In the days when clothing wasn't as disposable as they are today, I'd like to think we took better care of them. We used less chemicals, and cleaned them with sheer brute force; we also mended them, and wore them for more than a season or two. We had a longer and more involved relationship with our clothing. (I surprised Ben by showing him how to use a wooden egg to mend socks and stockings.)Martin Rodgers at Arts Marketing suggested we all take a look at the proposed changes to our laws regarding on-selling of art works, and compensation/loyalty to the artists. If you're a painter or a sculptor and someone buys your work as an investment, and on-sells it for a great profit, the current government thinks you should get a share of the profit.
I don't think it's a bad idea if the value of your art work can increase so drastically in your lifetime, though I have serious misgivings about the kind of people who buy art as a form of investment. Textiles aren't bought/sold for investment, though, and the best I can hope for is a fraying piece of shawl getting handed down to a daughter, or a son, or a dog, after a decade or two of loving use.
The photo is of three lovely leather cases for men's detachable shirt collars, found at Richmond Antiques & Curios; each case was around NZ$35. The man at the shop said some cases have a collar left in them, but none of these three did. I didn't come home with them only because I couldn't chose one, and it felt terrible to separate the trio, each one with different kind of charm. (Ben surprised me by guessing straight away what these cases were for; I had thought they were for small hats for women, the kind with the piece of veil in front.)
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