Vintage, Vintage, Vintage: My Venture Into One of the Trendiest Places in Town

Vintage. It is currently one of the most used terms within the fashion crowd. When viewing images of street style, made famous by Scott Schman's blog The Satorialist or viewing Toronto's fashionistas on fashionmagazine.com or flare.com, the common response for the source of the stylish outfits is vintage. As someone who has spent two years in fashion school and oodles of time surrounded by fashionable people, it seems the place to buy the most unique and affordable clothing is from your local Value Village or vintage hotspots such as, Courage My Love or Flashback.

I personally have not ventured into vintage territory. Despite the incredible finds and generally affordable prices I have always felt a little hesitant about purchasing something that someone else has worn and lived in. However that all quickly changed after a recent trip to none other than Toronto's Kensington Market. Although I have always passed by the quiet area, I haven't visited the clothing stores in quite some time and was pleasantly surprised during my recent trip. As I browsed through each store I was bombarded by oodles and oodles of GORGEOUS handbags. Old leather and evening handbags that I have not seen since reading my History of Costume textbook. There were beautiful skinny leather and gold belts. Fuller-flared skirts and dresses decorated with colorful, picturesque prints and exotic maxi dresses. I had not realized that Kensington Market was home to such beautiful treasures.

An added bonus to these great finds were the affordable prices! I saw a number of bags that cost no more than $30 and lovely dresses all under $50. In this economy, that is music to any recessionista's ears. As I continued my treasure hunt down the narrow streets I also stumbled upon great stores that sourced products from India such as, Eye of Shiva. This store had colourful and elaborate skirts, dresses, tunics and jewellery.

My experience has definitely changed my outlook on vintage clothes. I mean, who cares if someone wore the silk Diane Von Furstenburg dress you just bought for $40?

Amanda