Vintage Desecration - Things Altered/Repurposed, and a Vintage Treasure Lost Forever.

[Babydoll]

I wasn't joking (mostly).

Yesterday the mister and I went to a local restaurant for lunch before going to a movie. The fella sitting at the next table was wearing a military-style cap and jacket that weren't vintage. They looked like he might have bought them at some place like American Eagle or Abercrombie and Fitch (did I even spell that right?). They were the wrong cut, and too "artfully" distressed. It was horrible!

(But not as horrible as him chatting with his mouth full of food about how much commission he made selling cell phones!)

So, maybe the "military look" is coming back?

 

[Paisley]

Well, I don't sew, so I might have gotten my terminology confused. I saw various lace and fabric trim. (I can't see the photo of "rick-rack" that was posted here since I am at work. All I meant was fabric trim.)

The dilletante who cut off the jacket might have intended to create a military or bolero jacket, but it just looked like a regular-length jacket that had been cut off.

I once had the waist band taken off a vintage skirt, but it was strictly to allow me to wear it. I don't think it affected the character of the skirt at all, especially since I wear a sash with it. When you redo clothes, you should be like a good plastic surgeon: a nip here, a tuck there to make subtle improvements. They shouldn't end up looking like something the cat woman dragged in.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

i mostly see doilies and such like sewn onto the pockets. One 40s jacket i saw had the patch pockets removed and replace by similar silk screening to that shown on the tie above. not a star, though. It was, i think, something like the kids paint on the bottom of their skateboards. Like guns 'n roses album cover art.

bk

 

[reetpleat]

Well, I am not as aghast as some because most of what I have seen as vintage remakeing is done with cheap polyester blend seventies suit jackets and such. Truth is, there is so little vintage of our era of interest, that it rarely ends up there.

As for the quilts and such, again, most are stuff I don't care about. On the other hand, I have seen vintage quilts and robes made from all vintage ties. Frankly, I would love to have one. there are so many vintage 40s ties floating around that I won't mourn, and the idea of a woman in the forties making a quilt of ties is kind of cool. So you get a unique piece from the era and a cool looking bed. I have seen a few and wish I had bought one.

 

[Feraud]

At what price Art?

A recent discussion on crafting with a friend started me thinking on the types of craftwork I have seen over the years.

What is everyone's thoughts on using what some people view as unused leftovers such as vintage cufflinks, ties, and knitting needles as craftwork?

When on Melrose Place last yr. I saw a dress similar to this in a vintage shop.
The dress I saw consisted of 30-50s era ties. I turned away in sadness.

Here is a bracelet that is made (I hope) of random single cufflinks. The bracelet is cute. Are the cufflinks better off sitting unused in someone's junk drawer?

My wife is an avid knitter and is dismayed to see vintage knitting needles being used trinkets.

Are these artifacts from the past better off in a city dump or are our local crafters doing a service by recycling the items and saving them from obscurity?

I have added a poll.

 

[Rooster]

The dress made of vintage ties is disturbing. I have to compete with crafters around here that use ties for the same purpose. I can only imagine what treasures they have destroyed.....

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

If it's a case of recycling something that's damaged or missing some parts and just collecting dust in a drawer somewhere, such as odd single cuff links, then I see no harm in turning it into something useful. It depends on the condition, age, and scarcity of the item in question. But destroying perfectly good and usable vintage items for this purpose should carry a mandatory prison sentence.

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Like when I sold records and clods would buy them for to use as flying saucer toys. Or nail them to the wall of their restaurant. Gimme that Jim Pepper!!

 

[cooncatbob]

I'd rather see something put to use then thrown away. When I was a kid the local thrift store used old ties as tie downs to hold your trunk shut when you bought something too big.
Bob.

 

[Nashoba]

this is one of those things i'm really torn over. I'd rather see it used than thrown away, but some things that get used I cringe when I see what's been done to them. one of my friends got me a book that showed how to make new 'stuff' from vintage stuff and seeing some of the things that they took apart or used made me sad. some of it was in really good condition and could have easily been used as it was for it's original purpose. But some stuff is beyond use. I got most of my husband's grandmother's clothing (amazing collection from the 30's - 70's) the stuff that was wearable, I wear. But there were a few pieces that were just ordinary house dresses that weren't wearable. those I carefully took apart and use the fabric in quilts. So for some thing I can see it, but for others it just breaks my heart....

 

[Lady Day]

Ive crafted, and I know a lot of crafters. I think the real issue is when people who dont respect the materials they are using (to refashion or to reuse as they were intended) just to make their item. Ive made a jacked out of ties I found at the thrift store (its in my closet now ), but I tried to make sure that they were just the crappy big ties of the 70s and 80s.

The crafters I know have specific materials in mind, or save whatever material they find thats vintage for a special project. I think the essence of crafting is taking materials that are no longer useable for their intended purpose (vintage or otherwise) and give it a new life.

LD

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Feraud, that bracelet is clearly made of several pairs of cufflinks.

Taking good stuff and crafting is terrible. But taking the totally knackered ties and using them is worthwhile.

bk

 

[dashiell]

I agree with Lady Day: if an item is not usable as originally intended, have at it. If an item retains its original usefulness, use it accordingly (or let someone else do so). The only real exception I see is if the items are yours to begin with. For example, if someone wanted to remember her grandfather by making a bracelet of his cufflinks, I would respect that even if those were lovely and usable articles.

 

[Foofoogal]

I have been seeing bracelets and jewelry made of old typewriter keys.

 

[CharlieH.]

The horror.... the horror!

That tie dress is a nightmare.... better hope those were frayed and torn beyond repair!

This reminds me of a time when some fellas at school were asked to build models of a new and "innovative" business establishment. There was this twerp who built a 50's themed cafe with a 78rpm record as a roof. A perfectly good, clean 78 with its label removed and superglued to cardboard walls. I honestly wanted to punch him in the face. Who knows what sweet sounds were engraved on that hapless piece of shellac.

 

[Lady Day]

This reminds me of a time when some fellas at school were asked to build models of a new and "innovative" business establishment. There was this twerp who built a 50's themed cafe with a 78rpm record as a roof. A perfectly good, clean 78 with its label removed and superglued to cardboard walls. I honestly wanted to punch him in the face. Who knows what sweet sounds were engraved on that hapless piece of shellac.

I would have! Thats what thrift store records are for!

LD

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Yikes! My sister gave me a bowl made out of an old record for a Christmas gift! Paid big bucks for it, too! Urk! My best friend assured me that these are made from scratched records, but still! I don't only sell records, I listen to them, scratched or not!!! Actually I don't deal in records any more, I sold all the ones I had for sale, so I really only listen to them and there are still a few I'm looking for. (Including Jim Pepper.)
I get steamed and cancel my subscription when i see an article suggesting vintage linens to be used for a craft project. I'm all about crafts, make do and mend, and re-use and recycle but gee whiz, don't you have some scraps or something around?
That said, there were some ideas in the seventies or thereabouts to lovingly use dad's ties to make a skirt, as a wearable tribute. This garment would be a true heirloom but some just might turn up in a thrift store, because that is how some people are, so then it would be okeh to purchase such an item. But don't let me see Superba Cravats bought at the second-hand store and used to make a rag-tag frock and call it art.

 

[CharlieH.]

Yikes! My sister gave me a bowl made out of an old record for a Christmas gift! Paid big bucks for it, too! Urk! My best friend assured me that these are made from scratched records, but still! I don't only sell records, I listen to them, scratched or not!!!

And that's not exactly a novel idea....

(from 1931)

 

[Feraud]

Not that using the past to make something new is a new idea...

Based on this book from 1952 the authors show how to make a dress from a a man's suit.

And dickies from men's shirts..

 

[Smuterella]

As much as I am not too keen on 70's styles I still don't think things should be cut up, apart from small alterations to fit, that stuff is the vintage of the future, its all clothing history - I mean, one day people will be scouring eBay for the fashions of today and calling them vintage