“If your house was burning, what would you take with you? It’s a conflict between what’s practical, valuable and sentimental. What you would take reflects your interests, background and priorities. Think of it as an interview condensed into one question.”

Such is the prompt for The Burning House, a website dedicated to asking creatives a simple question, with surprisingly revealing answers. Reflecting on the question more personally, I think it’s an important exercise. What are our priorities, and how do we really define a need? As much as love my books, vinyl, gear and vintage hoops memorabilia, I’d find it hard to justify much of it as a necessity. Although I don’t know if I’m quite at the zen level where I wouldn’t be booking it out with a handful of LP’s and that Jeff Hamilton Bulls jacket. Looking at some of these responses though, in the event of an apocalyptic natural disaster, I’m sticking with Marines over fashion bloggers.

Name: Phillip T. Annand
Age: 21
Location: New Jersey
Occupation: Funk Purveyor. Designer. Tree climber.
Website: http://www.madburyclub.com & www.theawardtour.com

List:

• Knit Poncho: (I have never seen another human being with this piece, and if I’m going to be walking around in a post-apocalyptic world, with all my worldly possessions burned to the ground, I’d prefer to do it bare chested with a poncho on.)
• Visvim FBT Shoes: (Comfort, and they cost way too much to let burn)
• Burritos: (Hunger)
• Award Tour Knit Beanie/ Vintage Philadelphia Eagles Cap: (Weather dependent)
• Family Portrait: (Family is really the only thing I’d worry about getting out. Everything else is secondary)
• Pendleton Shirt: (Channeling the spirit of the Aztec to survive after the fire)
• Vintage Champion Jersey Tee: (The only t-shirt I’d need for the rest of my life)
• Belt: (Keep the pants from sagging, keeping grandmother proud)
• Seals Sticker: (Necessary humor in times of tragedy)
• Penfield Wallet. (Hopefully with a fair amount of money in it)
• Military Waist Pack: (Carrying all of this junk)
• Comic Collection/Select Records/Select Books: (X-men, America, and Swiss Family Robinson are pictured)
• Hard drive: (No need for computer if I’ve got this)
• iPhone (Granted someone else is bringing a charger, this is probably the only thing I need out of all of this)

Name: Luca Cavallaro
Age: 34
Location: New York
Occupation: Designer
Website: http://officineottiche.tumblr.com/

List:

• Alma Lou, she would even be enough.

If I have time:

• Hard drive, for memories that my brain failed to store.
• Sunglasses, I feel naked without them.
• Wallet, a gift from my wife.
• My father’s old camera, I promised him to take good care.
• Sneaker, emergency orange.
• In the black box, my vintage eyewear collection (favorite only).
• Phone.
• Vintage leather mask, in case I have to protect my face from the flames.
• Dieter Rams alarm clock, I don’t wake up on my own.
• Orange hummer, if I have to break some windows during the escape.
• Life buoy ring, in case of flooding. In Italy we say: “le sfighe non vengono mai da sole”, misfortunes never come alone.

Name: Karin Öst
Age: 24
Location: Göteborg, Sweden
Occupation: Vintage shop owner, environmental science student.
Website: http://www.lilyofthevalley.se/

List:

Okay, I guess this sound a little bit paranoid but I keep this suitcase packed at all times, just in case there actually is a fire! Not all of those things are always in the suitcase, but most are.

• Photoalbums and diaries from my life
• Collection of antique photographies, and vintage photos of my family and ancestors
• Vintage tooth model my parents got me because I have a dentist/tooth fetish.
• 50s gingham jumpsuit.
• Favorite shoes.
• The plush seal Sälas I got when I was a newborn.
• Small paintings by my boyfriend who is an artist -http://www.frejnicolaisensiden.se/
• Vivienne Westwood jewellery I got from grandma when I graduated.
• Blue 40s-50s leather gloves with silver bows.
• Antique and highly amusing book on human sexuality, has stories about how you die in a “nameless horror” from masturbation. Gift from my father, who refused to let go of it until a year back or so.
• Tape with Vem ska trösta knyttet? by Tove Jansson.
• And the suitcase itself, which was given to me by my friend Natalie, who owned it and named it Daphne before she moved back to Canada.

Name: Brian Thomas
Age: 28
Location: Chicago
Occupation: Copywriter
Website: www.thewordfurnace.com

List:

• KHS Pursuit track bike
• Seagull custom backpack
• Bike repair tools & pouch
• Pilgrim At Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
• Patagonia Torrentshell jacket
• iPad
• My Army medals
• Moleskine sketchbook
• Pocket knife
• Surefire E2D defender flashlight
• Acme pen
• Wegner watch– it just won’t die
• Passport
• My last photo of my parents together
• My Army combat knife (with flint and whetstone in sheath pocket)

Name: Hollister Hovey
Location: Brooklyn, New York
Occupation: Interior Designer
Website: http://hollisterhovey.blogspot.com/

List:

• Top hat box from Constantinople – my key purchase on my trip to Istanbul. I practically cried when the flight attendant forced me to gate check it.
• Driving gloves – They’re perfectly broken in and barely warm at all, but I wear them all winter.
• Hand-painted 1940s Louis Vuitton suitcase – a recent find and maybe the coolest thing I’ve ever purchased.
• 1920s Danish portrait of mother and child – the first painting I bought on eBay. It’s such a sweet tender scene – with great little sailor outfits.
• Prada clutch – I went into the Prada shop to buy perfume and came out with this. It was the first in a long, growing line of impulse purse purchases. I regret none of them.
• Scottish military print – a set of six of these used to hang in the guest bedroom of my childhood home. They now hang on my walls and I’d grab them all. The frames have this wonderful little red line that makes them pop off the wall perfectly.
• H monogrammed needlepoint pillow – my parents used to needlepoint together for hours while watching TV. They made this one. It’s backed in rich tan velvet – and if a person has one, it’s my favorite pillow of all time.
• Taxidermy black bear head – rescued from the wall of a wonderful old bookshop in Camden, ME. I’ve named him, well, Camden.
• Hermes stable belt – the only thing I could afford on my first trip to Hermes in Paris. It’s actually a stable belt. For a horse. Thank goodness it wraps around twice.
• Baule sculpture – my first eBay purchase – ever. The start of one of the slipperiest slopes since the the beginning of the internet.
• Passport – with no where to live, it’s best to get out of Dodge.
• Family photos – I’d take more than two – in fact, they’d be my top priority.
• Glasses – I’m blind as a bat, they’re necessities.
• Porcupine quill box – One of my prized possessions handed down from my mom. It’s sort of been the inspiration for my whole style.

Name: Luca Mariani
Age: 33
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Occupation: Director
Website: www.lucamariani.me

List:

• Mamiya RB67
• Coconut broken with my head
• Macassino Blanco by Gonzalo Malaga
• Wood cow used to make my short film MATU
• Barbie Glitter Head
• Jack Daniel’s with moustaches
• Toy gun
• Snowglobe of Milan