Let’s face it – we are a consumer-driven country. We definitely like our stuff. We see stuff, we want stuff, stuff goes on sale, we buy stuff. That’s just part of our culture. And it’s part of us too. Yes, we’re biased of course because we also sell vintage home decor, but we were collecting vintage home items long before we came up with the concept of Camino+Collective. We simply liked it better.
So what makes vintage stuff better than new stuff – in our own opinion?
It’s Better Made. The newer stuff tends to land in the trash heap faster than the old stuff. It seems like so much of what’s available lately is just – well crappy. It’s cheap – and I mean poorly made and bad quality – and not necessarily inexpensive. The quality materials and care of production of a hand-crafted, vintage item is something that’s difficult to come by.
It’s Unique. Don’t you hate when you’re out accumulating stuff and you find that perfect thing, that treasure, and then find out that someone else you know has it too? It’s like walking into the Prom and spotting someone else wearing your exact same outfit! Vintage offers you the opportunity to have a treasure that’s cool and unique to you – something that very few other people (if any) will have.
It’s Green. Vintage is actually very socially conscious. It’s the ultimate in recycling. The difference is that rather than remaking something new out of waste, you are preventing it from becoming waste in the first place. You’re basically saving something special that might’ve otherwise ended up in the landfill. Also, by not purchasing a newly made item, you are reducing the amount of waste that will eventually end up in the landfill as well.
It Has History. We love and we mean LOVE to find the history of an item. It’s one of the most fun aspects of vintage selling – only slightly less fun than the actual treasure hunting. We get to figure out when and where the item was made and by whom. Sometimes we even learn who used the item and why. It’s like a little piece of history that you get to own and treasure.
It’s An Investment. How many new items can you buy and expect them to keep their value? With vintage, the uniqueness of your item gives it a value that will grow over time. OK, so not every single item is collectible, but many are. There will never be more 1960s pottery from an African tribe, or an 1890s antique basket from a vineyard in France or an original MCM brutalist sculpture with the age and patina. And as time goes on these items become harder and harder to find becoming more valuable as they age.
It’s Classic – and Never Out of Style. It’s no secret that what’s old becomes inspiration for what’s new again. It happens in fashion and it definitely happens in home decor. Designers “borrow” from past designs and recreate them into something new. Right now the current trends are taking inspiration from 60s, 70s and 80s. So consider vintage as a the classic that it is – and use it as a source for inspiration for your own home designs.
A quick note about what vintage is NOT. If something is older than 100 years, it is considered an antique. The term vintage is a bit looser. Some want to assign years to it, but in my understanding it’s more generational. To us vintage is anything older than about 30 years old. Also, new items made to look old are not vintage. Vintage is not the same as “retro”. If they are not from the original time period of when the design originated then they are not vintage and will not retain their value. Just because something might look vintage doesn’t mean it is. There’s nothing like the real thing. You can tell the difference.
I invite you to follow us on Instagram @caminocollectivehome and visit our Etsy shop on www.etsy.com/shop/caminocollective.
