Waterloo Region's Thrift & Consignment Shops I'll Go Back to Again (& Again)

photo via Lauren Fleischmann/Unsplash

Originally published for KW Joy & Co. 

It’s Saturday night and I am lit-er-ally sorting my sock drawer. It’s October, it’s freezing, and everyone’s fire tables are en route from Wayfair (mine too), so I have zero socially-distant social excuses here. At this point, I’ve done just about everything else around my house, so it’s time to hit up my drawers for a “fun night in”. Before you start feeling sorry for me, I’m feeling quite content; glass of wine in hand, my fave podcast on, kids making TikToks, my husband happily playing video games - it’s just me and my rather giant pile of socks. TBH, organizing my closet is like my own form of meditation, but make it fashion.

I’ve reached expert level at origami-ing my way through any closet. Jeans, underwear, tees; they all look like perfect little hot pockets by the time I’ve tamed them. Don’t ask what a hot pocket is. I don’t actually know. Hmmm...but I’m pretty sure I don’t want my underwear to be one. Even those cropped hoodies - the fitted sheets of clothing - now easily bend to my will. And yet Kondo downplayed the importance of one crucial element in her quest for wardrobe joy: the subject matter. Naturally, the clothes need to fit and make you feel good right now, but all the folding and pretty baskets in the world will never bring true fashion happiness if the clothing in question has no future.

I curate my closet just like I do for my clients: by keeping or repurposing the gems, storing the seasonal and sentimental, and donating/consigning the rest. After years of doing this (and by “this”, I mean compulsive shopping) I now feel any purchases immediately destined for the trash need a reeaally strong case to come home with me - namely that they’re either a) holographic (because holographic things are bomb) or b) made of natural fibres like cotton, so when I’m finally done with them, I know they will eventually biodegrade. I also try to make sure that whatever I buy, I can see myself (or someone else) wearing that piece 30 times over its lifetime. As I’ve evolved into a more thoughtful, purposeful shopper, I’ve fallen deeper in love with thrifted and vintage pieces. For a sick wardrobe, turns out that all you really need is a curated closet of really good basics peppered with beautiful, thrifted finds. Oh, and maybe a Hot Wheels tee like the one I picked up at H&M last week. I’m only human.

With Waterloo Region’s absolute plethora of thrift, vintage, and consignment options, you can shop more sustainably, stick to your budget and score truly special pieces locally. Win. Win. Mother F’in (fashion) win, y’all.

SEE MY TOP CONSIGNMENT AND THRIFT STORE PICKS AT KW JOY & CO. 

GOOD BUY | Johanna Ortiz x H&M

via H&M

Scroll down a few posts and you'll see my 2020 fashion pledges. Let it be known that I am inserting an addendum; one that seemed implied at the time but let's make it offish by adding it here:

7) WEAR IT OUT

Before I 'add to cart', I'll ask myself this question: will I wear this multiple times? Many sustainably-minded peeps subscribe to the '30 Wears' philosophy made famous by Livia Firth (Colin's wife), whereby if you don't see yourself wearing the piece 30 times over its lifetime, it's not worth the buy. I'm less of a strict rule follower so my take on it is that I ideally want to add things to my closet that will last for years (not months), and will look amazing for several different occasions and in multiple contexts.

At the H&M Spring 2020 Press Preview in Toronto last week, I fell head over kicks in love with the new Johanna Ortiz x H&M Collection. If you don't know Ortiz, then it's time you did; powerhouses like Michelle Obama and Beyoncé and style-setters like Olivia Palermo and Sienna Miller are all fans of the Colombian designer. Sadly, her designs have remained in my 'life goals' bucket since her full-priced line runs in the $2-3 K range. Ortiz's maximalist aesthetic manages to be bold yet timeless - and such a welcome change after so many years of basics. 

All of the racks on display at the H&M preview were beautiful, but I found myself camped out in the Johanna Ortiz x H&M section, fondling the beautiful fabrics, entranced by the vivid colours and smitten with the chic AF florals, doing some serious fashion math.

FASHION MATH

Cost of dress / 20 wears = approx $4 per wear. Less than a flat white? Done.

20 wears / 4 years = 5 occasions per year.  I have 1 vacay planned for June, at least 2 summer parties sure to happen, a grade 6 grad to attend and I'm sure my sister will want to borrow it at least once. Add weddings, family photoshoots, date nights, and work events to the mix and I'm golden. If I want to amortize it over 30 wears, I'll either consign it or simply book more vacations & enroll myself in some salsa lessons, which I've always wanted to do anyway. Everybody wins.

Cost of the sadness I'll experience if I miss out on a rare amazing designer collab = priceless.

I feel strongly about picking up one of the red palm print dresses (the ruffled one is insane), the B&W one-shoulder bather, and that white shirt dress. I've done fashion math on all 3 pieces and I think it's all highly justifiable, since the collection ranges from only $19.99 - $79.99 CAD. That's it. Uh, I KNOW. Some designer collabs feel watered down but I can tell you from getting handsy with the collection that the pieces feel decidedly luxe and totally legit. 

Click on the thumbnails below to check out the stunners for yourself. The Johanna Ortiz x H&M collection will be in select stores and online March 12th so mark your calendars and tell me what you end up buying. Hope you've enjoyed watching me wrestle with my fashion demons as much as I've enjoyed doing it ;)

Happy Tuesday, beauties! 

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2020 VISION | My (Chinese) New Year Fashion Pledge

My Chinese New Year outfit picks for Vaughan Mills (before I added cherry blossoms & fixed the shoes but you get the picture.) L to R: Uniqlo, H&M, Laura, Disney Outlet, Marc Cain, Tommy Hilfiger 

I consider myself a naturally positive person and try hard to keep my champagne glass half full (a girl's gotta play) but TBH, it's been a bit of a rough start to 2020. Between school strikes, seriously meh weather, my kids being sick, this blog crashing for 2 weeks right after I tried to relaunch it, and having to put our dog Fonzie down (heartbreakingly horrible), the year of January has felt E-TER-NAL.

But then Vaughan Mills asked me to be their stylist for a Chinese New Year event and I felt like 2020 was starting to turn around. I booked a collab with Charmin (started from the bottom now we're here), secured a partnership with another big exciting brand (stay tuned for that one) and have started to feel my freelance writing flow again. And so, I've decided to treat Chinese New Year as a second chance for a fresh start. I could pretend that I meant to wait for Chinese New Year to make some resolutions but I'll be honest: with everything going on at home, I just kinda missed the other new year. 

And so, with a renewed sense of hope and a steadfast commitment to a ballin' February, let's celebrate the Year of the Rat. Ermmm, okay, nobody in the fashion world wants to acknowledge that for obvious aesthetic reasons, so let's go with the rat’s close but cuter relative: the mouse. For my styling project with Vaughan Mills, I added Mickey & Minnie Mouse into the mix and, of course, added loads of red for loads of good luck (see above for the lewks). 

Happy belated NY and a most fantastic Feb to you, you beauties! Here are the fashion resolutions I intend to keep this year - while 'guilt-free finds' used to reference budget, it's come to mean a lot more to me as I try to be more mindful of what I buy. None of these pledges are particularly groundbreaking but I find writing things down helps my sticktoitiveness. Hopefully seeing them here will help you, too!

1) BUY LESS, BUY BETTER

For 2020, I'm only buying things I love. Like, actually, 3 o's-worthy looove. I intend to buy fewer things but better things - better quality, better details, better fit. I want my closet to be full of well-curated gems so I never feel like I'm compromising.

2) REPURPOSE WITH PURPOSE

Before donating something, I'm going to first see if there's a way it can be repurposed. As this viral Vogue article so rightly points out, the year of 2020 will be about giving new life to old things. I've given some of my 90s vintage sweatshirts a modern edge by cropping them with a pair of scissors (sometimes lazy = edgy, unlike that time I tried to cut my friend Krista's hair in grade 7). I've found new life in old dresses by layering sweaters over top and adding a belt. When I can't find a way to repurpose, I'll...

3) DONATE AND CONSIGN LIKE IT'S MY OWN SIDE-HUSTLE 

My city is full of amazing consignment shops and clothing donation centres. Nothing goes in the garbage. I'll take the time to consign to make more room in my closet and then donate the rest. Anything that's not in good enough shape for the above, I'll recycle (see below) :)

4) RECONSIDER RECYCLING

Stores like H&M have made sustainability a growing part of their mission statements. Their fabric recycling programs take donated clothing and gives you a coupon in return (ideally to shop their Conscious line). Certain clothing donation programs like Diabetes Canada accept unusable clothing (ie. ripped, stained, torn) and sell them to fund research. Other local programs are doing some incredible work - Markham’s textile recycling program saved 1.4 million kg of clothing from going to the landfill in less than a year - so be sure to search for textile recycling programs wherever you happen to call home. 

5) FOCUS ON FABRICS

While I don't enjoy wrinkles (on my face or my clothes), I really hate the idea that when my clothes eventually end up in a landfill, they will never biodegrade. While natural fibres make their own environmental impact, I still feel that cottons, linens, silks and wool are better choices than man-made. Do your own research (if you dare), and do what makes the most sense for you. I'm a burgertarian so I eat like a vegetarian 90% of the time and then spend 10% of my life in drive-thrus blissfully eating hamburgers. I see fashion the same way - it's impossible to be perfect but every little effort helps. 

6) RENT, ROCK IT, REPEAT

The rental business in Canada is getting more and more attractive, with stores like The Fitzroy, Dresst and Rent Frock Repeat springing up all over the place. If you don't live in Toronto, certain companies offer free shipping and subscription boxes. For occasions like weddings, job interviews, important presentations, a very extra school drop-off (sequin jumpsuits are one surefire way to liven up those early mornings), renting is so. much. fun. 

Ok, I'm out. Off to take a pair of scissors to an old hoodie. Um, wish me luck. xx

Back at It

Me with my hair not did. Typical.

Okay, so I know I've been gone for a little while. Okay, a loooong while. I'm sorry. I don't really think I ever said goodbye, did I? Here's what happened: I was the stylist for Vaughan Mills, which morphed into me taking over a mat leave as Marketing Director, which then became another marketing mat leave contract at another shopping centre. I was offered an amazing career opportunity, so I took it and loved every minute. If you follow me on Instagram (& if you don't, please do), you probably saw just how much fun I've had over these last few years. 

But here's the thing: commuting nearly 4 hours a day with a husband in a start-up and two busy kids at home left me with z-e-r-o time to blog (or shower or brush my hair - see pic above). My life was an actual highway, and I really did ride it all night long. So, sorry not sorry?  Just know that I've really missed you over these many months. 

I've been more than a little nervous to get back to blogging; I mean, is it like riding a bicycle? Will I remember how to write? Does anyone even care about fashion blogs anymore? Can I leave like Taylor Swift and come back more relevant than ever? Or will I be like Madonna who young folk only recognize as that old lady who used to sing? Did I just compare myself to Taylor Swift and Madonna? This is off to an impressive start. 

Anyway, I'm excited to get back to sharing my favourite finds with you, if only so I can shop obsessively/ therapeutically with full justification to do so. It's called taking one for the team and team - I am here for you. Kk, let's do this...

FALL FORWARD | The 5 Trends You'll Be Living in This Fall

Red hot at Max Mara via Vogue

Originally posted in The CLOSET

I know, I know. I said the F word. And it's still officially summer. As your humble fashion blogger, though, I feel it's my duty to to ease you and your wardrobe gently in the direction of what's next because let's face it: fall fashion is the bomb. You've probably stopped buying summer things by now and started noticing the new crop of fall temptations already in stores so I'm here to help get you up to speed. I've rounded up 5 of the season's most wearable trends, some of which you can start rocking now if you like. From cool silver to red hot red, from new-school brooches to pretty fall florals, I'm seriously loving what's coming next...

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