Guest Curator: Paper Magazine’s Alexis Swerdloff

swerdle

Story by swerdle

Published on Feb 03, 2010 in Shop

Photo by joettamaue

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Alexis Swerdloff is the executive editor of PAPER magazine and PAPERMAG.com. She lives in Brooklyn.

For my job at PAPER I spend a lot of time “curating” people — finding up-and-coming actors, musicians, designers, artists, and writers to feature in the magazine (like the Etsy crew, who I wrote about back in 2007!). It is rare that I get to curate THINGS, which is why I had so much fun putting together this little Etsy guide.

 

 

Ritz Cracker Necklace

There is something intrinsically hilarious about wearing a brass Ritz cracker around your neck (and I love that the folks at GarnettJewelry included little flecks of salt!). $24.

 

Pears by Christopher Bettig

I was just over at my friends’ house and noticed that they had a vintage print of various pears hanging over their bed. I was struck by how elegant pears are and realized that I would like something pear-related hanging in my home. This print by LA-based artist Christopher Bettig is a really nice shade of green and kind of mid-century modern in its aesthetic. By themountainlabel, $40.

 

Felt Food Hot Dog

I find BeckyM’s felt hot dog very adorable and I’m now officially obsessed with tiny felt food. By BeckyM, $8.75.

 

Anais School Girl Dress – Navy

By zorya, $37.

 

Vintage 80s Short PUFF Sleeve Secretary Dress

I have rarely met a striped, polka-dotted or navy blue dress I didn’t like. Just ask anyone who knows me — the number of dresses I own in those various iterations verges on ridiculous. Here are two that I found and liked. From VonlenskaVintage, $45.

 

vtg. COACH large bucket bag brown leather like new

From storyofthings, $110.

 

Vintage Woven Navajo Purse

From sarabeat, $22.

 

Bow Clutch/Purse Silver Vintage

I am also a crazy vintage bag lady. Here are three that I found (and now covet). Etsy is a really good place to find reasonably priced vintage Coach bucket bags! By WillowCreekSparrow, $26.

 

Rebecca

Recently I have been very drawn to black and white art. Etsy has loads of simple, graphic black and white drawings as well as vintage black and white photographs. Barcelona-based artist nosideup makes lovely drawings of the backs of women’s heads. According to the description, “Jo liked being rained on when she was bathing in the sea, and she liked apples in autumn, with cinnamon.” By nosideup, $20.

 

Miniature Portrait of Jonathan Richman–Framed

I love this miniature portrait of Modern Lovers frontman Jonathan Richman. By gelgud, $65.

 

Sailing Caps

This drawing is quite sweet. Kierston Essenpries actually did a year-long series of drawings in PAPER back in 2008. By KierstenEssenpreis, $40.

 

1933 Miss Annette Kellerman’s Feats Of Diving And Swimming Illustration

From SurrenderDorothy, $24.89.

 

1940s 1950s modern woman at refrigerator framed photograph / art work

From jennypennyvintage, $30.

 

Little Brown Barf Bag, limited edition screenprint

While trawling around Etsy I found two very rude items. The “Little Brown Barf Bag,” a send-up of Bloomingdales’ iconic “Little Brown Bag,” was made by Brooklyn-based Sarah Nicole Phillips. By snphillips, $25.

 

bored…

Fellow Brooklyn artist joettamaue sells dainty (and occasionally subversive) embroidered items in her Bird and Bear Etsy store. The word “bored” hand-stitched on a flowery doily — come on, what is better than that? $145.

 

Vintage Brass Mouse

This vintage brass mouse didn’t fall into any of my categories, but I just had to put this little guy on my list. Amazing! From thesundaytimesmarket, $18.

 

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