Recap: The Ottawa Vintage Clothing Show 2016

Ottawa Vintage Clothing Show Fashion Blog

Well friends, it has come and gone, another successful year of the Ottawa Vintage Clothing Show. This year was bigger than ever; more vendors, more space, more stuff!! If this year had a theme, it would be COLOUR and I tried my best to photograph and capture the essence of it all.

Funny story- I walked by a booth that categorized their clothing by era. What made me feel old for the fist time in my life (because, honestly I still feel like I am 25), was the 80’s & 90’s section! I mean, I was born in the 80’s and grew up in the 90’s… was it really that long ago? Enough to call it VINTAGE?!! Hahaha it totally made me laugh.

Yesterday, I finally made it to A Vintage Collective a new mini vintage market downtown, they also had a booth at the show. It completely reminded me of Queen Street West circa 1999, you remember… that shop with the Gorilla at the front door! What really came to me as a surprise was the “Fresh Prince of Bel-air” vibes of clothes in the men’s department… and actually women’s too (aunt Viv rocked those shoulder pads like no other and so can you!).

Vintage clothes is hot, no matter when. What I find interesting is that even with vintage, there are trends. Last year, it was all about fur and vintage Chanel. This year the direction we are headed in, is full on colour with a dash of old school hip hop (#HammerTime).

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I totally had my eye on that Karl Lagerfeld scarf in the top right corner.

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Join me at The Ottawa Vintage Clothing Show April 10, 2016

The folks behind the Ottawa Vintage Clothing Show are at it again, and promising to once again deliver the best in vintage fashion this city has to offer. Join me on April 10, 2016 at the Shaw Centre (Convention Centre, 55 Colonel By Drive) for a full day of treasure hunting. At this ONE DAY ONLY event, from 10am until 5pm, fashion conscious shoppers will find everything from retro street wear to vintage Chanel hand bags. Admission is $10, discount pass available online at OttawaVintageClothingShow.ca. Keep reading though… trust me!

All the vintage Chanel your coeur desires!
All the vintage Chanel your coeur desires!

Last November, I attended the The Ottawa Vintage Clothing Show and to nobody’s surprise, did a LOT of damage. (Seriously, folks, this part-time “hobby” of mine gets really expensive!) The most impressive booth had to be the one selling vintage Chanel handbags, Luxe Touch. They are based in Hamilton but ship worldwide! Can you image this being your business (insert “heart-eyes” emoji here).

This year’s notable vendors include The Handbag Gallery and Ian Drummond Collection.

GIVEAWAY TIME!
For sticking around this long, I am offering you a chance to win 2 free tickets to the show! Tell me what gems you are hoping to find at the Ottawa Vintage Clothing Show and I’ll enter your name in the draw! The winner will be selected Wednesday, April 6, 2016.

Good luck and happy shopping!

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Winter Fashion Street Style Looks- Vintage wool

Since we are supposed to be getting another snow storm, I thought it would be timely to share the last look from the winter fashion street style session that I did with Amy Symes. Check out the other two looks from the series Vintage Fur and Black and Grey.

This was the first look we shot, not entirely our favourite, but the look is there, non the less. We shot this in the field next to my house. Amy was concerned that the backdrop wasn’t lively enough. What do you think?

In this photo, I am wearing:

  • Bandeau and black gloves with bow from H&M
  • Vintage wool coat with fur trim from Rewind Couture (Toronto)
  • Grey turtle neck from H&M
  • Blue jeans from GAP
  • Rebecca Minkoff purse from Fashion United
  • Ugg Boots

In this outfit, I felt very warm and comfortable. This is a great casual and easy look for “mom on the go”. I get loads of compliments on this jacket too, and most of all I love the detailed buttons. One thing I have to admit is that I ADORE my hair here, this to me is a good hair day. The cold always gives me nice hair. That’s all 🙂

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Cost-per-wear: How good is your Fashion Math

Today’s lesson in math will show you how to justify expensive items to help you build your dream capsule wardrobe. Remember the essence of this exercise is to invest in classic, high quality items that will/should last you a long time. Again, we want to lean towards becoming stylish not trendy!

The Fashion Math
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This is quite basic math. To help you find your Cost-Per-Wear, take the total price of your favourite item, and divide it by the number of times you will wear it. The ultimate goal here is to lower the CPW. The more times you wear your item, the higher the price can be! Take a really expensive  pair of jeans, for example. Jeans are worn so many times throughout the year, that you can easily rationalize spending between $200-$300 on a good quality, well fitted pair of denim jeans. If you end up wearing these jeans every day for a year, they will have paid for themselves! What a deal.

Sometimes we buy into the trends of fast fashion and get lured into purchasing lots of pieces that we don’t end up wearing, or we spend a ton of money on one not-so-key item. When you use the CPW as a common indicator, you can quickly see how you probably should not have purchased that $1000 ball gown, you will never wear again! (CPW= $1000… Consider Rent Frock Repeat, you crazy girl! What’s wrong with you?)

A few things to keep in mind when you are calculating CPW:

  • Durability- don’t sacrifice on the price! Invest in leather shoes and bags, they get the most wear and tear. I cringe when I see fake leather or plastic purses deteriorating.
  • Quality vs Quantity- buy nice things, just less of them.
  • Functionality- Do not compromise when it comes to functionality. Invest in warm, weatherproof boots and coats. Splurge on well-made and supportive heels that you will wear all the time.

Lastly, I want to close with the value of thrift shopping. This is an excellent way to splurge on things you don’t want to pay full price for. Maybe it’s a season too late, but who really cares! Paying less also means you can buy stuff that is outside your ideal “capsule wardrobe” collection. This is also when you can have a little fun and go outside your comfort zone.

Here are a few items that yield a low CPW… depending on your daily habits! What do you think of these price points? Sorry for all the black… it’s seems to be my go-to this season.

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Paige skinny jeans • Paige • $507.02
Lord & Taylor Wrist Length Knit Cuff Leather Gloves • $40
Hudson’S Bay Company 100% Cashmere Scarf • HBC • $120
Merrell Women’s Decora Sonata Waterproof Winter Boot Brown 8.5 M US • Merrell • $169.99
La Canadienne Womens Mazy Knee-High Boot,Black,10 M US • La Canadienne • $274.63
Caley-F5 Large Black Mesenger Bag • Mackage • $595
Kay-F5 Long Black Winter Down Coat With Fur Hood • Mackage • $795
Pierre Hardy Black Suede Ultime Pumps • Pierre Hardy • $455
Ann Marino by Bettye Muller Fleetwood Booties • Bettye Muller • $130.30

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