vintage galore

It seems there is a real mainstream feel to the term vintage nowadays - i am sure those of us who have been collecting what was regarded as junk or old tat for years, find it amusing that we now are the proud owners of "vintage" items. Vintage caravans, vintage style clothing at Primark and vintage street parties encouraged for the recent Royal wedding.

It is great that crafts such as sewing and knitting are no longer seen as the perogative of the penniless or the granny. Sometimes i do regret that there are no longer many old junk shops to trawl through anymore - the ones where in amongst the real rubbish you might glimpse the edge of an eames recliner or a vase, that turns out to be by keith murray, stuffed with plastic flowers. You really felt you had earnt those treasures after cumulative hours of trawling fruitlessly through old copies of mills and boon and chipped teapots.

I love all the vintage community blogs and have recently subscribed to Vintage Life magazine, http://www.vintagelifemagazine.com/ as an online subscription (seems a little odd that my first "futuristic" online subscription is to a magazine promoting all things vintage). There is also a network of like minded vintage people. http://vintagenetwork.ning.com/


I was disappointed at the recent boot sale i attended as there was not much of note - something i am finding more and more as people either hike up their prices as "it's vintage you know" or they cut out the car boot altogether and sell on ebay so that sometimes all you get at a car boot appears to be what people couldn't sell on ebay.
I suppose that makes any great find even more special nowadays as it is much more infrequent. It is not about making a fortune though really as let's face it, most people might still call it old tat. Well, some of the stuff I collect they might (ask my partner as he puts up with another bambi related ornament appearing on the shelf). It is about finding what you love and also about giving something a chance to be loved again. Long live vintage.

some of my old tat is pictured above - how about you? Have you found a special vintage rummaging place? will you let us into your secret?