Let's talk about zips for a moment Such a brilliant invention that simplified the way clothing was fastened, the zip as we know it today was invented in 1917 by Swedish-American engineer Gideon Sundback, building on an 1893 design by Whitcomb Judson used for fastening footwear, which in turn built on an 1851 invention by Elias Howe.
My love of zips is second only to my love of buttons, and my collection is housed in a set of wooden drawers, the handles of which are made from old zips, colour coded according to the contents.
The zips that I have are all pre-loved, and have come from charity shops or boot fairs, been gifted by other people from their sewing boxes, or have been removed from damaged clothing. There's a mix of plastic and metal; I haven't thought to count them, but as you can see from the pictures above, every drawer is full.
Let me show you my favourite zips though, stored separately from all the others:
A stylish collection of vintage deadstock called "Lightning Zipp"; just take a look at the quality, and the funky design of the plastic version, not to mention the paper sleeve each zip is individually packaged in:
I'm torn between wanting to showcase these beauties in Doodlebags' products, and wanting to hold on to them forever, simply because they are so gorgeous. If I do manage to part with them and use them as part of our work, this is the kind of workmanship you can expect to see:
