Dramatic Moves for Back to School

So its the end of July, and for those of us in the fashion retail industry, that means Back to School time.  The prep for this is beyond anything I've done at any of my previous employers... and I've got to say, I wish it we're a little bit more planned out.  Sure we have instructions on what to do, it just doesn't seem all the organized to me.  So remember people, before you go into a store and mess up an entire table of denim looking for a size, there are people there to help you, and all our denim is stickered with the sizes.  There are people that are going to be cleaning up anyways, they are all more then willing to help you find what you need... it makes everyones life a little easier in this busy time.

Fashion For A Cold Summer

This summer has so far been a lot more like the usual April or May in Toronto.  With the rather dull high of 20 degrees today, I've been thinking about the way people have gone nuts over shorts at my store, yet it really hasn't been warm enough to wear them regularly.  For guys there is the classic chino short, cargo's, board shorts, man-pris (longshorts).  Lots of people buy them, but rarely have I seen anyone wearing them... myself included.  I bought 3 pairs of shorts this year that I have worn maybe a handful of times.  It just hasn't been hot enough.  Designers really should make more light weight, summer jeans.  That would be something I would invest heavily in.  I know people this year will tell you to leave your jeans at home in the summer, but I cannot live without mine, and I'm sure there are others out there like me who feel the same way.

Re-Model

My house is currently undergoing its second remodel this year.  Once was not enough apparently, and so more had to be changed.  This got me thinking about people and our changes in style.  Personally, my style over the last 6 months has done a few of its own quick changes.  When I first started managing my store I became really into skate culture and began wearing a lot of bright colours, tight jeans, hoodies, and generally clothes with a hipster or skate feel.  Over time though I began shifting to accommodate a more professional attitude, wearing button downs with my tight jeans, trying to show off some maturity I suppose.  Now with the summer here, I feel like I'm going right back to my skate culture ways.  Style is an ever evolving thing, constantly in motion.  Just like a renovation to a house, fashion and style change with the times and with the mentality of those that are intimately involved with it.  Many men's fashion mag's have guys with rolled up pants at the cuff... and yes I've done this to cool off, but it isn't something I would do on a regular basis to go out.  Its up to personal discretion what people do, it's just interesting how people opinion can change so quickly.

Lazy Long Weekends

So where did everyone go this weekend?  For someone like myself, who was relying heavily on some serious weekend traffic at my store, the beautiful weather did not help me out one bit.  In most cases, a bright sunny Saturday afternoon would bring flocks of people out shopping, but this weekend was nothing like that, with most people preferring to spend their time either at home or at the cottage.  It was after all the pseudo "long weekend" for us Canadians, seeing as Canada Day fell on a Wednesday this year, but still... my store was busier on Tuesday then today.  This makes me think about what people have been buying over the last few months.  Are board shorts really that great?  I get the appeal... they're shorts, and swim trunks! Fantastic! Yet there is something about them that seems oddly juvenile.  Seeing men in their 30s wear board shorts just doesn't fit.  And the obsession with graphic tee's that are all graphic and no statement is something that I think our world could do without.  I have nothing against the Graphic Tee itself... a great graphic tee can complete a outfit, accentuate a persons personality, and tell the world what you stand for.  But graphics such as random collages of swords, trees, odd prints of birds and anything you'd find on a Ed Hardy shirt, are turning my beloved t-shirt into a pointless eyesore.  Maybe its just me?

Formal Dining?

Is there such a thing as formal dining anymore?  Tonight was my grandparents 50th anniversary and my huge family went out to a fancy restaurant for dinner.  We all dressed to impress.  I was told it was to be my Sunday best, yet when we got to the restaurant there were people dressed like they had just come from playing a round of golf or tennis.  I'm not saying that they were not nicely dressed, but they were defiantly not dressed to code.  This got me wondering if there even is a code out there anymore?  Going downtown to clubs that say dress code in effect means very little now a days... pretty much a pair of Aldo sneakers will get you in the door.  At one Toronto club with a dress code, I saw 4 men all wearing Venezuela baseball jerseys back when the world baseball classic was in town.  Is that dress code?  I suppose that these places really just want our money, but come on.  Some people put in the effort to look good, and you would think places that would like to be known as more then just your local watering hole would want this type of person to be their customer.  Maybe I'm wrong... but I think the term "dress code" should actually have some meaning at restaurants and clubs, if they are going to use one at all.

New Worlds... Toronto Today

Looking at the ways in which personal style have evolved over the last few years, the city landscape becomes the perfect place to look at how we've had our personal style evolve.  Ten short years ago, hip hop reigned as the dominant musical style on the charts, pop was close behind, and personal style ranged from kids in baggy pants with hip hop style, to preppy kids in polos and people holding onto the grunge style of the early to mid 1990's.  Although these styles still exist, there has been a massive growth in the various styles and sub-styles of fashion in the new millenium.  Punk, Emo, Scene, Preppy, Hipster, Hip Hop... these are all just labels that people have been using to pigeon hole certain styles.  It takes walking through an urban centre like Toronto in order to really observe the ways in which these styles, and many others, have all come together in order to create various new and interesting types of style and presentation.  Not limited to clothing, urban space becomes a canvas for artists, musicians, buisnesses and people living within the uban landscape.  Through this blog, I will be looking at the various ways we are all influenced by the urban landscape, various forms of fashion and style, and generally comment on new and interesting things in the world of fashion, arts, and the city of Toronto.