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Why Buy Vintage...


Vintage champagne glasses, a champagne bucket and a decanter on a tray.
Buying vintage gives you an opportunity to express your personal style

Preloved, secondhand, thrift. From clothes to furniture and, of course, barware, buying vintage is very much in fashion these days but it wasn’t always the case. Secondhand shops were once viewed with suspicion, particularly by the snootier elements of society but something has changed over the last few years. We explore some of the reasons why vintage is having a moment.


Environment

In a society obsessed with consumerism, where having the latest thing is a potent status symbol, pollution and waste have become enormous problems, environmental factors are certainly a driving factor behind the secondhand trend, especially for the younger generation. Conscious of the impact of modern manufacturing processes on the climate, many people are eschewing mass production and turning to secondhand goods. Instead of filling landfills with waste, they’re discovering vintage treasures while doing their bit for the environment.


Quality

While we certainly appreciate the green argument, there are plenty of other reasons to explore the secondhand market. As a rule, older pieces are better made. We find that the quality of vintage items is often far superior to that of a similar modern items.


Price

It can be a less expensive way to shop. Unless you’re looking for a particularly rare or collectable item, the chances are that you’ll find something lovely for far less than its modern equivalent. If you buy wisely, you may even find that the value of your purchase increases over time. Even early furniture from IKEA is collectable now.



History

Every item has a story to tell and one of the things we enjoy most about collecting vintage is the history we uncover. Sometimes that may just involve learning about a particular manufacturer or period style but often we get to know the history of individual pieces like the decanter set one lady had been coveting in a shop window and which her colleagues bought for her as a leaving present from her job.


Style

Buying vintage is a wonderful way to free yourself from the tyranny of trends and discover one-off items and a real sense of personal style. Whether you end up collecting pieces from a particular period or mixing and matching, you can create something that’s unique to you. When it comes to cocktail paraphernalia, I’m a magpie, swooping on anything that catches my eye. My real passion is midcentury design but that doesn’t mean I can’t pair my 1950s glassware with my much-loved Art Deco cocktail cabinet or a modern mixing jug.


The great architect and designer Josef Frank developed a theory he called ‘Accidentism’, in which he rejected the homogeneity of the modernist movement in favour of individual expression, encouraging people to “design our surroundings as if they were originated by chance”. The current interest in all things vintage fits perfectly with this. By choosing items you love, regardless or where or which era they’re from, you are expressing your personality and unique tastes.


Fun

We’re the kind of people who love nothing more than trawling the shelves of charity shops and picking over the contents of boxes at car boot sales. There’s a real sense of satisfaction when you unearth a treasure. It doesn’t have to be unusual or valuable, just something that resonates with you and if you’ve managed to snag a bargain, even better.


But, of course, that’s not for everyone and that’s where Muddled comes in. We’ve done the hard work, sourcing everything from glasses to bar tools so head over to our shop and see what catches your eye.

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