Vintage shopping, Braniff style

When Angelica Navarro throws a dinner party, her guests eat off of plates that are older than she is. This isn’t her grandma’s china, though. Navarro owns a full service of dinnerware from Braniff airlines, plus silverware. And that’s not all. Over the past three years, Navarro has collected uniforms, blankets, playing cards, swizzle sticks and just about anything she could find from the defunct carrier. The hobby started with a passion for mid-century modern design. She discovered Braniff’s fashion-forward philosophy while researching Alexander Girard’s textile designs. Braniff hired Girard in the ’60s as part of its “The end of the plain plane” campaign. He redesigned everything from spoons to soaps to the aesthetics of the airplanes themselves. “I started reading about Braniff, and I was hooked,” Navarro says. Braniff had a glamour and luxury opposite of “flying in a sardine can,” Navarro says. Some of the collection has come from eBay, but that’s getting expen-