My Vintage Bucket List
Plus, my thoughts on being a woman in the world of reselling
I got a little bit fired up this week. I was interviewed by The Philadelphia Inquirer about pop star Sabrina Carpenter’s secondhand dress and the ethics of reselling and it just kind of ignited something in me.
Look, I grew up in a wildly different way than most people. I was raised by a single mom (my grandmother, who was only 40 years older than me, so the same age as many of my friend’s parents and pretty much accepted by everyone as my mom) who had a million side hustles. One of them was reselling.
In the 1990s, she started a business buying and selling containers of (new) furniture that were lost in transit — shabby chic stuff that, at the time, wasn’t available in Northeast Florida. But she’d catch the containers that were lost en route to New York or LA, and host these huge sales on our lawns where her friends and neighbors could buy all the designer furniture.
It started as a fun, one-off event, but she sold out of everything in one day. So she did it again a few months later, and again a few months after that. And, eventually, she contacted the company who produced the shabby chic furniture and purchased wholesale from them directly.
She didn’t have a brick and mortar location, so our living room became the store. Everything had a price tag. But because she could only source large case goods from this company, she needed accessories (lamps, art, etc.) to fill the space. So, she’d go to thrift stores, estate sales, and live auctions and drag me with her.
When she outgrew the living room, she rented out several spaces in an antique gallery and became their largest vendor. Years later, she opened a freestanding brick and mortar on a busy stretch of road in Jacksonville Beach, Florida.
I explain the backstory because it heavily influences my views on reselling. My grandmother was a single mom, with various sources of income, and reselling became a really important one — a way for her to have a great life without relying on a husband economically.
My views on reselling have always been: go for it. If you’re skilled at selling, if you have a vision about how to market something or how to style something in a way that inspires others to buy it, do it. And frankly, I think a lot of the criticism toward resellers is largely directed at women — because when men resell stocks, or cars, or homes, or whatever it may be, they are lauded as “smart” and “brilliant.” But women who do it on even a smaller scale are seen as calculating.
The word “reseller” is used similarly to the word “influencer,” which is often used as a pejorative ascribed to women. “Influencer” conveys a woman who makes money taking selfies, while men who also “influence” are more often described as “content creators.”
The bottom line, when it comes to reselling vintage, is that there is more than enough old stuff to go around. There’s an endless supply, and reselling a thrifted chair, or a weird painting that no one else wants, is not going to make the demand dwindle.
One day, maybe I can give a masterclass on reselling. I am passionate about women developing interesting streams of income and carving out a financial identity for themselves because it’s something I was taught to do from the time I was a small child.
But until then, I’ll just stand proudly on my soapbox, screaming into the void (TikTok) about why reselling isn’t as evil as some people say it is.
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Now for this week’s letter.
I got an insane Maitland-Smith trompe l'oeil armoire at Goodwill last week and it prompted me to think about the other pieces I would die for. So, in the spirit of being passionate about vintage, I’m sharing the items that are on my vintage bucket list. Full disclosure: this list is ever-evolving but these are pieces always at the tippy-top.
Designed by Italian architect and designer Ettore Sottsass, this colorful table lamp resembles the silhouette of a duck. I found a set of four Sottsass-designed dining chairs (produced for the iconic brand Knoll) at a flea market once, so I have faith I will find this piece one day. Manifesting it.
These Charlotte Perriand wall sconces are somehow both utilitarian and also mighty sexy. And highly collectible, typically retailing for upwards of $2,000. Holding out for a pair at an estate sale or something.
A Vivai Del Sud rattan mirror or screen is high on my list and feels like the most likely find, as I live in Florida and I have actually seen these before (years ago, at estate sales, before I really truly knew what I was doing).
I am always on the hunt for exhibition posters featuring the work of my favorite artists. As much as I’d love to find an original Cy Twombly painting hiding in a Goodwill, I’m thinking I will settle for an exhibition poster like the one above.
I love that Franco Albini’s rattan and bamboo mirrors were produced in the 1960s, yet look incredibly modern and fit with nearly any aesthetic, from boho to midcentury modern.
I am a sucker for tromp l'oeil and love things that are made to look soft and draped but are actually hard and made of plaster (is this an analogy for my soft exterior and hard-as-nails interior? Probably something Freudian in there). This Gaetano Pesce chair fits the bill perfectly.
I would simply die if I found a table even remotely resembling this one, styled in the manner of Armand-Albert Rateau. It’s perfect. Love the patina.
I believe these chairs — called the “Monk” and designed by Afra and Tobia Scarpa in the 1970s — to be the drop-dead sexiest chairs ever made. Would give a kidney for a full set.
Rapid Fire
What I’m eating: I made these garlicky white beans over the weekend with a couple of minor adjustments (I used dried navy beans, which I soaked for several hours, rather than canned beans — and I added a big handful of spinach at the end so it barely wilted. I served them with salmon and it was perfect.
Something I bought recently: I have extolled the virtues of Maelove’s skincare many time; (the vitamin C serum is a product I will repurchase again and again, it is truly perfect and so affordable). I have to add the Calming Serum to the list of excellent products that don’t break me out or cause a rash. In fact, another product gave me a rash on one side of my face, so I washed my face, patted this on and my skin was clear by the morning.
A worthy read: I spoke to global market research firm Ipsos for a lengthy feature in their monthly foresight magazine, What the Future. It’s all about how influencers are shifting the culture around thrift shopping. You can read the full issue here.
And I’ll leave you with this…