Snake Q&A 012: Brandon Portelli / Randy's Garments
Snake Q&A 012: Brandon Portelli / Randy's Garments
Polo, $2 deadstock Be True To Your Schools, a secret Astoria spot and more
Snake is a weekly newsletter covering severe deals and knowledge, mostly in furniture. For a representative sample, click here for the most recent auction rundown, and here for the most recent designer rundown.
Now at Snake: Every other Friday or so an interview with a person in good standing of the newsletter whose taste in vintage, furniture, collectibles and adjacent fields is worth celebrating and learning from. Sellers, buyers, set decorators, artists, adjacents, etc…
Here’ the 12th…
Brandon Portelli | IG (Randy’s) | Queens | observer collector designer | website
Brandon is a head, deep into an alley of vintage aesthetics and practice that is not seen much of lately. He runs/is Randy’s Garments—they’re great, the 7-pocket jeans are a near-classic—one feeds into the other. I read an interview decades ago with a videogame designer, early 2000s, who was behind Halo or something similar—not sure his name—a newer, technical game. He said he only plays Pong. Feels like that.
Q&A 012
Fav flea market?
Swap Shop (Sunrise, Fl.)
Best flea market day ever—what did you get?
I’ve never had any insane success at fleas, unfortunately, but some of my favorite memories are from the Margate flea, which is in my hometown. My and my homie Shane would ride our Diamondbacks every weekend with a Sony Handycam and try to reenact everything we saw in this movie, called Jackass, that had just come out.
Best eBay purchase?
I've been uncontrollably buying gear on the Bay for a solid decade at this point, so I can't pick just one item. To counter that statement I'd have to say a 60's Rust-Oleum advertising clock that I ended up getting for free since the seller was smart enough to ship it improperly. The face cracked, but nothing a lil Gorilla Glue can't fix. I still have yet to buy the fluorescent light for it.
Best Craigslist find?
Craigslist for me has always led to garage sales, and I can't think of anything specific. Many years ago I got a RL2000 Ski Bear knit. This isn't my best find but one that always resonated with me because of the listing photo. The lady was wearing it in her screen enclosed patio hard body. She actually bought it new in 1999 and I convinced her & her husband over the phone to make a paypal account so I can pay them. I think I got them down to $75
Best LiveAuctioneers find?
What’s that?
IG seller account you hang out on/look at their stuff the most?
Thing you most regret passing on?
Two of the same item... A&F Safari Jackets for about 10% of what they're going for these days...
Both listed about a year apart OBO. For extra relish points I always make an offer even if the item is already ridiculously low priced. Except these got snipped within a few minutes & now I'm answering this question
Best thing you got for insanely cheap?
Original 1985 Iowa Dunks in box w/ both sets of laces pulled about an hour away from the university while I was out picking in Iowa with my man Jacob recently.
Shout out to my brother Tomas for ID'ing them instantly. I've never really been into sneakers & don't care about any of that. I would have left them if it wasn't for his assist via iMessage.
Best thing you overpaid for?
Never that.
Favorite piece of furniture you own?
I guess the tall orange Padova trolley I just got.
Actually probably the best, first, and hopefully last thing I ever overpay for. Man, that guy took me for a ride. I also really love my ‘60s highboy dresser by United Furniture. I can't think of any other domestic furniture companies that were anywhere near this level of craftsmanship, and at the same time I feel like most of their designs did not look American, which is so American?
What’s one thing you own that you won’t ever sell?
Everything has a price. Unless it came from friends & family—then it's stored forever.
Piece you have now that you despise and want to replace?
Honestly not in the game like that. I'm a frivolous man in this field but never buy anything I don’t like for myself. I buy shit I hate to resell all the time.
Who do you think sold more records: Nelly Furtado or Three 6 Mafia?
Memphis Group Milano. Easily. Even though I know they didn’t.
Secret spot that you love but won’t tell anyone about? (please describe as judiciously as possible while omitting any identifiable characteristics)
Currently I don't have one out here. I went to Noguchi recently and was really excited about hitting this spot on Astoria Blvd. afterwards, which I haven't been to in a few years. But unfortunately the windows had for rent signs. It was an entire basement of furniture / chairs and random stuff on the ground floor. Never figured out how he got all of it, because none of it was junk. Wasn’t cheap but really reasonable. I got a ton of good art & photography books, and he always had a consistent pile up of point blankets. It was just one of those spots where you can spend a couple hours looking at shit and not be annoyed.
Rarest/most canon vintage thing you have but never wear?
I can't pick just one thing, but I will say I do not wear 97.7% of my collection.
Most jealousy-inducing thing you’ve seen? (e.g. I saw a guy in Foremost jeans once in 2012 and I’ve never gotten over it)
Everyone that stunts dailey in their USPS uniforms. Also I was out with Chad a couple years ago and it was insanely windy out. This hefty fellow comes trucking down Broadway against the wind in beat up baggy work pants with a TUCKED IN bomber jacket high at the waist, pocket flaps blousing over his waistband, hands in trouser pockets, head titled at the floor just movin against that wind like a machine. I guess I'm more jealous of raw unfiltered style that isn't appropriate for myself… (yet).
Favorite Russian novelist?
I have not yet read a Russian novelist.
Is there a field of collecting are you looking to get into in the near future? (Furniture era/paper/autographs/stamps/model trains/computer shirts/90s Harley shirts/digital watches/lighters/slot cars/faberge eggs/Amish quilts etc)
Honestly I really want to start putting the amount of effort I push into clothing & transfer it over to furniture / objects & almost drop the garms entirely. I just got some really obscure Ralph in the mail recently, looked at it for a few minutes (excitingly) and now it's in the stash…. Won't see or wear any of the items anytime soon. I'd like to start living with what I collect in a new way, & don't think this is possible with clothes.
What’s the item that’s been on your watchlist the longest without you having pulled the trigger?
Original issue BCGs (Birth Control Goggles). I wanted to get the black ones and tint them dark, or maybe transition lenses.
Maybe it's time I make myself look like a real prick.
Is the best vintage/furniture online or in the wild?
Both, but anything found in the wild always wins 10x over. Having a real encounter, thinking of how you're gonna get over on um' while you're speaking with them, and successfully, or unsuccessfully making the pull vs clicking buttons? I'll take that any day. The story is always better than the pull.
Has all the cool shit been discovered? (Yes or no answer only)
Most definitely not.
Any vintage accounts you want to rep or boost? Furniture? (feel free to include local spots)
See above :)
Follow Brandon on Instagram, follow Randy’s.
Snake is a weekly newsletter covering severe furniture deals. Want a representative sample? Click here for the most recent auction rundown, and here for the most recent designer rundown.