What to Wear

By Kate MacLennan

While flicking through the prattle and the doom that is cable television today, I recently landed on TLC’s What Not To Wear. It had been a while since I watched Stacy and Clinton trash a fashion victim and her poly-blend wardrobe, so I hung in to catch the finale—I’m a sucker for a good makeover. Sadly, that warm, fuzzy “isn’t she beautiful?” moment never happened. In fact, I think I yawned when I saw the reveal. The poor woman looked like…everyone.

If we can agree that self-expression is the heart of fashion, should we not be educating about this imperative foundation? To be clear: I’m all for people learning to dress for their body types (nothing raunchier than a DD cup bouncing around inside a filmy, spaghetti strap, satin tank—even if it’s a perfect statement about the woman wearing it), but there is no need to completely strip a wardrobe of all whimsy in order to do it. If self-expression is the heart of fashion, then fun must be its soul.

To wit, check out these scrumptious wedge ankle boots by Tashkent, a sophisticated but edgy New York label now available at Umeboshi (3638 Main St., 604-909-8225, umeboshishoes.com). The line’s young designer has named each pair after an English football player (mmm, soccer stars…); you’re looking at J. Cole, for Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole.

Over in Kits, the new Orb flagship boutique (2028 W. Fourth Ave., 604-568-6720, orbclothing.ca) has jersey tanks with quirky, conversation-starting screen prints, such as a fox drinking from a teacup, with recreational-looking fungi growing behind. A bit junior, perhaps, but fun, and in the world of edgy screens it’s a refreshing change from the hackneyed skull motif.

And then there’s ghetto gold, which continues to make me giggle. Lately I’ve been piling on Sugarlime’s (sugarlime.com) gold chains. They’re delicate enough that I’ve yet to be mistaken for 50 Cent (plus I’ve been going super easy on my Benefit Talk To The Tan bronze facial tint), but showy enough to make a statement. As for what all this says about me? I could hazard a guess, but it’s more fun to let you decide.

Shown: wedge ankle boots by Tashkent. Visit Umeboshi. umeboshishoes.com.

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