Zana of Garbage Dress fame is a DIY kind of gal. Everything she creates, from her handmade harnesses sold on etsy to her ode-to-shoes video shot in an airport bathroom, leaves your mind astir with inspiration.

What drew your attention to blogging and convinced you to start Garbage Dress?
My relationship with the internet began back in middle school when I discovered a community of kids who made personal websites. From this I ventured into livejournal, where I kept a daily blog as well as posted in fashion communities. Right as I was finally slowing down with that whole LJ mania, I noticed the rise in blogspot popularity and found fellow livejournal posters (childhoodflames & dustydress among others) developing strong projects of their own. Just like how I all of a sudden decided to cut my hair short, I came to a flash decision that I needed to have an all-or-nothing blog. Garbage Dress was born.

You have quite lovely and intriguing hair. Can you go through the history of your previous hairstyles? And what was your thought process like when you choose your current hairstyle?
Well I’ve had crazy curly hair for my entire life. However before the age of 14, I didn’t know what to do with it, and neither did any hairdresser that I ever went to. For that portion of my life, I mainly wore my hair in braids or pulled back somehow. Ever since I learned that I could wear my hair down, I experimented with whatever seemed interesting at the time. A few years ago I met a girl who seemed excited to try more experimental cuts on my hair, and seeing that I had been butchering my own locks for the past years, I decided to give over all control to her. Over the years we went more and more asymmetrical - which seemed to suit me well. While I was in Berlin, my hair kept getting more massive to the point where the hot weather got really uncomfortable. One day I couldn’t take it any more and just chopped all of my hair off. Right now it is the shortest it has been since I was a baby.

Coming from the perspective of a complete colour lover I can only describe you and the colour black as being in a committed relationship (with the few understandable exceptions). What is it that makes you so allergic to colours?
I never intentionally stopped wearing colour - I really do love colours! However I am also extremely attracted to shape and texture, which are easier to play with when sticking to a dark palette. You can wear five black garments simultaneously and still maintain a fluid appearance, but if I were to wear five garments of different colours I would feel like a fool. This being said, I am ready to re-embrace the color red for wintertime!

What was the first thing you ever made? Which item of clothing was the most complex?
The first piece of clothing I made was a shorts-jumpsuit from a 70s pattern made in brown linen. Mind you, this pattern included a zipper, pockets, collar, interfacing, and topstitching. Maybe this was also the most complex thing that I sewed…

If your name ever comes up the things that come to my mind are black clothes, black hair, and dark lipstick. Do you consider yourself goth and what do you think of fashion labels in general?
From time to time I will throw around the label of “goth,” but this is mostly for playful nostalgia and to convey the sense of humour that I always have about my outward aesthetics. Personally, I find it impossible to associate with any sort of conventional label since my look is always evolving and growing through all sorts of diverse influences.

I can imagine that you had a very interesting life growing up. Do you have any siblings and how has the atmosphere of your family influenced your style throughout the years?
I had a fantastic childhood. I come from a very artistic, creative, and — most importantly — supportive family. No matter what I was interested in — from ballet, to snowboarding, ultimate frisbee, tae kwon do, painting, etc — my parents would encourage me to explore and flourish. I would definitely say that my mom is a huge style influencer, as her taste in clothing is impeccable. I have an older brother who is an actor, singer, and food aficionado, among other things.

-Valentina Wornette

What happens when you combine a Toronto native (Hillary Wornette) and a Hamiltonian (Valentina Wornette) and give them a Saturday to do as they please? They swap, shop, and hide in every air-conditioned place possible. I’m from Hamilton, the haven of all blue collar mentalities, so of course I was more than a little excited to be walked around Toronto.

Vintage Parking Lot Party Sale, 24A Liberty Street
We ventured out into Liberty Village in search of two lovely ladies, Natasha Negovanlis and Lia Thomaidis, who were holding a vintage sale over there. I may be biased since I know them, but the girls have impeccable taste, which was reflected by the selection they were offering. Months of hard work shopping (hard, hard work, I know) displayed itself in the form of a wide selection of dresses, tops, jewelry and shoes. Valentina picked up an adorable linen button up, while I lusted over shoes that were all at least half a size too small. There were snacks and refreshments to enjoy, meaning between this sale and the clothing swap (which was catered by Cora’s Magic Kitchen), our shopping adventure had kept me well fed and hydrated. - Hillary

Swap Don’t Shop At 103 Bellvue Ave.

Clothes that we have long grown tired of are usually banished to the depths of garbage bags that find themselves at your local Value Village. Hillary and I met up at the church and waited in line while things we’re being set up. Once we got in, we swapped in our clothes and 8 dollars for a stamp and permission to dig for treasure. There were 4 or 5 rows of tables spilt into your typical clothing categories, like pants, shirts, and so on. For the first 30 minutes we looked around and we both found some pretty fruitful finds. My most prized find is a pair of wooden nude Aldo pumps* which I was quick to get to. After the 45 minute mark the swap became pretty busy and Hillary and I both decided to stop searching. Hillary went to listen to an alterations workshop while I used the make shift change room. The swap had raffles (all the prize packs included 2 issues of WORN) and 3 workshops. They had three workshops, one on alterations, another on styling, one on how to make your moth bag, and one on how to do shibori fabric dying. - Valentina

*which unfortunately don’t fit, but a cobbler can hopefully quickly fix that.

The Rage 2 Kensington Ave.

When I was fifteen, I got really excited after going to the Rage and told the owner, Sara I was going to make things to sell in her store. The years have gone by and well, I have yet to organize myself enough to make something in a large enough run to sell it. But this weekend, with crisp new copies of issue 8 in hand, I finally got the satisfaction of giving her something to sell. That’s right, you can now check out WORN at the Rage! And while you’re at it, get distracted by the fantastic stock consisting of over 70 local designers. I am totally lusting after the floral rompers she has right now, but I can’t decide if my chronically hairy legs will compliment it or not. - Hillary

Courage My Love 14 Kensington Ave

This store fits the mentality of a treasure hunter to a tee. You could walk around this store 5 times and on the 6th try you would still find another newly discovered drawer to open. They have beads, jewelery, hosiery, and small skulls made of something that is hopefully not human bone. I have a quite strong attraction to triangles and snatched up a beautiful black arrowhead that has gold wire wrapped around it. It was definitely a find any treasure hunter could boast about proudly at the lovely price of 4$. Out of all the stores I went to on that humid Saturday this is one that will definitely rest of the forefront of my memory. The owners of the store somehow manage to create a curious atmosphere - one where you’re encouraged to poke around and see what you can discover. It’s quite the enchanting place. - Valentina

Chronicles of a Lady Wornette

Salutations, lovely readers of Worn, I’m Valentina. I’m also known as Lady V, Lady Ventino, or as I have newly dubbed myself, Lady Wornette. I was the babe of the Wornette intern troop this summer. Here at WORN they want to get some younger blood involved so I was the inaugural guinea pig for what a summer internship would be. I’m 17 and about to go into my last year of high school back in Hamilton. This summer I came in for a total of 8 days spread over two weeks, lending a hand around The House of WORN. I packaged and shipped magazines, shadowed meetings, came up with and contacted future crushes, and basically wandered around the world of WORN. I go to Westdale Secondary back in Hamilton, I’m a French fry* who has high ambitions and likes to travel a lot. The new internship that I eagerly tested out is aimed at high school kids who don’t have the time to do a full internship. I’m completely smitten and I’m hoping that there won’t be any obstacles stopping me from coming back in to full Wornette duty next summer when I might be going to university in Toronto. I’m going to study journalism and hopefully do an exchange in a fanciful French-speaking country. I’m also interested in pursuing a master’s and living for a year or two in Japan teaching English.

Things I dislike the most are inconsistent bigotry and dirty nails.

1. Dropsnap This street style blog is excellent sartorial sustenance for anyone who’s as keen on Japan as I am, or anyone else who’s interested in quirky people with good taste.

2. Frou Frouu This blog is run by a gal named Nadia. I like her choices in clothing and her well shot outfit pictures.

3. Daddy Likey Winona, like WORN, is fond of fashion haikus and is in fact quite hilarious.

4. French Ghosts This girl is the ray of hope that Hamilton isn’t completely devoid of creative people with a sense of style.

5. The Stylish Underground A nice photo collection of stylish people from countless times, professions, and places.

*code word for a kid in French immersion