kara's vintage collection: gloves

thanks so very much to all of you sweet readers for following along with kara's vintage collections. I had so much fun photographing her collections & she enjoyed writing about why she loves them so dearly. knowing my sister, in another year she'll have started collecting all kinds of new things and hopefully we can do this all over again. 

a word from my sister:

my favorite, ever-expanding collection is my delicate and dainty glove collection.  about four years ago I purchased my first pair at an antique store, admiring the tiny fit and detailed stitching. they also happened to fit me perfectly, as I have very petite hands.

my collection has grown so much since then that I now have a glove for every possible occasion: the opera, church, an evening drive, tea & cocktail parties. though some pairs look practically new, most of my gloves have been well worn. I’m fascinated when I find a lipstick stain or cigarette burn and wonder how many parties, love affairs and social events each pair has lived.

my newest addition, given to me by a friend, is a beautiful red leather pair with black piping, size six and a perfect fit. my glove collection now stands at sixty four!

kara's vintage collection: broaches

kara's vintage collection: scarves

a word from my sister:

walking past a trunk full of scarves everyday puts a smile on my face.  there’s something so feminine about the vintage silks, each with very different prints, patterns & details, that attracts me to collecting scarves.  keeping them out & on display helps me grab one when I’m feeling the need to add a touch of color to my outfit or bag.  the “trend” of wearing scarves as an accessory reappears from time to time in fashion, & when it does, I’m fully prepared. my favorite use of scarves is wrapping up my delicate garments individually in my luggage when I travel. 

I read a book, “alligators, old mink and new money,” when I first started collecting vintage & the author spoke of her beloved hermes scarves.  since then, I am constantly seeing hermes scarves in magazine articles, blogs & street fashion.  although I have not yet discovered one, I do have some exceptional signed scarves including diane von furstenberg, nicole miller, bill blass, halston, christian dior & lanvin.  

kara's vintage collection: sunglasses

kara's vintage collection: heels

a word from my sister:

when I was a little girl, I would stomp around the house in my mama's heels, pretending I was a grown-up. to this day, I still have a thing for vintage heels. my feet are small, so they always fit me perfectly. plus, they are just so classic-looking & go with anything in my closet.

kara's vintage collection: aprons

a word from my sister:

my mom got me started with this collection. she fondly recalled her mother wearing aprons around the house while cooking & doing housework. now that we have fancy washing machines & color-safe bleach, there’s no real need to wear them. but this doesn’t stop me from collecting them. I love the different prints & fabrics that were used; from gingham cotton to organza with lace. I have an apron for every occasion.

kara's vintage collection: buttons & hatpins

a word from my sister:

I have always saved the buttons that are attached to new garments. I thought it would be pretty to display them someday, but I never really had enough. I was at an estate sale awhile back & found a huge zip lock bag of vintage button for $1. you could tell they were all really old by the color & shape. so I snatched them up & now i keep them in this little glass with my hatpins.

I had never seen a hatpin before until recently; I was fascinated. back in the day, they were used to pin the hat down to a woman’s head by her hair. I love that over time, they became more & more ornate & were used as decoration, kind of like today's headband. 

kara's vintage collection: glasses

a word from my sister:

at any estate sale, you can always find me browsing through the cabinets in the kitchen because I absolutely love unique glassware. this numbered set caught my eye immediately. the glasses were all in different cabinets, so I wasn’t sure if there would be a full set. after scrounging around, my mom & I found numbers 1-8, filthy, but in perfect condition. we cleaned them up & now they are a great display. a few years later, I found a very similar replica at anthropologie, which made me smile, knowing I own the original. 

kara's vintage collection: hand mirrors

a word from my sister:

my hand mirror collection was inspired from a photo that I saw in a home décor magazine. a decorator had hung all different styles of vintage hand mirrors on a wall. it looked so neat –like a giant piece of art.  I’m so drawn to the femininity of these hand mirrors.

my newest one has a flower etched on the back with the inscription “ina lee young, february 18, 1951”. It’s really worn & I can tell it was well-loved. 

kara's vintage collection: watches

a word  from my sister:

my mom & sister always get tickled when they come visit me because I don’t have a single clock in my entire house. kind of ironic, seeing that I own a collection of watches, 95% of which do not even tell accurate time. 

I remember seeing an interview on tv with a model at her flat in new york, and noticing her numerous watches and bangles dangling from her wrist. not too sure why that got me excited, but since then I started picking up cool watches at estate sales, spending no more than $3 - $4, since they usually needed a new battery or just simply had no more to give.  as annoying as it can be to my friends and co-workers, I refuse to wear just one watch—I like to mix it up, adding a large-faced gold menswear watch with a my thin leather-banded coin head watch, paired with my 80’s chunky gold & black watch. the combinations are endless and it excites me every morning to choose the perfect wrist accessory for the day.

kara's vintage collection: etiquette books

a word from my sister:

emily post is my hero. how come my generation didn’t learn squat from her? i have a true fascination and longing for proper etiquette in society’s daily interaction with one another.

in college, the required public speaking course had your typical mix of lackadaisical college freshmen. the average topic chosen by students for discussion was usually something like, “why marijuana should be legalized”. I wondered why people didn’t pick a topic a little more informational and practical. so I chose to speak about “proper etiquette to prepare for the business world”. in doing research, I became incredibly interested in this subject. granted I wasn’t living in the 1950’s, but I enjoyed sharing my findings with fellow friends and classmates, in hopes that they could use some of these simple etiquette tips for future interviews or in their everyday life.

since then, I scan estate sales & thrift shops for any material by the post or vanderbilt families.  my favorite book is one that my mom found for me is. it’s called “the cosmo girl’s guide to the new etiquette” and was published in 1967. it insists that no woman should leave the house without full makeup (including false eyelashes), because you just never know what gentleman you may meet that day.

and while that is a little extreme by today’s standards, I one day hope to teach a small etiquette class for younger children with the hopes of exposing them to some common, polite and everyday expected social behavior. I think that is just what our generation needs!

kara's vintage collection: billiard balls

a word my from sister:

to many, a set of billiard balls in a glass bowl isn’t very exciting.  but when my mom showed me her great find at her local catholic thrift store, I freaked out.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen billiard balls that were so old. I haven’t done much research, but I’m pretty sure they are true ivory, which was the primary material up until the mid 20^th century. I love the yellowed coloring and the scratches from the many games they’ve been a part of.  I like imagining a group of gentleman playing pool with their brandy and cigars. 

kara's vintage collection: hats

a word from my sister:

not much of a collection yet, but these have a great deal of meaning to me. the riding hat came from an estate sale in atlanta. the owner was a flight attendant, who i think would have been my best friend if I’d had known her.  my mom spotted the hat first and we debated on spending $15 on it, but once we found out they were negotiable, we snatched it up. a few minutes later, we heard 2 different people ask where the hat was.  that made our day. 

the fez came from an antique shop that a friend picked up for me. he and I have had a few intriguing conversations about freemasonry, his grandfather being a member, and I have always been fascinated by the history and secrecy of the organization.  one day, we were out for a drink when we spotted a mason symbol. his face completely lit up & he ran out to his car and brought in the fez that he had picked up for me as a gift that very day.

kara's vintage collection: clutches

a word from my sister:

what girl doesn’t love a good clutch?  seeing that i have too many to fill this rather large box is the best answer to that question. I’ve been adding to my clutch collection the longest, purchasing them from various estate sales, thrift stores and church sales.  I always open the clutch to get a peek at the label and then try to judge how old it is, based on the look of the font.

my greatest find was at a goodwill on my daily walk home from work in savannah.  naturally, I would stop in 2-3 times a week hoping to spot a treasure. one day, a black patent leather fold caught my eye; when I opened it, it had a christian dior label!  my favorite part, though, was finding the owner’s old $100 money wrap issued from the bank. no money, sadly, just the wrap, but it made my day!

a new series: kara's vintage collection

my sister, kara, has always had a love for all things vintage. I've been telling her for awhile that we should take the time to photograph all of her collections for posterity. I finally got the chance to do just that the last time I visited. starting tomorrow, I'll be posting two of her vintage collections a week. hope they make you smile.

{kara in her last apartment in savannah}