What I Wore to WORN: Pattern vs. Pattern Edition

By: Casie Brown

What inspired this outfit?
Natasha Wornette: Honestly, I hardly ever wear polka dots and don’t own anything else in that print so I think that my laundry situation probably inspired this outfit, but it’s a nice change from what I usually wear!
Casie Wornette: I felt like showing my tattoo (on my back) and what you don’t see in this photo is that this dress has the most adorable back cut-out that ties in a big bow.

Tell me about one of the items you’re wearing?
Natasha Wornette: These were my very favorite sandals, which I thrifted in Barrie for only three bucks, and sadly I broke them in half biking a few days after this photo. Total bummer.
Casie Wornette: I bought this dress on my way to work last summer, because I didn’t like what I had originally put on. Many a frivolous dress purchases later, I have learnt to make double sure I like what I’m wearing before leaving the house.

What’s the best book to read in this outfit?
Natasha Wornette: Vampires Don’t Wear Polka Dots. (Please say someone remembers those from their pre-teen years; Werewolves Don’t Go To Summer Camp… Anyone?)
Casie Wornette: The pattern on this dress really reminds me of a country picnic, so probably an author from the American South. Something by Flannery O’Connor maybe?

What style icon would wear this outfit?
Natasha Wornette: Mini Mouse.
Casie Wornette: When it comes to plaid dresses, the one that first comes to mind is Charlotte York attending the Highland Fling on Sex and the City.

outfit credits
Natasha Wornette: Dress from H&M and sandals thrifted.
Casie Wornette: Dress from Winners, and shoes from Philistine.

What I Wore to WORN: Cayley’s Swishy Top

By: Serah-Marie McMahon

Cayley James, publishing intern

Tell me about one of the items you’re wearing?
The trade bead bracelets are from my dad, who travels a lot around Canada for work. He’s found amazing hole-in-the-wall boutiques in some pretty far flung places. Both of them are made from antique glass beads once used as currency during the fur trade. I grew up in a family that is slightly obsessed with our national history so these pull at my heart strings.

What inspired this outfit?
There are commercials for Back to School splashed across every conceivable medium. Wool coats are being stocked in every mall across the country and the collective pallete is shifting towards browns and blacks. But the thermometer is still pushing 30 degrees and I’ve got a burnt nose. So this outfit is in the spirit of summers past with arms full of hemp and friendship bracelets, canoe trips and bare feet. Also, I live a 60 minute bike ride from the WORN office, so whatever I wear has to be practical enough to weave through traffic and dodge pedestrians too.

What’s the best book to read in this outfit?
Outlander by Gil Adamson. It’s an epic fugitive tale set during the turn of the century. It’s a potent mix of dark poetic realism and historical fiction, and one the best Canadian novels I’ve read in ages.

shopping credits:
The top is from Anthropologie; I picked it up at the end of last summer during a killer sale. The shorts are from Gap. The earrings are from a little boutique on Kingston Road in the Beaches called Trinity Gallery, and all the bracelets are from little shops and craft shows across the country.

What I Wore To WORN: Avyn’s Bone Neclace

By: wornette

Tell me about one of the items you’re wearing?
The bone necklace is probably my most popular conversation piece. My friend Elizabeth and I found them on a bike ride, picnic, crawfish catching adventure in the countryside by the Thames River. They were easily bleached and sun dried by the sun, then slipped on to a string and voila! You have to wear them for a year or two to give them that nice shimmery shine.

What inspired this outfit?
I wanted to feel the misty rain on my legs.

What’s the best book to read in this outfit?
The first thing that comes to mind is, for no apparent reason, Catcher in the Rye.

Where did you get all the items in your outfit?
Boots: from the Salvation Army, rain jacket: from Club Monacco, necklace: the ground, ring(s): both are mementos from some of the important people in my life.

photography by Natasha Bigioni

What I Wore to WORN: Casie Wornette has Bow Shoes

By: wornette

Tell me about one of the items you’re wearing.
The bow shoes I had just received in the mail the day before I came into the WORN office, so I was too excited to show them off. After searching for flats that I liked all over the city and coming up empty handed, I saw these on Etsy and immediately ordered them without even blinking (it helped that I have a huge girl crush on the seller too). I don’t think I had ever bought an item of clothing before 9 a.m. before.

What inspired this outfit?
Sunshine, summer, bike rides, and cupcakes. It was Anna Wornette’s birthday, and birthdays always tend to bring out the ultra-girly side of me.

What’s the best book to read in this outfit?
Pale and loose summer dresses, such as this one, always remind of Cecilia from The Virgin Suicides by Jeffery Eugenides. He character wears a vintage wedding dress up until — spoiler alert — she commits suicide. The novel is so romantic and melancholic, I could definitely picture myself reading it in this outfit, sprawled on some grassy patch.

What style icon would wear this outfit?
Most style icons that would wear something like this are all probably under five feet tall and enrolled in Brownies. Michelle Tanner, perhaps?

Shopping credits:
The dress is from Urban Outfitters, and the crochet cardigan is from Value Village. The watch was a gift from my best friend, but I think it was found at Value as well. As mentioned, the shoes were purchased on Etsy, from KenndeyHolmes’ lovely shop.