Do you remember my post last week – Vintage suitcases as decor: In or out?
I thought of it yesterday when I was walking down Canal Street in New Orleans during a trip to the city for a fantastic journalism conference.
I passed Rubensteins, a high-end, locally owned men’s store, and saw a beautiful window decorated primarily with – you guessed it – vintage suitcases.
I knew instantly I wanted to share some photos with you.
The display was so well done. The suitcases were attached to the walls, almost like shelves. They were stacked on the floor. They were hung from the ceiling. So fun.
And there were some well-dressed mannequins hanging out among the suitcases.
It was very striking.
I wasn’t carrying my camera at the time. (I was actually out trolling for Diet Mountain Dew, which seemed to be strangely unavailable in New Orleans.)
But I did have my iPhone.
So with people staring at me, I shot a bunch of pictures of the window.
Naturally, it was a terrible time of day to do it.
From one angle, the sun was glaring off the windows.
From another, I was getting so much reflection from the shops across the street. (Can you see the trolley reflected in the top photo and the palm tree in the photo at right?)
Still, I wanted to share the fun with you.
These mannequins are looking pretty darn handsome. And I love these suitcases and trunks. It’s making me rethink my doubt about whether they’re still in style.
So after attending more great conference sessions, I headed back to Indianapolis late yesterday and there in the Indy airport were more suitcases – the vintage kind, not the ugly roll-arounds we all use today.
An artist had created a seating vignette in the baggage claim area made entirely of old suitcases – at least that what I thought.
I must admit that it was after midnight and I didn’t look around for the details about the piece. I snapped a couple pictures – including one of my colleague Eric who was traveling with me – and moved on.
But today I looked up some information about the luggage art pieces and discovered they are actually cast bronze with patinas and paint.
They were done by New York artist Ron Baron, who does installation and public art across the country, and the installation is called simply “Baggage Claim.”
Love it!
