I’ve taken to posting all the shots I find on the internet of people holding their new copy of WORN. This one is from the always adorable Hipster Musings blog. If you send me one of you I will post it too! dearworn @ wornjournal.com
hearts,
Serah-Marie
Victoire Boutique
After spending nine months of the year going to school in Toronto, coming home to the significantly smaller Ottawa for the summer can be a little dull at times. Sure, we may have the best bagels in the world (shout out to Kettelmans!) but at the end of the day it’s a city with no subway system, no CN tower and no H&M (seriously though, what is up with that? Mississauga has three). But as hard as I may be on my city at times (okay, most of the time), I have to give credit where credit is due — as I’ve written before, we are home to an eclectic variety of independent and vintage clothing stores. So when Isabel, the brains behind the style blog Hipster Musings, announced she was coming to town to visit, I immediately began mapping out all the best places to go shopping in downtown Ottawa without stepping foot in the Rideau Centre.
Stop #1: Aunt Olive’s Vintage (209 Gilmour Street)
Aunt Olive’s is a café/vintage clothing hybrid of a shop, packed with lots of crazy old clothes. This is a good place to shop if you seek the unconventional and are willing to get creative with your clothes — in other words, if you are the typical Worn reader. I figured I am probably too practical for some of the wilder pieces (”How exactly does one wash a gold sequined tube top?” “Uh… Febreze?”), but for the fearless Susie Bubble types among you, you will be pleased to know that Aunt Olive’s is currently in the middle of a bag sale, this weekend only.
Stop #2: Mags and Fags (254 Elgin St.)
I have a love/hate relationship with this place. Love it because it’s one of the few places in the city where you can buy international magazines, hate it because without it I’d probably be a lot richer (did I really need to spend 17 dollars on an Australian fashion magazine? Yes. Yes, I did). Plus, I always get a huge kick when I see Worn in stores, especially when it’s stuck amongst giant airbrushed faces of Lara Stone and Cameron Diaz. We spent some time here, flipping through various glossies neither of us could really afford before settling on copies of Teen Vogue; laugh all you want, but I could never hate on a magazine that named Isabel as the most stylish girl of the week. What can I say? They have taste.
Stop #3: Victoire Boutique (246 Dalhousie St.)
This is actually a bit of a trek from the last stop, but it was totally worth the trip. We learned some pretty valuable lessons at this store, including:
1. It is completely necessary that I own a pair of custom-painted heels by Tyson Bodnarchuk.
2. There really are about 14 different ways to wear a complexgeometries tank top, and about twice as many ways to get tangled up in one.
3. Even if the store isn’t that busy, that does not mean that all the fitting rooms will be empty. Opening a change room door without checking to see if anybody is in it first can lead to awkward results.
As I’ve mentioned before, Victoire also happens to be the place where I bought my first issue of Worn while still in high school. It is, as Isabel calls it, the “mother of all independent boutiques.”
Stop #4: Workshop Boutique (242 1/2 Dalhousie St.)
Workshop is a sizable store that sells an array of dresses, skirts, blouses, slacks, bags, jewelery, and underwear — all made by Canadian designers. Wearable things aside, what really caught our attention were the “action figure dolls” crafted by Winnipeg artist Suzie Smith. The dolls included the above pictured John and Yoko, Missy Elliott, the Guerrilla Girls , and Courtney Love, who happens to be one of Isabel’s biggest idols. This is of course referring more to early-90s-Kurt-Cobain-dating-baby-doll-dress-wearing-Sassy-covering Courtney Love, and less to 2009’s angry Twitter updating Courtney Love — although both get points for originality.
Stop #5: Young Janes (203 Dalhouse St.)
I always figured that if Aunt Olive’s was like a crazy older relative passing on her funky hand-me-downs, then Young Janes would be like your cool best friend who lets you raid their closet — you know, in exchange for money. Still, the store always has a calm atmosphere: owner Mika (pictured above) is always very friendly, and the clothes (second hand) are versatile enough to cover many different styles. In other words, there are enough floral dresses to satisfy both a love of girlish whimsy and Isabel’s aforementioned obsession with the 90s. Young Janes is also home to a cushy couch and a stack of various fashion books, so it’s a good place to hit up at the end of the day when you need a bit of a rest. If I was the type of person who used expressions like “shop ’til you drop,” I would find it’s quite applicable here.
-Anna Fitz
*Title chosen in reference to this movie. To the late John Hughes, may you rest in peace.
Hello my Wornette sistas! I am Carmen, one half of the new two-part web intern team here at Worn. In the interest of being both welcoming and stylish, I wish I could give each and every reader a double kiss on the cheeks, but alas, that sort of thing is still impossible through the computer screen. As a web intern I vow to get on that technological glitch ASAP.
I am a recent graduate of Concordia University where I completed my degree in Creative Writing. Of course, [unofficially] I also specialized in anxiety attacks, speed reading romantic epics, and trying not to let my eye balls freeze in Montreal’s frigid winter. For some strange reason the university left those last three off my degree!
When I first became aware of fashion in my elementary school years, it was clear that my idea of “in” was not the norm. While I lacked the funds to support my strange addiction to runways, show my 11-year-old self an editorial or gussied up model and I could provide the designer, season, and year for that dress, hat, or pair of shoes. Sure, some girls my age sought out the infamous three-stripe gym short, but all I could do was longingly daydream about Miucca’s teetering platforms. I am all about DIY-ing, and fancy myself a master beader, knitter, spinner (of wool!), and embroider…er. I like to think my clothing inspirations are eclectic, drawing upon anything and everything from a walk through Chinatown, to Elizabeth Taylor’s dynamic wardrobe in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, or my weekly pilgrimages to The Village of Everything Valuable. (Seriously though, you should watch that movie even if for no other reason but to drool over Paul Newman).
I am very excited to start my internship at Worn, in part because it will give me a chance to explore, research, and engage in discourse about the captivating world of clothing and representation. Moreover, I now have the opportunity to feed a large group of people subliminal messages through the internet. Suddenly and mysteriously feel like eating peanut butter on celery? Don’t look at me.
Current Inspirations:
Hannah and Landon
With her self-proclaimed pout and “snaggle tooth,” Hannah is simultaneously mesmerizing and intimidating. A Canadian beauty currently living in the States, Hannah and her husband update a blog of photographs that look like they were taken straight from a fairytale. Hannah and Landon never share what they ate for lunch or where they went out last night, choosing instead to post pictures of their quiet forest jaunts or eerie doll collections. The best part, hands down, is Hannah’s plethora of vintage hats which she documents both unassumingly and hypnotically. I adore this blog (and couple!) for its small “slice of life” feel.
Hipster Musings
The writer of this fashion blog (Isabel) is adorable, taking pictures of what she wears outside her dorm each day. Her style is slightly punk and almost completely thrifted, but what I like most is how her passion has translated into influence. Though her blog is not beefed up with ads or ostentatious displays of HTML, her modest display and dedication to a sense of whimsical fashion makes her stand out in the blogosphere.
In the Mid-Nineties
Wornettes of my generation will appreciate all references to the nineties. Just mention Slater’s parachute pants, the Fantastic Flowers craft kit, or that time my brother traded me his crappy Ninja Turtle for my awesome one –and I will tear up in the spirit of nostalgia. This blog documents very intimate and almost personal pictures from author Barb’s rock show(star?) past.
Craftzine blog
I considered myself crafty until I started reading this blog. The website is positively oozing with every kind of craft idea, from LED coasters, to shelves made of old novels, to organza flowers for pins and headbands. I am absolutely addicted to the creativity and DIYs on this site!
July Stars
With the onslaught of fashion blogs out there, navigating quality from quantity can be more than a little overwhelming. This blog consolidates the cream of the crop, combining beautiful photographs, personal anecdotes, and a sprinkling of historical inspirations.
lowercasecarmen
I also have my own personal blog that is sometimes fashion related but largely about whatever floated my boat that day. Can you conjugate that expression in the past tense? I just did.
