West coast fashion, or lack thereof

You know I think you might be right. The most over the top dresser I know is Janina Ceglarz, CEO of Michael Williams properties. She dresses to kill. And yep, she grew up in a Communist country where any hint of makeup or a shorter skirt was "bourgeois" and drew criticism. So now she has fun with it.

I struggle to find the middle ground between "schlump" and "another damn blue skirt suit." I find no inspiration whatsoever at the average mall store that's marketing to 17-y-o girls. I find myself overwhelmed and bewildered in the Bay.

I'm starting to rebel against shoes with heels - they hurt my feet and don't work well with the bike. I'm kind of fed up, after 20 years, of adding more height to my existing 5'10".

I bike to my (client-facing, government-oriented) desk job every day and wonder how to dress west-coast professional and reasonably comfortably, too.

Where in this town does the 40+ grownup go to find a kind person with a nice selection of clothing - a person who would take the customer in hand and help her dress herself?

I struggle to find the middle ground between "schlump" and "another damn blue skirt suit." I find no inspiration whatsoever at the average mall store that's marketing to 17-y-o girls.
Where in this town does the 40+ grownup go to find a kind person with a nice selection of clothing - a person who would take the customer in hand and help her dress herself?

Now, that my friend, is the million dollar question. Compound your query with where to go for a decent price point and some fashion sense too. Jeez.
Desperation drives me to shop at thrift stores for vintage or to other cities.

^ & ^^ What julienne and arfenarf said. So true.

Add me to the list! I want to look professional but not like a menopausal artist. It seems like that's the other extreme that is easy to find these days.

Yes, there was a photographer but that's not the reason people dressed up.
Going downtown was special. You dressed up. Just like going to church.
Men wore hats as did women. Women would never wear trousers nor would girls. White/pale gloves and hats for spring/summer. Dark for fall/winter. There were many rules. People were polite. Those days are long gone.


I still dress up a bit to go downtown.

You are absolutely right, the photographer thing was only one small reason. It's strange that people don't pay more attention to what they wear because I've read that North America has a clothing addiction. Maybe the West Coast was not included in that survey.

Yes, an addiction, but to quantity, not quality (not necessarily expensive, just in good taste). People seem compelled to stuff their closets and storage lockers with thousands of dollars worth of cheap, ill-fitting clothing and proceed to walk about the streets looking like the contents of a Goodwill dumpster barfed on them.

Remember where grunge came from? Victoria, together with Seattle, Vancouver and Portland, gave us grunge in the later 1980s and it swept the world in the early 1990s.

Those of us in our 40s now that dressed grunge in the 1980s have come a long way when wearing golf shirts. Somewhere along the way we realized that old logger shirts, ripped jeans and work boats were not appropriate at ever event - though I wore that to every UVic Senate meeting when I was on the Senate from 1987 to 1989.

That's a good little historical reminder. It may not be pretty but grunge is ours! I think I do have a lumberjack shirt somewhere in my closet. I wonder how it will look with my smart white heels and white gloves? Who wants to be my date for a promenade downtown? You can wear your zoot suit and army boots, and everyone will stare... er... in envy.

yes.

As an aside Bernard your website is great. As someone who is quite annoyed at the rip off of the 2020 brand, your latest article got me reading. It wasn't until I discovered the To ten reasons not to amalgamate that I started to giggle though. Very nice.

Brilliant photo Marilyn!

Montreal doesn't seem as stylish as some do suggest. I was just there and I found it as hard to find good (and I don't necessarily mean very expensive) men's clothing stores there as it is here and in Vancouver.

As a Montrealer, I would say Montreal's key was/is in how people put things together to create looks.
Many fewer fashion crimes than anywhere else in Canada, IMO.

Quintessential indignant Victoria letter to the editor:

Dress codes in hospital should respect patients

Times Colonist
June 24, 2009

In May I had to stay in the Royal Jubilee Hospital cardiology ward. At that time they decided to do a cardio conversion. I was OK with that. As I was being prepared I was told that a long tube would be put down my throat "for a better look." Still OK. Then in walks the devil himself to do the task. He wore tight jeans, a shirt of some ungodly print and had curly greasy hair hanging down past his bum. Not OK. I am a 66-year-old woman with a serious heart condition and I just wanted to get up and run.

Whatever happened to dress code? A white coat and clean hands gives a person a feeling of confidence. Is it some kind of infringement on these people's rights? One seldom knows if they are talking to the janitor or head nurse. I feel I deserve better than that in the hospital.

Marie Armstrong

Victoria
© Copyright © The Victoria Times Colonist

I know we're all thinking the same thing. This was followed up by another letter writer saying, I think I know who you're talking about and he saved my life, meanwhile the stiff white-coat doctor misdiagnosed me. Another doc writes in saying it's the care, not the clothes.

Whatever happened to dress code? One seldom knows if they are talking to the janitor or head nurse.

That's why street thugs and serial killers always shows up in court looking dapper. Because people fall for it.

Did we already see this?

...the street scene was so overflowing with glamorous and fabulously-dressed canadians that i become extremely overwhelmed and exhausted.

http://iseeseattle.b...ictoria-bc.html

Quintessential indignant Victoria letter to the editor:
I know we're all thinking the same thing. This was followed up by another letter writer saying, I think I know who you're talking about and he saved my life, meanwhile the stiff white-coat doctor misdiagnosed me. Another doc writes in saying it's the care, not the clothes.

That letter reminded me of a Fawlty Towers episode, actually ("The Germans"), where Sybil is in hospital to get an ingrown toenail removed and Basil proceeds to wreak havoc at the hotel. The scene I was reminded of was Basil's shock at seeing a "different"-looking doctor coming in to treat his wife. This doctor is clearly not what Basil expected, as you can see from his (xenophobic and involuntary) reaction. Scroll through to 3min.38sec. in this full version of the episode on Google video.

We all have our little (and not so little) prejudices, based on how other people look. That's pretty normal - but I do like how the first letter ("the devil himself") has sparked a nice set of replies. The first letter writer has probably learned a lot by now, so that's good. It seems this doctor is quite well-regarded and respected!

I worked in London in the late 60s and came home with my luggage full of mini skirts and platform shoes. My oh my did I get some looks. It wasn't long until Victoria fashion caught up.

I tend to over-dress a bit. I don't like to look like a slob when I go out. I am assuming that most people here who notice poor dressers also accept casual fashion when the time calls for it?

This doctor is clearly not what Basil expected, as you can see from his (xenophobic and involuntary) reaction.

Not to mention hilarious.

Nothing is sexier than a slinky dress made from government promotional fabric.

Not to mention hilarious.

Oh indeed - that episode is a stand-out in an excellent series that's super funny all around. I <3 Fawlty Towers...

This guy is awesome. Looks like Thrifty Foods isn't the only one introducing Smile Bags.