vin·tage

here's a random ramble for your Wednesday...

i don't really know what the word vintage means but it has been entirely overused in my vocabulary recently.

kinda quirky, yeah? but true.

maybe because every client who explains a vision for an event or marketing piece always says they want a "vintage feel", although they have no idea what it means either and come to find out, it's not even applicable to what they are trying to achieve.

maybe because every light pole and storefront in Nashville has on average 35 different "show posters" all trying to achieve the vintage spirit of beloved hatch show prints.

maybe because i've determined, errr...convinced myself, that my preference in decorating style really is vintage or vintage inspired.

as in I LOVE:
my summer bedspread


my blanket -
made up of my papaw's old pj's, my g'mother's old aprons & dishtowels, etc..


these hand-me-down window panes on my wall


and my heart LEAPS for things like:
this chair & this room


so i decided it was time to educate myself and really find out WHAT vintage means, exactly.

my old friend Webster produced, god forbid, the actual definition which involves something silly like:

"the act or time of harvesting grapes or making wine"

...who knew?

but my go-to-girl Wiki (pedia) pulled through with this most excellent explanation:

"second hand items originating from a previous era"
"items produced before 1920 are referred to as antique, items produced between 1920 -1980 are considered vintage, and retro, short for retrospective, usually refers to items that date from the period 1965-1985."

...who knew?

here's what i know: vintage is trendy.
here's what i learned: vintage is old stuff pretending to be new again
here's my conclusion: vintage, the word, is an almost oxymoron