Stylish Non-Clothing Things - Page 15

Rob Roy @ TIYC.jpg 444k .jpg file

Their ancestors probably collected eggs during the prehistoric age.

Currently packed away, so no pictures, but perhaps the most stylish thing that I own is a first edition of the first English translation of de Sade's Justine, published by the Olympia Press in Paris in 1952 in yellow wraps (softcovers). My copy was later rebound by some kooky collector (including the original wrapper) in lavender leather with marbled end boards and a blind stamp on the front cover of a skeletal hand dripping blood. It's really quite amazing, and absolutely unique.

Ion Lamp from Schoolhouse Electric Company

 

There is something very appealing about this lamp's simplicity and '50s industrial aesthetic, to which I find myself drawn in general.

Less space = tighter focus to their collecting? When I think English collector, I picture my mother's living room: a large room furnished in rose-pink velvet victorian furniture, with every horizontal surface covered in her collection of Old Paris porcelain. It was pretty terrifying, actually.

Great lamp. Takes the retro-industrial chic thing to its logical conclusion.

Vox Corbera, do you still have the umbrella with the stag horn handle?

You know, that might be true, but I obviously don't have access to their culture like I do the English.

 

If we're discussing well-engineered objects, I think it's appropriate to mention LEGO. The consistency with which and the tolerance to which they are manufactured are both pretty incredible, particularly given a) the quantity of bricks manufactured yearly and b) that they're a children's toy.

^
Yes!

A stylish thing that I owned at one time:



Austro-Daimler / Puch SLE circa 1980 or so

Mine was completely stock: Reynolds 531 frame, Huret derailleur, Rigida rims, Thuret shifters, Weimann brakes. The design wasn't revolutionary, but it is very light, elegant, and the product of a company with a truly storied history. This was my first real road bike, and the largest purchase I'd made at the time (I was about 15). I promptly rode it to death, loading it up with luggage racks and panniers and riding it on an 800 mile road trip from southern Connecticut to Montreal. I did some real damage to that poor bike - the forks were bent into an S by the end of the trip. Even so, I sold it at a small profit it a few years later.

I love these. A truly remarkable piece of engineering - if I had any use for one I'd buy it in a heartbeat.