THE NEW VINTAGE

Sandy Powell has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Costume Design for her wardrobing on Carol. And she is a shoe-in; Powell might as well start making room for it on her mantle. She had me at the lead character’s iconic huge mink coat with shawl collar that represents Carol’s sophistication, wealth and social status. And it was very vintage.

“The mink was old and it kept falling apart,” Cate Blanchett, who plays Carol, told W magazine. “Between takes, Sandy Powell, the costume designer, would sew it back together by hand. I considered changing coats, but when you find the right thing, you know immediately. That coat was the one to tell Carol’s story. It was perfect.”

You won’t experience deteriorating clothing at 69 Vintage at 921 Queen St. W. Not only does the celebrated shop, owned by irrepressible Kealan Sullivan, only carry items in pristine condition, it even has designer Evan Biddell, winner of the first season of Project Runway Canada, on site tweaking and expert-tailoring.

And there is no telltale stinky old-clothing smell. It once took a bottle of white vinegar and three days of hanging outside to get rid of the fusty smell in a Mongolian fur jacket I’d bought in Kensington Market. Phew.

Bye-bye Magwood and Cabaret. Vintage stores are dropping like hemlines on Queen Street. Biddell says they need to get current to survive.  He is customizing vintage garments into on-trend pieces like removing the sleeves from coats and remaking them into outer vests.

He is also considering repurposing fur stoles into vests.

“Vintage is about service,” Biddell explains. “Without size runs it is hard to shop vintage so we offer custom tailoring for a piece you fall in love with but doesn’t fit right. It’s not about dressing head-to-toe vintage but having a balance of old and new so we are adding new pieces to the mix. We are also recutting existing vintage to update silhouettes.”

Kealan Sullivan and Evan Biddell give good face in the window area of 69 Vintage on Queen West, arguably the best vintage shop in town.

Anybody can stock vintage London Fog raincoats but who else has one in mauve? C’mon. Beside it hangs a mauve fur vest. I can’t stand it. What great entrance makers!

Here I am modelling a cool fur vest customized by Evan Biddell from a frumpy old coat. Thereby proving that repurposing vintage into new pieces doesn’t have to look icky “Preloved” crafty.

Evan Biddell with an ensemble that screams David Bowie. Biddell can even make you a Union Jack jacket.

   

REST IN PEACE, FROCK STAR

At a dinner party over the weekend, somehow the conversation drifted to the 2013 David Bowie retrospective at the AGO, specifically the iconic Union Jack jacket that Bowie collaborated on with the late Alexander McQueen. I lamented that I didn’t buy the version for sale at the AGO gift shop because it was priced around $400. My bad. When I saw it on a partygoer that summer, I almost ripped it off his back. I could have had a piece of history not just a fashion statement. 

Bowie died at age 69 on Monday and the tributes have been coming fast and furiously -- just as they should -- and I am piling on with mine.  We were far from BFFs but I did get to meet him once, after an Andrea Martin one-woman show. He and wife Iman had remained seated after the performance and I was introduced to them by the publicity person. They were a stunning couple; almost incandescent. I was not only taken aback by how much smaller they both seemed in the flesh (possibly because I was wearing vertiginous footwear) but how charming Bowie was, exuding an old-timey gallantry. 

Years later, I interviewed Iman in Ottawa during her stint on Project Runway Canada. She chaffed at being billeted in Ottawa but it was bearable because she got to go home on weekends to Bowie and their daughter Lexi.

This is a reasonable facsimile of the coveted Union Jack jacket that got away. Look for it to skyrocket on eBay.

A Chinoiserie jacket significantly less than $400 that I lusted after in a cool stall at the St. Lawrence Market’s  lower level at the end of food court. I didn’t jot the name down but will update next time I am there. The St. Lawrence Market online directory was useless.

Rob doing his best “kid in the candy store” pose at Domino Foods on the lower level at the other end from the clothing and accessories stalls. Domino is dangerous. They have the best bulk foods (way cheaper than Bulk Barn) including dark-chocolate-coated jujubes (I beg of you on bended knees deliver me from jujubes) and peanut butter infused pretzels.

Gotta love this Zoltzz Renfrew sign at the Ends bargain boutique in the Beach at 1930 Queen St. E. advertising their $1.99 sale. “Zoltzz” refers to Harold “Zoltzz” Weisfeld, owner of the shop.