Rescuing and Preserving Values in Vintage Clothing

Abstract

Where previous research into second-hand commodities has focused ondispossession, commodity spheres, and negative contamination, weconsider the post-purchase resingularisation and rituals that consumersundertake to preserve invested meaning. Drawing on data gathered fromphenomenological interviews with vintage clothing enthusiasts inEngland and Wales we provide an account of different types ofcontamination and resingularisation processes. These include new formsof positive and negative contamination where the self becomes a potentialpollutant detracting from a good’s ability to actualise displaced meanings.