I'm Not a Rental

 

It happens all the time, but it happens largely this time of year when people plan their costumes for the Halloween fun. What is it you ask? People ask if they can borrow pieces from my vintage collection. Pieces from my personal collection and pieces that I have listed for sale in my little online shop. 

The answer I give? 

I say NO, NO, NO!

I never loan out pieces from my collection, personal or otherwise because I know I will never get them back in the same condition in which they were given. Years ago, a friend at a reenactment wanted to borrow one of my hats because she thought it would have been the perfect finishing touch for her suit. I told her no. She pressed a few more times, and I gave her the same answer each time. By the time the event rolled around she had managed to borrow hat from someone else. The end of the weekend, that hat she borrowed had lost its netting, gained a couple holes, had gotten crushed, and somehow, she managed to get the hat caught in a tree. I was so glad I had not loaned out my hat to her because if I had, I would have been the one with the destroyed hat. 

Some vintage is delicate and needs special handling. I am convinced that not everyone knows that and they think any old piece of clothing will hold up like any poodle skirt from Party City. Well, it probably won't. Some of the vintage I have collected has quarks. Like a zipper liking to be zipped a certain way. A hat that likes to be pinned in place in a certain spot. These little intimate things are things only an owner knows and are things that if the garment was loaned out . . . that zipper could get busted and that hat damaged. That is another reason why my vintage wardrobe does not get loaned out. 

I have spent well over a decade wearing and collecting vintage. I am very proud of the collection I have been able to curate. I shudder to think at how many hours I have spent sourcing out that *just right* piece. If I were to loan out and item, that person has no idea and has no appreciation of all the effort it took to find that one item. Some items are also one of a kind; a duplicate would be difficult to find if at all. If I loaned something out and it was damaged, it would be lost forever. 

One time a blog reader and a follower on my FB reached out to me for help. She had loaned out a dress to a friend and when she got it back it had ketchup stains and reeked of body odor. We managed to clean it up, but that dress was never the same. That one-of-a-kind piece is not forever damaged because the wearer did not show any care to the dress. 

 I try hard not to think about the financial sacrifice and commitment I have made to this wardrobe! Yikes! If you collect and wear vintage, then you know it can be expensive (of course, it can be done on a budget too but that is another topic for another day). Due to all the expense, I have put into my vintage wardrobe, I have a really hard time loaning out anything to anyone. If you want to wear an expensive and unusual 1940s tilt hat, then you put in the money to buy it and you put in the hours to find one. I think if some really knew the effort it took to source and afford such pieces, they would understand better why I am not a rental. 

Vintage, good vintage, is not always affordable. Not to sound like a bitch but I have made a lot of financial sacrifices to afford the pieces I do have. I have some pieces that took me months to save up for. MONTHS! Why would I put in all the months of saving and scrimping just to let someone else wear that hat or dress? If you want to wear it, then you start saving and scrimping and making sacrifices. Those pieces are more than just pieces of vintage; they are like trophies of my effort. So, to let someone else enjoy that effort, someone who hasn't done the work, wear those pieces just doesn't do it for me.   I know there are some who say I should share in my good fortune of a beautiful wardrobe . . .But I do not care, I do not share anything in my wardrobe. Don't like it? Too bad. 

I do sell vintage. I sell only what I no longer wear for whatever reason. I call it decluttering and I do not plan on making it a long-term business. Just because I sell, does not mean I rent. I know there are a couple places that sell that will entertain loaning out pieces, but I do not do that. I also do not take returns because I have been around long enough to know that people wear an item once and then ask for a return. If you buy it, then it's yours. Wear it, enjoy it as long as you want, then YOU can sell it or do as you please with it. 

Sorry for the bitchy rant but it is that time of year again. I am not a rental, and I never loan out my wardrobe. If you do and have had good results, then great for you. You are fortunate. I cannot say that I am the same and quite frankly, I would rather be a bitch than someone's loaner closet.