Quick Tips for Collecting Vintage Shoes:

Quick Tips for Collecting Vintage Shoes:
from: www.antiques.about.com 


- Shoes older than those from the Victorian era are hard to come by these days. Even Victorian high button shoes can be a challenge to find in antique shops today.
- Upscale designer footwear is eternally popular with both shoe collectors and those who follow the trends of numerous fashion houses. Even vintage sneakers and running shoes by famous makers are collected today.
- Many people buy vintage shoes to complete a vintage clothing ensemble from a particular era. These vintage footwear buyers often look for bargains at thrift stores and estate sales.
- New designer shoes are widely collected by fashionistas the world over. Some current styles mimic those of the past, but are rarely exact copies of older shoes.
A Look Back in Time

Way back when in my mother's antique shop, I remember taking a good hard look at a few pairs of Victorian high top shoes. Mom bought them, along with some old hats and other dry goods, from the former owner of a long forgotten general store way out in the country.

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-Pamela Wiggins

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Quick Tips for Collecting Vintage Shoes:
- Shoes older than those from the Victorian era are hard to come by these days. Even Victorian high button shoes can be a challenge to find in antique shops today.
- Upscale designer footwear is eternally popular with both shoe collectors and those who follow the trends of numerous fashion houses. Even vintage sneakers and running shoes by famous makers are collected today.
- Many people buy vintage shoes to complete a vintage clothing ensemble from a particular era. These vintage footwear buyers often look for bargains at thrift stores and estate sales.
- New designer shoes are widely collected by fashionistas the world over. Some current styles mimic those of the past, but are rarely exact copies of older shoes.
A Look Back in Time
Way back when in my mother's antique shop, I remember taking a good hard look at a few pairs of Victorian high top shoes. Mom bought them, along with some old hats and other dry goods, from the former owner of a long forgotten general store way out in the country.
These shoes looked uncomfortable, even more uncomfortable than the pointed high-heeled pumps my Aunt Billie wore when I was a kid. The Victorian shoes were not only narrow; they came all the way up the ankle and had lots of tiny buttons that were so difficult to fasten they needed a special hook. That made me really appreciate the ease of wearing Keds at the time.
Well, I couldn't understand how people wore those shoes back then. And to tell you the truth, I still can't quite imagine it now. Nevertheless, they did wear them, along with a never-ending variety of styles marked by each decade since then until the present day.
Shoes as Collectibles
While we don’t generally fumble around our closets each morning looking for collectibles, the fact is that many people do indeed collect old shoes. There are actually a number of good reasons to collect footwear, starting with functionality.
Around the country historical reenactment societies enjoy getting together for an afternoon of vintage finery. When these groups meet, the members dress true to a certain decade, right down to the accessories. This includes vintage footwear when it’s available.
Others prefer dressing in vintage clothing as more of a fashion statement. When I set up to sell at City Wide Garage Sale in Austin, I often see young people who look as if they stepped right out of a time machine. Whether it's a '30s, '40s or '50s look they're trying to achieve, they don the appropriate shoes to match their apparel of choice.
But there are other collectors who buy shoes purely for their unique style or decorative appeal. Footwear encrusted with rhinestones is always popular with fanshion-conscious collectors, for instance. And shoes with fancy buckles, ornaments or embellishments appeal to this crowd as well. Displaying these types of shoes in a boudoir can make a beautiful conversation statement.
What Collectors are Willing to Pay for Vintage Footwear
One of the most important factors in shoe collecting is style. Stylish footwear clearly representative of a particular era appeals to both collectors and those buying shoes to complete a look. Designer brands also add value to vintage shoes in many cases.
For example, a pair of peep-toe platform shoes from the 1940s, complete with ankle straps, might sell for $250 or more. A pair of Chanel flats from the ‘60s or ‘70s will usually bring at least $200 to the bargaining table. Even Nike running shoes from years past can be worth a pretty penny today.
But most of all, vintage shoe buyers want their footwear to have some life left in them. They need to be in good to excellent condition to bring such high prices. Of course, the nature of shoes being worn until they’re pretty much worn out makes them harder to find in pristine condition when compared to other vintage accessories.
By and large, however, those who plan to wear their vintage footwear look for reasonably priced shoes. That's part of the appeal. Putting together a stylish vintage outfit can often be much less expensive than purchasing a comparable new one. And if frugal shoppers hit the right thrift stores and estate sales, they can usually achieve that goal with fun persistence that ultimately pays off.
Decorating with Vintage Footwear
Don't think you'd like wearing a stranger’s used footwear? It’s not everyone’s cup of tea. But there’s good news - shoes make interesting decorative accents so don’t pass up a reasonably priced pair you like just because you don’t intend to wear them.
When completing the look of the vintage boudoir, having a pretty cocktail dress hanging over a door or outfitting a dress form with a colorful frock can be a nice touch. The matching shoes make the display complete.
Even those old high button shoes I remember from my mom’s shop look great perched atop a chest in a bedroom decorated in high Victorian style. Decorators with a more modern view of life can find funky boots from the '60s and platform disco shoes of the '70s that make quite a statement in the right atmosphere too.
As a go-with collectible, advertisements featuring everything from wingtips to saddle oxfords taken from old magazines can make a nice addition to a bathroom wall when appropriately framed. Not to mention the conversational value of these ads, especially for young members of the family who don't remember the fashionable styles worn by their grandparents.
Other Shoe-Shaped Collectibles
If none of these ideas sounds appealing, how about a few glass or porcelain shoes to liven up your home. Back in Victorian times, these items were called "whimsies" because they served no useful purpose. You can still find a few older shoe-shaped whimsies here and there in antique shops.
If amassing more dust-catchers doesn’t appeal to you, items shaped like shoes have taken the form of most everything you can imagine from brooches to telephones over the years. Some were bigger than the real thing, including incredible chairs shaped like bombshell high heels in leopard print fabric. Others were fashioned in miniature including salesmen’s samples carried from shop to shop long ago. All were produced in a variety of materials, including plastics.

Antique car

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In the United States, an antique car is generally defined as a car over 25 years of age, this being the definition used by the Antique Automobile Club of America. However, the legal definition for the purpose of antique vehicle registration varies widely.
The term classic car is often used synonymously with antique car, but (in the United States) the formal definition^{[citation needed]} of that term has it as applying only to certain specific high-quality vehicles from the pre-World War II era. In the UK, the term is not used: antique often refers to an item over 100 years old and cars of this age are termed veteran.
25 years is about double the design life of modern cars and an even greater increment on those cars now 25 years old; therefore, a car that's reached 25 is a rare survivor, and often not economical to maintain as regular transportation.
Owning, restoring and collecting antique or classic cars is a popular hobby worldwide.

 Considered as investments

The definition of antique varies from source to source, product to product and year to year. But, some time-tested definitions of antique deserve consideration:

• An item which is at least 50 to 100 years old and is collected or desirable due to rarity, condition, utility, or some other unique feature. Motor vehicles, tools and other items subject to vigorous use in contrast, may be considered antiques in the U.S. if older than 25 years, and some electronic gadgets of more recent vintage may be considered antiques
• antique (noun) - Any piece of furniture or decorative object or the like produced in a former period and valuable because of its beauty or rarity.

Japanese traditional dolls

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A Momotarō gofun doll

Japanese traditional dolls are known by the name ningyō (人形^?) in Japan, which literally means human shape.
There are various types of Japanese dolls, some representing children and babies, some the imperial court, warriors and heroes, fairy-tale characters, gods and (rarely) demons, and also people of the daily life of Japanese cities. Many have a long tradition and are still made today, for household shrines, for formal gift-giving, or for festival celebrations such as Hinamatsuri, the doll festival, or Kodomo no Hi, Children's Day. Some are manufactured as a local craft, to be purchased by pilgrims as a souvenir of a temple visit or some other trip.

Art is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions

Art

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This article is about the general concept of art. For the categories of different expressive disciplines, see The arts. For the arts that are visual in nature, see Visual arts. For other uses, see Art (disambiguation).

20th-century Rwandan bottle. Artistic works may serve practical functions, in addition to their decorative value.

Art is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music, literature, film, sculpture, and paintings. The meaning of art is explored in a branch of philosophy known as aesthetics.
The definition and evaluation of art has become especially problematic since the early 20th century. Richard Wollheim distinguishes three approaches: the Realist, whereby aesthetic quality is an absolute value independent of any human view; the Objectivist, whereby it is also an absolute value, but is dependent on general human experience; and the Relativist position, whereby it is not an absolute value, but depends on, and varies with, the human experience of different humans.^[1] An object may be characterized

The Human headed winged bull facing

The definition of the term is not always precise, and institutional definitions such as museum "Departments of Antiquities" often cover later periods, but in normal usage Gothic objects, for example, would not now be described as antiquities, though in 1700 they might well have been, as the cut-off date for antiquities has tended to retreat since the word was first found in English in 1513.^[1] Non-artistic artifacts are now less likely to be called antiquities than in earlier periods. Francis Bacon wrote in 1605: "Antiquities are history defaced, or some remnants of history which have casually escaped the shipwreck of time".^[2]
The art trade reflects modern usage of the term; Christie's "

Antique from wikipedia

Antique
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For other uses, see Antique (disambiguation).
An antiquarian map

An antique (Latin: antiquus; old) is an old collectible item. It is collected or desirable because of its age, rarity, condition, utility, or other unique features. It is an object that represents a previous era in human society.

antique furniture

Antique furniture is the term for collectible interior furnishings of considerable age; often its age, rarity, condition, utility, or other unique features makes the furniture desirable.
Antique furniture may support the human body (such as seating or beds), provide storage, or hold objects on horizontal surfaces above the ground. Storage furniture (which often makes use of doors, drawers, and shelves) is used to hold or contain smaller objects such as clothes, tools, books, and household goods. Furniture can be a product of artistic design and is considered a form of decorative art. In addition to furniture's functional role, it can serve a symbolic or religious purpose. Domestic furniture

Antique Shop

Antique
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
For other uses, see Antique (disambiguation).
An antiquarian map

The definition of antique varies from source to source, product to product and year to year. But, some time-tested definitions of antique deserve consideration:

Antique furniture is the term for collectible interior furnishings of considerable age; often its age, rarity, condition, utility, or other unique features makes the furniture desirable.