FASHION Magazine

When Stephanie Mark moved to a new apartment last fall, she was forced to finally tackle a major project on her to-do list: “Clean out closet.” As co-founder of The Coveteur, Toronto-based Mark makes a living peeking inside the closets of others, but in rummaging through her own, she came face-to-face with more than a few ghosts of shopping sprees past. In fact, her closet cleanse unearthed an entire wardrobe’s worth of designer items no longer in rotation: a pair of Jimmy Choo flats, an Isabel Marant dress, a Ferragamo snakeskin iPad case. “I even discovered a pair of Proenza Schouler suede boots that I never wore—not once,” she admits with equal parts amusement and shame. Faced with a monstrous pile of barely worn designer labels, Mark decided to try her luck at consignment. She made $1,000 in three months.

Most of us have been in Mark’s position before. Who hasn’t spent what feels like a month’s salary on a pair of killer heels only to realize they’re literally killing your feet? Onto the top shelf they go, never to be seen—or worn—again. And then there’s the printed dress you couldn’t resist at the store but pass over every morning when it’s time to get dressed—it just hangs in your closet, tag still on. In her 2012 book, You Are What You Wear, psychologist Jennifer Baumgartner writes that only 20 per cent of the clothing in an average person’s closet is worn on a regular basis. That’s a lot of unworn clothes taking up much-needed space and, as Mark puts it, “making zero dollars.” Which explains why she and other in-the-know fashion professionals are increasingly finding ways to cash in on their closets.

“It’s a great way to purchase new pieces and keep up with the trends each season without having to live in a box on the street,” jokes Mark, who put her recent earnings toward a Christopher Kane dress she’s been wearing non-stop. Her pieces (69 in total) went to LAB Consignment, a high-end showroom in Toronto where owner Lauren Baker sells everything from Louis Vuitton handbags to Marc Jacobs cashmere hats (profits are split 50/50 with consignors).

To those about to brave summer music festival season, we salute you. You’re about to enter the void of abnormally oppressive heat, witnessing filthy bodies flailing from side to side and a steady barrage of nudity, whether you like it or not. It’s all for the music, man—though for the sartorially inclined, it’s really all about the clothes.

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After a crazy week of cover shoots, our seasonal trend presentation and some hot, hot weather, everyone here at FASHION is ready to unwind. This weekend we’re updating our iPods for summer road trips, bidding adieu to our Girls, keeping an eye out for an Avril-style wardrobe malfunction at the Chum City Building and paying homage to our dads.

It’s out with the old and in with new for consignment queen Lauren Baker and her much loved shop, LAB Consignment. The store will be moving from its 15 Ossington Avenue location as a shop-within-a-shop at Silver Falls Vintage to newer, bigger digs at 1956 Avenue Road (that’s Avenue and Lawrence, for the geographically challenged). […]

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With Cyber Monday (the online version of Black Friday, for those who’ve been a little sleepy today) kicked into high gear, its been impossible for us to do anything but shop! Online, that is. Here, we’ve rounded up a list of some of the best sales currently on for the best deals to shop when you’re vegging out on the couch post-office.