Brimfield 2022: Latest Trends in Antiques & Collectibles

Visiting the Brimfield 2022 Antique Flea Market is an opportunity to check out first-hand what’s hot in the antiques and collectibles world. Read on to learn about the latest trends.

Vintage Hipster Clothing

Vintage clothing is hot with both sellers and buyers. Sellers love the category as it’s easy to source new inventory at Savers and the like. Clothing is small and easy to ship if you sell online. The category lends itself to fantastic pictures on social media, so it’s easy to rack up “Likes” and “Shares.” As for buyers, they are aplenty, ranging from casual browsers making impulse purchases to movie productions buying out garments from a particular era. Movie productions typically send in three people: one to select the clothes, one to pay for the clothes, and one to pick up the clothes. With all the recent award-winning movies like Licorice Pizza showcasing vintage 1970s trends, there are a lot of actors to be outfitted.

Christmas Blow Molds

Every booth I saw with a Christmas blow mold had either a dealer or buyer talking about them. What are blow molds? They are those giant, hard plastic light-up holiday decorations for your lawn or roof. A seasoned dealer at Quaker Acres with a booth full of vintage toys said that blow molds are one of her hottest items. She said you used to be able to pick them up on trash day on the side of the road, but now they are few and far between. A buyer in another booth was reminiscing about her mom’s Christmas display full of blow molds. While many other antique Christmas merchandise doesn’t appeal to modern buyers, collectors still love retro Christmas items. Blow molds, aluminum Christmas trees, and Shiny-Brite ornaments have all maintained their value over the past couple of years. However, blow molds aren’t for everyone as they are a pain to store. At least they aren’t heavy. Blow molds have the nostalgia factor and Christmas spirit for holiday lovers. They provide some jumbo-sized joy in a lightweight plastic package.

Recycling and Repurposing

Recycling and repurposing were hot at Brimfield 2022. There were bins and boxes and barrels full of wooden spools, glass bottles, metal tins, glass marbles, linens, and more. I heard the refrain, “I could make something with that,” too many times to count. Shoppers at Brimfield were shopping not just for unique items to put in their homes but also for inspiration for their arts and craft endeavors.

Architectural salvage, big and small, was everywhere, from old piano parts to bins of watch faces. Some sellers did a full circle, crafting salvaged material into new products like old metal saws carved into signage. A dealer came from Chattanooga with a truckload of architectural salvage remade into patriotic-themed signage. My favorite repurposing seller is the established Brimfield Quaker Acre dealer Betsy Wilbur with her Tin Lizzy Dolls.

Storage Glassware

Storage glassware was in-demand and challenging to come by at Brimfield 2022. Sellers have a hard time sourcing it because of the explosion in Pyrex’s popularity. Pyrex refrigerator dishes are few and far between, especially those with intact lids. However, buyers love it. Storage glassware is more environmentally friendly than plastic storage, and some of it is easy to run through the dishwasher. However, it’s best not to run the colored Pyrex through the dishwasher. You can even cook in some storage glassware. Older refrigerator manufacturers lured buyers by offering complimentary glass storage containers with an appliance purchase.

While plastic straws are out of fashion these days, you can always store those heavy aluminum straws in one of those diner straw dispensers.

Creepy Stuff

Growing up in a world filled with environmental devastation, war, and plague has led Millennials and Gen Z youngsters to adopt a sense of morbidity and irony in their collecting spirit. As a result, creepy and weird stuff was abound at Brimfield 2022, in both larger items like furniture to smaller objects like taxidermy mice. This younger generation may not be excited to outfit their tiny city apartments with the large, brown furniture they grew up with, but they may find space for a skeleton armchair. Mannequins were also all over the place, priced high, and displayed in humorous tableaux. Some mannequins were lying on the ground as if they couldn’t take the heat. If buyers didn’t want to commit to a full-size figure, mannequin body parts such as heads and feet were also available. Notably, dealers found themselves with fast and high sales of more portable creepy items, including memento mori such as mourning jewelry, thanks to the deep pockets of many millennials and Gen Z kids. No wonder there’s a whole eBay category called “Weird Stuff.”

Interested in Amy Moyer’s favorite finds at Brimfield? Click here to read about several interesting items she found at the May 2022 event.

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Amy Moyer is the proprietor of Antmuffin: Art, Antiques & Collectibles (www.antmuffin.com). She holds a B.A. in Visual Art from Brown University and lives in Boston.

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