Here’s our guide of things to look out for when shopping for vintage Levi’s – whether to date a pair or spot a counterfeit pair. As with all of our fashion label guides, most dates will be +/- a year or two due to the number of factories involved, having…
Economists from HSE University found that secondary market prices of retired LEGO sets grow by 11% annually (8% in real terms), which is faster than gold, stocks, bonds and other ‘hobby investments’. They sampled 2,322 LEGO sets made between 1987 and 2015 and found that small or big sets do…
Drawers full of chargers for old phones, broken pens, shop business cards. Old newspapers. A broken thermometer. A garlic press, a grater, and a – what’s it called? – we laughed at that word, it featured in so many recipes for a time: a quirl whisk. A quirl whisk. Things…
Can’t think of anything more boring than crystalware? Then I beg a moment of your time to show that crystal is anything but dull, in both senses of the word. I’d never given crystal a second glance. To me, crystal was the stuff that my mum carefully shuffled me past…
What’s the appeal of an autograph? A connection to the world of celebrity? A brag? A record of a brief moment shared with an idol? Collector, now dealer, Adam Andrusier began autograph collecting with a signed photograph of Ronnie Barker who lived round the corner from him in Pinner. It…
When I buy vintage clothing I want to know that it is vintage. If I see a super 1940s knit and it turns out to be 1980s, that’s fine, as long as I’d known that when I’d bought it and it was priced as 1980s – I don’t want the…
Dating vintage with care labels (see our feature on that here) only helps with garments that are 1960s onwards, but there’s a number of other labels you may come across that will help you to date older vintage pieces. Most of these are US labels, with the exception of CC41,…
For those of us in the UK, vintage Marks and Spencer clothing, under the name St Michael, is available in abundance. St Michael was used as a brand name from 1928 to 2000. Their labels have undergone a number of changes over the years and when checked, along with the…
1985, USA. Over 17 billion matchbooks were estimated to have been produced that year. In Brooklyn, New York, 6 million of those carried the words, ‘Law Offices of Edward Horn – Free Consultation’.