Crushing on Sarah Quinton

By: wornette

Tucked behind Nathan Phillips Square and city hall, the Textile Museum of Canada (TMC) is an oft-overlooked institution in Toronto that has been compellingly connecting cloth, culture and art for the last 35 years. Sarah Quinton, the Curatorial Director of the TMC, tackles, and overcomes, this challenge season after season, researching, importing and sharing with us textiles from every corner of the earth — from shawls from Afghanistan to mola blouses from Panama.

How did you get into the study of textiles?
I grew up sewing my own clothes, taught by my mother and older sister. In the late 70s I was looking for a subject to study in college and felt myself drawn to the craft’s resurgence; particularly weaving. And so I became a weaver and made a few articles of lumpy, ill-fitting clothing. Soon afterward, I studied textiles in a fine arts context and have continued that line of interest.

One of your latest exhibitions, “Skin and Bone” by David R. Harper, features embroidered portraits of people on animal skin. Is the future of textiles in “multimedia?”
Not only the future, no. It’s the present. We see textiles everywhere, intentionally and unintentionally. If you look in art galleries, you see textiles in Will Munro’s underpant collages at the Art Gallery of Ontario; artists such as Allyson Mitchell, Grace Ndiritu and Jeremy Bailey explore textile patterns, colour and politics in their videos; and there is an ever-increasing interest in Do-it-Yourself activities with personal and political actions at their core: craftivism, recycling, new feminisms… and still the role of the independent merchant in the craft market is going strong.

From Drawing with Scissors: Molas from Kuna Yala

What is the narrative potential of textiles? Can textiles tell a story?
That’s what textiles do best! All objects tell stories if you listen even a little bit. Objects are living things. We make them, we use them, we wear them, we choose them. We change them by wearing them out, by recontextualizing them, and we are shaped by them as much as we shape them.

What are your favourite textiles, pieces or artists?
Well, like anyone else, I’m most in love with the people and things I’m currently working with. You mentioned David Harper’s exhibition “Skin and Bone.” Along with David, Stephen Schofield is showing “Stumble,” a series of extraordinary textile sculptures. Kai Chan is a Toronto artist whose work is the subject of a 35-year retrospective, “A Spider’s Logic,” that opens at the Textile Museum of Canada on November 7, 2010. His work might be considered “multimedia!” When I was traveling in the Yucatan in the early 80s, I bought a string bag that I still covet. Its structure is incomprehensible to me, and I don’t even want to know how it was made. And who can resist Junichi Arai’s textiles?

interview by Lydia Guo
photography by Rachel Wine

Crushing on Nikkie To

By: wornette

Nikkie To is the kind of girl who steals flowers from a stranger’s garden on late night walks. Her dreamy and fantastical personality not only manifests itself in stealing flowers in the most charming of ways – but also in her clothing and photography. She dresses in a minimal, modern, fairy tale kind of way and her stolen flowers are her most common accessories. Singing, drawing, painting, and photography are all things Nikkie has a talent for. Both of us are proud Hamiltonians and while I moved away for school, she stayed in town and is currently in the fine arts program at McMaster University.

What is your earliest memory of getting dressed?

I can still remember immigrating to Canada and wearing the “I Leaf Canada” sweatshirts. For me, the 1990’s was all about tucking your shirt in and brown corduroy pants. It was never very glamorous on the days I went to school because I was a messy child, but from time to time, I would go full out in buckled shoes, knit stockings, a floral dress and a large bow to top it all off. My older sister also had a big impression on my style while I was growing up. She was the one who pushed me to be daring and to wear lace and sequence and here I am now… pulling off multicoloured feathers in my hair.

Are there any new directions you want to take your style in?

My style often hits a phase and becomes static for a while before changing again. I don’t mean to allude that it is boring in any way, but that if I’m flashy, I’ll be really into it and be flashy for a while. After that I’ll go into a bohemian-naturey phase and play within those confines. When I get bored of that I’ll move on to a playful and professional look. I draw inspiration for fashion through the simple things in my life and I feel my style now turning again toward a more masculine aesthetic because of the work boots that are mandatory for one of my university courses. There are so many wonderful possibilities out there, so why shouldn’t I try them all?

Are you planning on dressing up for Halloween? Why or why not? And if you are what are you planning on dressing up as?

I love Halloween! I think it’s a great way to show your creativity and become someone you would normally be too embarrassed to be. This year I’m going to be Russell from Pixar’s Up because it is hands down my favourite movie of all time. I plan to hand craft all of my Wilderness Explorer badges and hold my Explorer GPS tight in my hands so I’ll never get lost!
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Crushing on Upside Dive

By: wornette

Sibling duo Mike and Angie Dalla-Giustina have turned their lifelong passion for thrifting into a well-loved business; the two collectively own Upside Dive, a hidden East-end gem in the Toronto vintage scene. Mike and Angie share their tales of rural Toronto, their childhood idols, and their love affair with well-crafted clothing.

How did you two dress in elementary school? How has your look changed?

Angie: When we moved from Toronto to a small rural community (in the 80s) I dressed in stacked bangles and dolman sleeve tops. Let’s just say it wasn’t well received.

Mike: I remember being briefly obsessed with Chucks, peace signs, and vests. I think both of us have forgotten a lot from those early years, probably due to living in a little town and never really feeling like we fit in.

From an early age we were thrifting, usually out of necessity, as money was tight for a single mother with four children. Most of all we never felt parental pressure to dress a certain way, so we experimented when we wanted to. We’ve become more comfortable with who we are (could be that age thing) and we’re less concerned with defining gender roles. We have more of an appreciation of the piece in its form – material, cut, shape, quality – while setting aside who the design was intended for. That said, the shop takes priority so we often wear practical, comfortable clothing, saving the exciting fashion for our customers.

Being siblings, do you often disagree when it comes to the business? How about clothes? Do you ever share clothes?

Mike: Actually, all the Dalla-Giustina siblings get along. An important part to the business succeeding is our shared mentality and keeping it all level. We occasionally butt heads over ideas, but it definitely helps to flesh out ideas with one another. We also discuss with Elisa and Natasha, who act as great exterior moderators. Sometimes Ang and I can get so focused we get a bit blind-sided.

We don’t often share clothes, maybe a scarf or two. We definitely share a love for well-crafted pieces, and a good backstory is an added delight.

How do you think the rise of vintage inspiration in the fashion world over the past decade has affected sales at vintage stores? Does it make selling real vintage easier or more difficult?

Vintage and second-hand clothing has definitely become a major commodity in the last 20-30 years, and with its rise in the mainstream once again it perpetuates more vintage sellers, more vintage buyers, more creative minds musing on it, and an established business format. I think the real issue lies with the lack of value put on vintage and second-hand clothing. Fast fashion has offered an alternative to buying vintage by creating newly made vintage-inspired pieces, but the real power lies in the hands of the consumer. It would be one thing if corporate clothing manufacturers were responsibly producing well-made pieces that would retain value, but they don’t. The bottom line for them is money, and the consumer is happy to have the 15-minute look. We have faith that there will continue to be customers who value vintage, but fear that well-kept vintage will become scarce and deplete cherished vintage shops.
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Crushing on Jessica Bialkowski

By: Stephanie Fereiro

Scrolling through 21 year old Jessica Bialkowski’s blog (or looking at her flickr, for that matter) is like entering a dream world where everything is light and sunny, sparkly and sprinkled with a sort of ethereal cuteness. What stands out for me is her photography. Though her site is more personal diary than self-proclaimed “fashion blog,” there is still an emphasis on fashion and clothing. In Jessica’s photos, she captures clothing on its own, out of context, as well as in complete outfits she wears day-to-day.

What did you dress like in elementary school and how has your wardrobe changed since then?
I’m pretty sure back in primary school I just wore jeans (I think flares were cool back then, right?) and plain tops and that kind of thing. I don’t even really remember it that much because fashion wasn’t a huge focus for me, but obviously I have changed since then! For a large part of my teenage years I pretty much exclusively wore black jeans and band t-shirts, but since then my style has evolved to incorporate a lot of different things that I’m interested in (though I still wear band t-shirts occasionally) and I think it’s still changing and evolving now.

You seem to have a liking for bows, lace, and other little details in clothing now.
I think I always tend to gravitate towards clothing with a little extra detail, or if I’m wearing something plain I will add accessories to spice it up. I really feel like the details are what make or break the outfit and it’s where someone’s personal style really comes through. Floral dresses are a dime a dozen, but if it’s got a pretty lace collar or you match a cute belt and shoes with it, then you’ve created a look instead of just wearing a dress, y’know? Small details here and there make a big difference to an outfit and the overall impression that it gives people, so I always try to include a little something special whenever I get dressed.

What do you think contributes to shaping your style?
I think everything contributes to it. You can find inspiration anywhere – online, in the street, in the media, through music, books, or movies. I think generally my style is influenced by all of these things and by whatever happens to cross my path, but at the end of the day it’s my personal taste that brings individual elements together, and I am the one who shapes what I see into something that truly represents who I am.

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