VintageGriffin.com

SERIES: 10 Things I Would Do Differently If I Started Collecting Today -

Sue
Bonton Vintage

This is an entry in an ongoing series. We're asking a range of vintage and antique clothing collectors what they would do differently if they began their collecting journeys today. Our experiences can make us better collectors and caretakers.



1) Educate myself better. I really think this is the most important point and all other following points tie in with this one. When I started collecting vintage fashion it was an offshoot of the collecting I had been doing of antique/vintages laces and textiles. At the time I recognized clothing earlier than flapper style as being really old - but did not know the difference between Victorian and Edwardian. I also knew the 50s bouffant skirt style, but really didn't have a clue what a 30s garment looked like. BUT, I attended several estate auctions and purchased some *old* clothes and felt very smug - which leads me to #2...

2) Just because it is old does not mean good......yes, I felt tremendously smug with my purchases, until I got the boxes home and checked over the items. Stains, moth holes galore, odd odours, rips, tears. Out of two boxes, I think I salvaged two 50s dresses and one Edwardian baby dress.

3) I would have purchased a lot more of the books on vintage clothing at the outset of my collecting rather than waiting almost a year before really building up my library. If I had had Internet at the time, I would have availed myself of the myriad of sites that now are devoted to vintage fashion, collecting and care of.

4) Again, tied in with the education part, I would have taken time to learn the intrinsic styles, cuts and construction methods of the various eras better.

5) I would not have purchased so many mediocre pieces of clothing, thinking it was special, while it was run-of-the-mill mass produced and in many cases dreck. Even if it was in great condition, this did not mean that it was a prime piece of vintage fashion.

6) I think I would have limited myself more to a certain era. I have always loved antique christening gowns and have a lovely collection of them from the mid to late 1800s. However, I also expanded that collection to include other children's clothing from the late 1800s to the 30s. None of it was particularly noteworthy stylewise or conditonwise. For some reason I felt I needed to have children's clothing other than the christening gowns - why? I really don't know. I do know that I have a box of vintage children's clothing that really doesn't interest me and the resale on it is not very good.

7) I would not be as hesitant to spend good money on an item that was unique and fashion noteworthy. I still remember a fabulous 50s Ceil Chapman gold lame Marilyn-style dress that I passed up 6 years ago for $25.00. I loved the style and the construction, but golly - $25.00?? Waaaaaaaay too much at the time, especially since it didn't even fit. (I've been kicking myself ever since.)

8) Education tie-in again.....I would have taken much more time to try and develop my "hand-sight." I wasted a lot of time in thrift stores riffling through every item on a rack, whereas now I can quickly scan a rack and also run my hands along the row and get a quick sense of the fabrics. This took awhile and at one point I was wondering if I would ever catch on, but by familiarizing myself with the feel of different fabrics, I was eventually able to do it.

9) I would not have purchased so much vintage in the beginning, thinking if I didn't buy it, I would never see another piece of vintage. If I had been more knowledgeable about the various attributes of vintage fashions, I would have saved some of the money I spent on groddy 70s polyesters for that rainy day purchase of a fabulous beaded 20s dress.

10) I would have networked more. When I started collecting was before the popularity of the Internet, however I would have tried to search out organizations in my surrounding area of vintage fashion interest. I would have also left small business cards with vintage clothing stores and estate sale/auction businesses. I would have also not been so shy at estate auctions to not ask questions about the item I had purchased to try and get some provenance on it.