The Lemon Life | online magazine offering a fresh perspective on post-grad life.

Words by: David Lacalamita

Image by: jbcurio

On the day I realized my wardrobe was out of date, I opened my dresser drawer and saw, to my surprise, that my jeans had been transformed into a pair of tired-looking threads and the cool slogans and hip graphics on my t-shirts had turned into dated childhood relics and juvenile expressions of rebellion.

Then it dawned on me: Having had neither the money nor any compelling reason to buy clothing during university, I had simply made do with what I had when I moved into residence as an undergrad, with the occasional summer purchase.  Adding to my wardrobe neglect was my admiration for hippies, who manage such simple but wonderful existences on next to no resources.  Sharing this lack of resources, I figured that I too would aspire to this minimalistic lifestyle.

However, after moving to Toronto, I found myself entering work and social situations with very complex dress codes to which my jeans, t-shirts and sweaters just didn’t hold up.  Thus, I faced a conundrum: I needed a rather extensive wardrobe overhaul and I still didn’t have any money.

I decided to try to get some advice where trendy, good-looking twenty-somethings seem to just crawl out of the pavement: Toronto’s Kensington Market.

Christine Toye has been working as a sales associate at vintage retailer Bungalow for six months while working towards her Image Consulting Certificate at George Brown College.  A quick chat with her revealed that I was clearly in over my head when it came to fashion, but she was the right person to be talking to.

She was quick to reassure me that while professionals will definitely know a thing or two more than your average person, there are some easy ways to make sure you’re dressing well.

“Classic,” she said, referring to a look that includes solid colours like navy, grey and black and professional-looking cuts. “You can never go wrong with classic.”

The print, Christine said, is what makes an item fashionable or trendy.  But the danger with buying trendy prints is, of course, that they come and go.  She also cautioned that just because a style is in fashion, doesn’t mean you should sport it – it might not go well with your body type or build, and fit, she says, is very important.  She sees a lot of people making serious fashion faux-pas on a daily basis: people wearing short-sleeve shirts that go past the elbow, shirts whose shoulders hang over the shoulder line and what she calls “bag dresses”.

“I can’t stand bag dresses,” she said, cringing. “You know.  The kind that just hang over people and have no shape.”

Then I met Julian, the owner of Model Citizen, an up-scale independent clothier selling fashions from primarily Canadian designers with a few hand-picked imports.  Although most of the items were out of my price range, Julian suggested that a good investment is a pair of dark jeans, which can be worn casually or formally.

After stopping in at a few other places, I came to the conclusion that vintage stores like Bungalow, while a bit pricier than thrift stores, are a great place to start and make for much more enjoyable shopping.  The harsh reality is that good clothes cost good money and in certain situations, you need to be able to project the image that matches the situation you’re entering.  When you buy a new wardrobe, you buy a new look and with it, a new set of assumptions about you.  That’s why there comes a time when the worn, thrift store look just doesn’t cut it.

That is, unless you aspire to befriend hippies.  In that case, start learning how to sew patches.

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