VintageGriffin.com

I have a thing for abcdariums. The wonderfulness of the words. The graphical quality of the letters. The curious quality of the defined. And, of course, I like to eat and drink on a regular basis.

These captivating glasses and plates wow me. They satisfy my literary and artistic bent, my love of zoology, and add a dash of good, ol' vintage flair. What I especially like about them is that the animals are oddballs. They certainly exist, but are not generally well-known. How delightful it was to see my old friend, the barbaroussa (first encountered during my childhood leafings through the dictionary). How satisfying it was to see my old friend, the gennet, finally get her due. And it was a geographic bonus to see a reference to the Wallachian sheep, for we rarely encounter a reference to Wallachia outside Vlad the Impaler travel guides.

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

VintageGriffin.com

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) Move More Slowly

I have a pretty good track record with caring for vintage and antique clothing, but if you do this for any length of time, you're going to have mishaps. And many of those are avoidable. Moving more slowly would have saved a few pulls, torn hems and such. I've stepped on trailing clothes while I've been moving them and ripped hems and created tears. When handling multiple garments together, I've caused some pulls when hook and eyes get caught in the netting of another garment, or even its own. When handling vintage clothing, move slowly or you will snag or tear something. It will happen.