i heard gwen of bugheart had some great collections and thanks to lisa we connected and i'm so thrilled she decided to share hers here. this is such a great collection. for one, the room it must take to keep them all and then the romantic thought of a train case. her vintage skirts too are beautiful which she displays by wearing them! here's her thoughts on them both. check out gwen's etsy shop for some sweet felted clutches!)


train cases:

train cases are
an obsolete piece of luggage
originally designed
to carry women’s cosmetics
and fit under the train seat.

why you collect these items
and how your collection started?
my train case collection
began with my love of
my mother’s black 1960s train case
that she would pack with cosmetics
before she went on a long trip.



how do you display them or
would like to display them?
i live in a tiny apartment in dc,
so i don’t have room
for collections that don’t
serve a function.
i use train cases
to organize things-
mostly cameras,
and art/knitting supplies.
i display them all
on my bookshelves
among the books.

my dream display
is a wall of shelves
designed to fit each one
so i could display them
in rows by year/brand.



what piece are you most looking for,
and what piece would complete your collection?
i am always looking
for train cases
that are unusual colors.

what are your favorite pieces in the collection?
my gray “tiara” american tourister case

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katasha’s unusuals skirts:

this company is
based out of Vermont
(Wilmington and Brattleboro)
and all the patterns
are original silkscreened fabrics.
it seems that
they produced
mostly wrap skirts
until the mid-70s
or 80s
and sold them
to boutiques.




why you collect these items and how your
collection started?
for a long time i have
collected wrap skirts
much like my mother wore
when i was little.
my katasha’s unusual’s collection
began with finding
a yellow bunny skirt
at a thrift store in nc.
i was attracted to
the bold patterns
and silkscreened fabric.
i love silkscreened fabrics
like vintage marimekko.




how do you display them or would like to display
them?
i wear them!

what piece are you most looking for, and what
piece would complete your collection?
i am constantly finding new designs,
mostly on ebay.
just last week
i found a skirt with
a print of pigs eating corn!

what are your favorite pieces in the collection?
my favorite is
the yellow bunny
but i am also
smittened with
the blue giraffe pattern.

besides this collection, if you could collect
anything in the world, what would it be?
if money was no object-
joesph cornell boxes
or
vintage biology educational models.