Vintage Treasures, Handed Down

What's better than vintage goods in excellent condition? Free vintage goods in excellent condition. Thanks to a keen eye and some basement and family garage sale snooping, I've uncovered my fair share of oldies-but-goodies from mom, dad, aunt, and grandparents that they'd more or less forgotten about. Let me preface this post by saying that I realize that most people don't have designer stuff by brands like Pendleton and Cartier lying around their homes. However, even a brand X item that's 30 or 40 years old and in reasonably good shape can be an amazing conversation piece if the vintage feel and timeless style are on point. Anyway, this is a sampling of my favorite finds.

My dad received this Pendleton shirt for Christmas in 1950 and he was kind enough to let me have it. It's a bit oversize for me, but paired with black skinny jeans, my Fox River socks and Blundstones, it's the ultimate chilly day outfit. What one would pay for a 60+ year old Pendleton shirt in perfect condition, I have no idea, but I love that it was my father's, and I love that it has a bit of a story to it.

I saw these two gems at a garage sale at my aunt and uncle's house in July. I spotted the black envelope clutch and gasped, as it was literally just days earlier I read about how hard these were coming back for fall via Celine's minimalism and Coach's Legacy collection. The clutch is by Koret, all genuine leather, and probably purchased some time in the 60's. The scarf is bright and cheerful, and the fact that it has so many colors makes it really easy to pair with a multitude of things.

Gem of all gems: my grandmother's Cartier tank watch. It had been laying around for quite a while, unused by anyone, because the original leather strap had snapped with age (the watch is from some time in the mid 70's). The simple solution was to get the strap replaced, obviously, and I've been wearing it almost every day since. It likely would have cost me a few hundred dollars to get a genuine Cartier replacement strap, so I opted for one from my local family jeweler that looks exactly the same for $15. Elegant, understated, and classic, and free. Yeah... most importantly, free.

I have a fascination with skeleton keys, which I think many people share. It's interesting to me that these keys were once a normal household thing: doors locked, keys opened them. A pretty simple concept, but the keys have been saved over the decades because they're actually quite beautiful on their own. This box of assorted lead skeleton keys, magnets, and tie clips is my father's from his childhood home, but he didn't mind if I took the keys and used them for necklaces. I put one of the keys on an old, long silver chain, and it gets a lot of attention any time I wear it. No complaints here.

Apart from the joy that comes from finding an old treasure, it can be a really wonderful bonding experience to talk to people about when they got something and what sorts of adventures they've had with it. I don't think it's materialistic to attach some sentimental value to such objects, I think it's human nature. It makes me sad that so much of our family/social histories are being stored on computers these days, so I find it extremely rewarding to make human connections over found/saved objects. The sense-memory that we've attached to these objects is even more valuable than the objects themselves, and it would be a shame to let that slip away.