Old Money Antiques The Kind Of Pieces You Do Not Go Looking For But Always Take Home
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Time to read 2 min
There is a certain kind of booth you stumble into at Round Top and immediately feel it. The layering, the story, the sense that every piece has lived a life before it found its way here.
That is exactly what you will find at Old Money Antiques.
A Leap That Was Meant to Be
Mandi Swauger did not begin in the antiques world.
After a long career in optometry, she took a leap in 2012 and opened her first shop with just 2000 dollars and a month to month lease. She told herself if she made it past the first month, it was meant to be.
She did.
Years later, after navigating the highs and lows that come with building something of your own, she found her way to Round Top as a buyer in 2018.
“I did everything wrong,” she says. “But I loved it anyway. I was hooked.”
Hooked on the people. The energy. The kind of place where strangers quickly become something more.
Finding A Home in Excess 2
By March 2020, she had the opportunity to sell at Excess 2, one of Round Top’s most beloved venues.
The show was canceled, but something else happened instead.
In uncertain times, a group of vendors far from home became a kind of family.
“They took two people stranded far from home and we all became a little family helping one another, feeding one another.”
It is the kind of story you hear often in Round Top, but rarely in quite this way.
A Point of View You Cannot Fake
Ask Mandi what she looks for when sourcing and her answer says everything.
“If it is weird, wonderful, and well done I want it.”
And you can feel that in her booth. From the Pendleton fabrics, to the vintage leather jackets, to the vintage sports memorabilia, to the wooden pieces etched with history.
It is not overly polished or overly curated. It is layered in a way that feels instinctive, like pieces found over time, not styled all at once.
From one of a kind antiques to embroidered Round Top sweatshirts she has had made for the show, everything feels meant to be taken home and lived with.
You may also remember the bull ring bracelets we made viral a few shows ago. Mandi has always done a great job of combining the antiques and one of a kind pieces Round Top is known for mixed with new novelty pieces as well.
The Pieces You Remember
Some vendors remember the pieces. Others remember the people.
Mandi remembers both.
Like the carousel surround she sourced for a client, finalized while the client was ringing the bell at the stock exchange.
Or the everyday moments, the conversations that start as small talk and turn into something more.
“I would say the heart to heart conversations with strangers that become friends is my favorite thing.”
Find Old Money
Excess 2 Middle Row Endcap on the left
Instagram: @OldMoneyAntiques
