If You're Ever in Vancouver: Front and Company

Main Street in Vancouver is chock-full of great vintage stores and small clothing boutiques such as the Barefoot Contessa, Lark, and Twigg&Hottie but my favourite of them all has to be Front and Company. Front and Company carries new, vintage and consignment clothing as well as a ton of bags, shoes, and other cool stuff. I was mostly impressed by their awesome selection of cute and quirky jewelry and by their extensive consignment section which features a lot of pieces from contemporary and designer brands like DVF, Alexander Wang, Marc Jacobs, Isabel Marant, Wilfred, Thakoon, and much more at quite reasonable prices and in great condition. When I was there last, I picked up these two items:

Isabel Marant tunic for $110 (color is off in the photo, it's actually a blue-grey check pattern)

Alexander Wang silk top for $70

Front and Company recently opened up an online store which sells a ton of accessories, beauty products, and home decor. The jewelry section is particularly enticing: there are many cute necklaces, bracelets, and earrings that are perfect Christmas presents for me the people I love.

Front and Company
3772 Main Street,
Vancouver, B.C.
Monday-Sunday 11:00 am - 6:30 pm

Images via frontandcompany.ca

If You're Ever in Vancouver: Little Miss Vintage

Image via Google

In Vancouver, there's a plethora of awesome vintage stores along Granville Street and Main Street but my favourite one has to be Little Miss Vintage on Commercial Drive. Little Miss Vintage carries a great array of high-quality vintage pieces from the 1940s, 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s. Although the store itself is small, I can always find something I love. In particular, their selection of vintage purses and formal dresses is pretty spectacular. The people who work there are just as awesome as the clothes, always so friendly and willing to help.

Image via littlemissvintage.com

Here are some of the pieces I've bought over the years from Little Miss Vintage.

The most comfy, most warm vest in the entire world. Also the only item in my closet that my boyfriend doesn't like.

Sequined Balmain-esque minidress from the 1980s

One of my favourite purses - I used it so much the strap broke but I repaired it. Fun facts: It can fit two bottles of wine along with a camera and a wallet!

White minidress from the 1950s

Awesome harem-ed pant jumpsuit undoubtedly from the 1980s. I've only worn it once, to a Bollywood party, but one day I plan on rocking it with a light jean jacket and some strappy sandas. 

Little Miss Vintage
941 Commercial Drive
Vancouver, BC
Tuesday-Saturday 11:00 am - 6:00 pm 
Sunday-Monday 12:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Vancouver, you're ouwt

Vancouver was recently named by MSN Travel as one of the world's worst-dressed cities. Why do I care? Because I hail from this lush, green, oceanfront metropolis. While Vancouver prides itself on being repeatedly named one of the top cities in the world in which to live, it appears that its sartorial climate is not up to par (and I would have to agree). The reason?  The tendency of Vancouverites to dress as if they were heading to or leaving a yoga class.  I have been residing in Montreal for the better part of the past four years and while Montreal's inhabitants are forced to sport Canada Goose parkas and Sorel boots (or more stylish equivalents) for four months out of every year, at least when they take off the goose down they do not look ready to perform sun salutations. The style in Montreal is much more European - people appear to have put thought, time, and effort into their outfits. While Vancouverites may claim comfort for the reason behind their sartorial choices, I call it laziness. You can be comfortable and look presentable without having to resort to sportswear (a point I will bring up in a later blog post).

Image via Google

When you wear these outside the yoga studio, you're ouwt

In addition to the Lululemon dependency problem, Vancouverites have a serious addiction to Aritzia. While dressing in Aritzia doesn't make one poorly-dressed per se (the clothes are nice for the most part), the fact that everyone does it is perhaps another testament to the laziness of Vancouverites when it comes to dressing. Montreal does not have an Aritzia, nor thanks to Quebec's arcane language laws will it ever, but it is not like everyone sports complete Urban Outfitters or Zara outfits. There is a sense of creativity and individuality in the sartorial choices here**. 

That being said, Vancouver does have its share of stylish peeps - you can check out the city's style on one of my favourite street style blogs, Style Quotient.

** excludes certain McGill students see: black leggings, Ugg boots, short Canada Goose jackets #allwinterlong