I’m excited to be joining WORN for realzies after collaborating on videos for the past two launch parties, Time After Time and the Fancy Pants Vintage Dance. I just started to wear shorts again after several years of maintaining a stringent pants-only policy. (Sorry, Tom Ford). If I could Midnight in Paris myself into another time and place it would be NYC in the late 70s or early 80s, as evidenced by my first two current inspirations entries.

Current Inspirations

Where’d You Get Those
This book is like an illuminated manuscript of the NYC sneaker scene from 1960-1987. Author Bobbito Garcia has a story for every pair of shoes featured here. And if anyone wants to buy me Magic Johnson (purple/yellow) and Larry Bird (green/white) 1986 Converse Weapons I won’t stop them.

Wild Style: The Sampler
This book is a killer companion to Charlie Ahearn’s landmark 1982 film Wild Style which documents the rise of hip-hop in the South Bronx. Primarily focused on the emerging graffiti scene at the time, you almost feel as if you’re watching a culture invent itself in real time. The film and book feature appearances by real DJs, MCs, and B-boys and girls wearing some of the coolest threads you’ll ever see.

Titles Designed by Saul Bass
Saul Bass’ career as a title designer spanned several decades and saw him work with directors such as Hitchcock, Kubrick, and Scorsese. His elegant and memorable credit sequences are beautifully showcased in this online gallery curated by the film blog Not Coming to a Theater Near You.

Moviebarcode
This Tumblr squeezes an entire film into one wide thumbnail creating an abstract sequence of vertical lines that gives a portrait of that film’s colour scheme from beginning to end. Try looking at the barcode of a film you’re familiar with and you’ll be able to pick out particular scenes based on the changes in colour.

Retrontario
Probably my favourite YouTube channel, this is a treasure trove of theme songs, commercials, and other precious junk from the 70s, 80s, and 90s that will be familiar to any Ontarian. Currently boasting over 1,800 videos, it’s easy to get lost in a K-hole of nostalgia.

photography by Samantha Walton

Hi there! I’m Kat, and I’m a recent immigrant to Canada from the wilds of Seattle, Washington. Pretty much anything fascinates me, which is both a blessing and a curse. My clothing choices could be described as “all over the place”, and I love to make things - from beaded collars to appliqued sweaters to shrinky-dink pendants. When I’m not at the WORN offices, chances are I’m drooling over photos of flapper dresses and Louis Sullivan buildings.

Vintage Textile
So what if I’ll never be able to afford anything they sell? This store is nothing but pretty, pretty eye candy. If you’re ever in need of a C.F. Worth ball gown or Gallenga coat and have a few thousand dollars burning a hole in your pocket, this is the place to look.

Holly Fulton
No question, Holly Fulton is one of my favorite designers. Her bright colors and stylized Art Deco skyscraper motifs are a little bit mod, a little bit Metropolis.

HonestlyWTF
HonestlyWTF has some of the best DIY tutorials, inspired by everything from high fashion to Danish music videos.

Wandering in Tacoma
Okay, this one has nothing to do with fashion, but Stephen Cysewski’s photos of my hometown in the 1970s are so inspiring! They perfectly capture Tacoma’s grungy, gritty beauty. I visit this page whenever I’m homesick, or just need to feel a little bit more melancholy.

I have gone through my whole 23 years of life — well I guess more like 15 — knowing that I wanted to be part of the fashion world. It has taken me a while to figure out in what way. For a bit I tried my hand at designing a clothing label, called LE MALEK. She was a temperamental fashion child, and took up all of my time and money like most children do. Soon I realized designing was not where my heart laid. I found that I loved other designers and their creations more, and styling was the answer. I have been working as a freelance stylist for about a year now — I love having an idea or inspiration and making it come to life with clothing. I am excited to pursue this career and look forward to all the possibilities it will bring me. I hope to one day be the creative director of a magazine. I believe deeply in spirituality and positive energies even though I am a Negative Nancy by nature. As fashion is my heart, music is my soul. I have attended Coachella for the last four years and spend most of the year obsessing over it, talking about it with everyone.

current inspirations:

Fashion Gone Rogue
All the best editorials. I am constantly on there looking at what is new and what magazines and stylists and photographers are doing.

The Killing Moon
Margaux Lonnberg has this amazing effortless messy/rocker vibe to her style. Her life just seems cool/calm/badass and I always find inspiration in her blog posts and what she wears.

Nova Style
Images, editorials, and street style that somehow are all relevant to my interests.

ytligheter
A blog written by Eleonore Nygards, where she posts about what inspires her and what she wears. Even though her style is not necessarily the same as mine, it’s very unique and cool.

My name is John, not Jonathan nor Johnny. To end the confusion, I introduce myself as, “Just-John,” with hand gestures posed on either side of my face. I was born in New York but raised in Brampton, Ontario. I like illustrations, talking in accents, vintage action figures, and photography.

My fashion interest began in my freshman year of high school (my parents stopped dressing me, finally, at the age of 14). Growing up with hard-working Filipino parents striving to give us a better life, I learned to appreciate the value of a dollar which made me appreciate second-hand clothing. Today isn’t so different, I work with what I have and make it my own, inspired by my Filipino-version-of-James-Dean grandfather with his various coloured cardigans and thick black glasses.

I always believed used clothing had the power to tell a story without even speaking. A picture can say a thousand words, but a piece of past clothing can say millions.

Growing up through my elementary and high school years, I always wanted to be a Mighty Morphin Power Ranger. Aside from that, I always had a passion for the arts. I’ve painted school murals, posters, and designed materials for print and web, which subsequently lead to my decision to study Advertising and Graphic Design at Humber College. This has brought me to WORN, which has been a dream come true. I can’t wait to work and learn with such talented, artistically-driven individuals.

Recent Design Inspirations

From Me To You
This is one of my favorite blogs to view photography with a twist. The images are in gifs; which makes the images look very realistic.

Karoly Kiralyfalvi
Karoly is one of my favourite graphic designers.

Smashing Magazine
It’s great to sit and watch on the screen whenever I have a design brain fart.

Linzie Hunter
One of my recent design inspirations. Her typography and illustrations are something I’m very intrigued with at the moment.

Shadowplay
You may have seen their work in the introduction to Juno.