accessories A small accessories can reflect your taste!
19-01-2012
Sarah Magwood has designs on vintage clothing in Toronto
She is impossibly chic, especially for a 20-something.But she has been collecting for a long time. It is in her designer genes."It's a real addiction," she confesses. "If I didn't turn this into a job, I'd be a crazy hoarder. I went to antique sales and bought things that weren't my size I had these two rolling racks of vintage clothes and no reasonable explanation why they were there. My mother (who is a painter) is an avid antiquer and it is in my blood to hunt."Her shop has a mix of vintage, designer and consignment. Labels range from minimalist Jil Sander to over-the-top Versace. She doesn't use pickers. She sources everything herself.
"Basically 90 per cent is by private appointment," Magwood explains. "I get it from women downsizing their collections or from family members after someone has passed on. I go to estate sales."She carries everything from biker jackets ($225) to a rare mint green 1920s flapper dress for $300 "that needs some love and needlework.""I would love a bride to wear this," she says. "Brides should go for pale tones like greys, mint and pale pink."There is an impressive assortment of accessories: Jewellery, scarves, belts and bags."I am one of the few stores downtown that carries a large collection of vintage jewellery," Magwood says. "I'm such a magpie. I gravitate to unique, statement pieces."Warm clothing giveaway runs out as winter weather nears.
Like a pair of Deco-esque chandelier earrings from the '60s priced at $45.Hermès lives here: A navy "Constance" bag with the iconic "H" is $1,295.Her main focus is evening shoes but has daytime footwear like Christian Dior spectator pumps for $125.Magwood graduated in 2008 from the University of Western Ontario, majoring in media and public interest and women's studies."Vintage is natural recycling but also a reappropriation of women's history. I love the stories behind it. I am constantly doing research about period textiles and design."After college, she interned at Worn Fashion Journal. In the spring of 2009, she worked at the Drake Hotel and instituted a series of events like a pop-up Make Sale.
Warm clothing giveaway runs out as winter weather nears
The good news is that all donated winter clothing left over from the holiday season at the Missoula City-County Health Department found its way to needy children.The bad news is it's all gone, and winter is just beginning.A story in Friday's Missoulian about the giveaway, made possible through Jim Adair of Adair's Jewelers and Bob Ward's Sporting Goods, generated a wave of interest at the health department.At least 50 new coats, 30 pairs of socks, 20 pairs of underwear and dozens of sets of long underwear, tops and bottoms flew off the shelves or out of four boxes.
"We had an incredible response. Everything was gone by about 2 o'clock on Friday," Julie Serstad, director of health services, said Tuesday when the health department reopened after the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. "I had five messages when I came in today. There were several people that I had to say, I'm sorry, we're all out' to."It underscores the great need in the Missoula community, Serstad said. "There were some really sad stories: I lost my job, my husband lost his job, we're on WIC and we don't have any money for boots or coats. Fortunately it's been a mild winter, but boy, here it comes."
Indeed, forecasters on Tuesday were calling for wind chills below zero and up to 10 inches of snow on Wednesday in Missoula. That'll give way to warming and possibly rain before the snow and cold return again Friday night.For most of the last 15 years or more, Adair, Bob Ward's and the health department have worked together to supply new free winter wear to Missoula County children. Serstad estimated this time there was perhaps twice as many items available as in the last campaign two years ago. Not all of it was dispensed by the end of the holidays, and word of mouth wasn't putting much of a dent in the pile until Friday.
The UK's biggest clothing retailer, Marks & Spencer, has admitted that heavy discounting in the run-up to Christmas has eaten into profit margins - and that it is now eyeing extra cost savings to try to make up the shortfall.M&S's like-for-like clothing sales rose 1.1% in the three months to 31 December, with its overall performance lifted 2.4% thanks to a stronger than expected performance in its food business. But the retailer insisted it was not discounting in a "distressed" fashion, and that the move had been a tactical one.
Indeed, earlier and deeper promotions were endemic among UK retailers over the festive period according to new figures released last week - helping to lift like-for-like sales values by 2.2% over the previous year. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) also noted that shop prices grew at their slowest pace for 16 months during December.The victor in the supermarket price war was Sainsbury's, the UK's number three player, which hailed a "record breaking" Christmas period. Its general merchandise and clothing sales outpaced its food business, lifting sales by 2.1% on a like-for-like basis.
But shares in market leader Tesco plunged after it admitted to being outpaced by its rivals and warned that UK profits could fall in the coming year. Its UK like-for-like sales were down 1.3% in the six weeks to 7 January.In other news, purchases by the Chinese government are absorbing a large portion of the 2011/12 global cotton crop, with efforts to rebuild the national reserve likely to lead to a recovery in world stocks. The inter-governmental group the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) both believe global cotton stocks could rebound after two seasons of relatively tight reserves.
