurged. Of course, I excuse myself because I like to think of the really important pieces as my 'pension plan'. The real reason is probably that to have a definitive piece by a designer you love (or within a genre you love), is a personal achievement, an object of fascination and probably something of a status symbol as a vintage seller. I find that it actually helps me to restrict the number of pieces I keep (except John Bates, don't even get me started on attempting to cut my Varon collection in half like I need to!). The investment is too much of a slow-burner to be really effective, but it's a darned sight more interesting and fun than letting the big banks have your money!! :P

Liz
 
I like these threads as you get to see what others collect too as you tend to get wrapped up with your own collections :)

As everyone probably knows, antique corsets are my thing. I have some interesting examples from the 1920's but the earlier decades are my fav. It doesn't stop at corsets though but I love the other antique undersupports like bustles, cage crinolines, early bras and all the other weird "boned" and strappy antique undergarments (like my 1910's sanitary belt!).

Although I love all antique clothing, I find the undersupports much more interesting and beautiful. The problem with collecting these things is that they are so rare and therefore cost. I have to sell off lesser things in my collection in order to pay for new aquisitions and let's just say that my Visa is my friend when I see something very rare and I have no money! :D

My other speciality is antique and vintage sidesaddle riding habits and related things because I'm horse crazy and love sidesaddle riding (which I hope to start riding in the fall if my back gets better!) and collecting interesting 19th century shoes.

My shoe collection is as NO WHERE as comprehensive as Jonathan's nor do I have his extensive knowledge of shoes but I have a few interesting pairs of early shoes hidden away :)

I used to collect Victorian and Edwardian dresses and all the bits that go along with them but I have no room for dresses anymore and no where to display them so gradually I started narrowing my collection to only corsets, undersupports, sidesaddle stuff and early shoes. They take up less space than dresses and are easier to display.

I found it interesting what Liz said about her key pieces being her "pension plan". I think of my antique corsets like that too incase the pension system collapses when I'm old, at least I have my antique corsets to fall back on!

Lei
 
Because I work as fashion historian, my collection literally holds the tools of my trade. Problem is, unless you work in a museum with a fantastic collection you really never get the chance to see this stuff. I collect from as old as I can afford to as modern as I can stand. I used to collect everything and related items as well. I have divulged myself of my men's, children's, sewing (patterns), and beauty collections, so I now just concentrate on women's clothing. I got into it because I am fascinated by the past. My own mother was seriously into clothes in the late 1940s through to the early 60s. I remember her clothes hanging in her closet, desperately out of fashion and yet she couldn't part with them (until about 5 years before I started my collection - ARGH)

I also had a pet peeve growing up when reading historical literature. The references to clothing meant nothing to me when I was young and I wanted to be able to have that movie going on in my head to be an accurate depicition of what the people were wearing and what their surroundings were like...
 
So far I don't really collect anything. I have my grandmother to thank for her large and vast collection that I have so much fun going through. I have a thing for the jackets from the 40's and 50's. I like the fur and the way they are designed. And have picked out several from my grandmother's stash that I have claimed as mine alone.

I like the styles of the past and haven't found one era that seems to suit my body and my shortness. I love the 1930's dresses and designs. I just love to stare at the pictures from that era.
 
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