On the Radar -- Love Letters

As a designer, it's natural that I love typography.  I collect fonts like I collect junk.  But we Blackbird girls also collect other forms of typography.  We'll get into that in a future Junk Love post, but for today, I wanted to share what other people have been doing with fonts and letters and words.

Vintage letters like this have been wildly popular for the last few years.  We have some similar:

From Elements by Timbers on Etsy, here.

But that trend spawned new love for text.  Here's the round-up:

Tabisso furniture

Door decal from The Vinyl Company on Etsy, here.

Helvetica Scarf from The Little Factory on Etsy, here.

Kate Spade dinnerware.

Mint Design, Fall/Winter 2013

Junk Love Monday: It's Personal

We've established a reputation for loving a lot of junk, in many shapes, colors, and styles, but one feature that elevates our junk love to near-ecstasy is the presence of a monogram on the piece. It can be clothing (especially on the silky lining of a vintage fur piece), jewelry, plates, linens, cigarette holders, vanity sets--as long as it has a pretty letter, we are all for it.

from igetakickoutofyou.me

So can you actually collect monograms? Of course you can. We consider the monogram an almost-lost art form. Modern versions are never as good as the ones from the 30s, 40s, and 50s.

1930s monogram letters, from igetakickoutofyou.me

Our pieces represent many styles and stories, even if they originally belonged to other people, and we love them all. The newest additions are a pair of engraved plates from a jewelry store, with samples of different styles that were available for a customer's initials. We plan to frame them:

Some of the old monogrammed jewelry is gasp-worthy. We buy lockets and watches, in particular, but love pretty much anything with great initials.

treasurebooth on etsy.com

from victorianbuttons on etsy.com

Dior brooch, rubylane.com

The thing that changes a $50 fur from "I don't really need it" to "Help me find a place in the back seat" is a beautiful monogram in the lining. We're suckers. It's true.

1860-1960.com

We always swoon over monograms in the movies. Robes, sweaters, smoking jackets, dresses...we'd die to have them all. Katharine Hepburn can often be seen sporting her character's initials in a bold way:

 And we can't leave out these beauties:

thegetupvintage on etsy.com

etsy.com

20thCenturyFoxy on etsy.com

redangora on etsy.com

On the Radar -- Pep Rally

Photo from Honeys Treasures on Etsy

I've explained how much we Blackbird girls love our monthly dose of periodicals.  Well, one magazine in particular, Country Living, is both our favorite AND our nemesis.  More on the nemesis part later.  That's a different post entirely.  If you don't read Country Living, you should.  Especially if you're a collector.  Their design aesthetic is not necessarily what you would think of as "country".  It's really more eclectic than that -- mixing mid-century, industrial, cottage, and other styles together all the time.  I think they are at their best when it comes to highlighting collectibles and decorating with collections.  Even better than Martha Stewart.  And that's really saying something, because anyone who knows me, knows that Martha is my homegirl! 

Anyway, this summer, we decided to start buying some school related items for our Etsy shop.  We had already found some yearbooks and some pennants, but on our infamous buying trip to Ohio, we bought some patches to add to the mix.  The pennants and a yearbook sold in our booth at a Vintage Flea, and we've been selling the yearbooks steadily in the shop for the past month.  Well, lo and behold, what's featured in Country Living this month, under the headline, " The Old College Try"?  Yep.  School stuff.  Patches and pennants, yearbooks, and other miscellaneous college collectibles.

1950s Wool Blankets, Country Living, October 2012

If you want to know what the trends are in collecting, just take a look in this magazine.  Seriously.  If it's not a trend before the magazine is published, then just wait -- a few months after something is featured, it's on EVERYONE'S radar.  Working as closely as we do with collectors and their junk, we Blackbird girls start to notice patterns in what people buy.  And when things start flying out of the shop -- we know it's been featured somewhere.  And here in the south, it's usually Country Living.

From Red Line Vintage

From It Is What It Was on Etsy

Whether you are looking for your alma mater or just want to add some school coolness to your decor or wardrobe, there's tons of options when it comes to college memorabilia.  And since we told you that it's hot here at Four and Twenty (well, and you know, it's also in Country Living), it's going to start showing up more and more.

Check out our school junk at our Etsy shop:

From Blackbird Antiques NC on Etsy

From Blackbird Antiques NC