| Screw the mall. Real style can be found in the studio, on the stage and in the imagination, say some of Calgary’s funkier citizens.
The term "vintage" is as worn as the type of clothing it describes, so creating a look that isn’t tired and cliché while steering clear of expensive mall stores can be a challenge.
For Wednesday Lupypciw, performance artist and producer of Art Awareness at the Alberta College of Art and Design, hacking up her father’s white coveralls and fashioning a skirt is one way to create a unique look.
"I mostly take incredibly cheap crap and make it suit my style," says the slight, curly-locked 22-year-old, adding that hip-hugger jeans never have and never will hang in her closet. "They’re obnoxious."
An original dresser who isn’t afraid to wander far afield, Lupypciw says she turns clothes shopping into a real excursion, sometimes even packing a picnic lunch, when she goes trolling for gems at the under-frequented thrift stores outside downtown.
"I hit up the ’burbs a lot because they’re not really popular," she says. "I really like the Mennonite (store) out in the N.E."
She says the competition for top-notch finds has become steep in recent years, recalling how she tried to outpace a fellow shopper at Value Village for a certain fruit-coloured piece of headgear, but missed out. "Another woman saw it at the same time as me, so it was like John Candy and Steve Martin running for the same cab in Planes, Trains and Automobiles," she says, laughing. "We both so very badly wanted to have that raspberry beret."
For Brad Harms, another do-it-yourself type, the inspiration for his deliberately haphazard T-shirts comes from a combination of necessity and humour. Anything from his dog’s hair to stickers is fair game and that’s the fun: creating something unlikely that is both cheeky and thought-provoking.
"I think clothing should be a little funny," says the 34-year-old painter. "If clothing were just about wearing things that protect us and our skin from the elements, then we’d all be wrapped in burlap."
Harms’s whimsical approach to dressing mirrors his art. He says nothing is worse than taking yourself too seriously. "Looking good isn’t about what you’re wearing, it’s about how you’re wearing."
Style is all in the attitude, as the self-described preppy-punk front man for Calgary’s snarkiest band, the El Caminos, would agree.
"Of course I’m an individualist," says Kamil Krulis, a 40-year-old who is more at ease in sneakers and a vintage Calgary Stampede shirt than a mall-bought suit. "I think my forte is in mix and match," he adds, noting his collection of Lacoste gear is close to 100 pieces. He buys sneakers and jeans first-hand, but most of his shirts come from pre-thrift store warehouses, where clothing is bought by the pound. He’s been shopping outside the mall box since Grade 11.
"I think there’s a difference between being stylish and being trendy. Don’t jump on the latest fad. Like right now with the good ’80s and the bad ’80s," he says, referring to the leg warmers and skinny ties once again being sported everywhere from art schools to nightclubs.
"Develop your own style. Accessorize with personal talismanic pieces. Or duct tape," he says, pointing to his 1960s Victoria black leather jacket with the priest’s collar and taped-up sleeves.
Forget about The Gap. Here’s one preppy punk who accessorizes at Home Depot. |
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