Ottawans have bad fashion sense, apparently - YouLookFab Forum

Category

General

Ottawans have bad fashion sense, apparently

krishnidoux

Veteran

Oh no! GQ listed my city amongst worst-dressed cities IN THE WORLD.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/n.....story.html

Gasp. I knew it was bad... but that bad? I have to say... it was a thing I noticed moving here, but now that my eye has accustomed itself I do see nice efforts here and there. A colorful sock. A cute scarf.

Unfortunately lots of bad leg lengths, too much monochrome brown, way too many revealing get ups among younger girls. Lots and lots of "gear". As a result, if not in gear clothes, I often fight the feeling of being overdressed.

But the people are not all to blame.

There are too few thrift shops and too many big, known brands that sell the same things. Canadians are hit hard with taxes upon delivery when shopping online too. Our dollar is stronger than the US, yet we still pay much more for clothes. For example J Crew charges 15 % more here. http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Cana.....ce-110911/

Any thoughts?

General

23 replies

Latest reply was from Kari

Mo

(website)

Veteran

I think style can be had on any budget. Cities seem to have a culture all their own, including unwritten rules on level of dress.
I think the price differences are a huge bummer online for shipping!

celia

Veteran

uhhh, I was in Ottawa last week for the first time and I hve to say that I was not impressed by what I saw.
I was there for a day and only around Parliament Hill ,and even though it is a business place and people were dressed up for work they generally were not polished .(Aparently Vancouver is even worse)
When I came to Canada I was told how people here dressed worse than in Europe but in Toronto I hadn't noticed it.
There are great Canadian brands that have gorgeous and good quality clothing.I think the article has it right, the casual vibe, the unwillingness to stand out is what makes people not bother with what they dress.
I really don't think people were taught to have fun with fashion around there.

ETA: I did love Ottawa

Isabel

Veteran

Celia, I think that people in Toronto generally dress well. Maybe everyone is going downhill !

Patty

Veteran

Ottawa is a hard town for me to get my head around--sure it's the capital but there really isn't a major city center of any great size--more like a couple blocks. Lots of box stores and strip malls, housing developments and all spread out--no real place for people to gather except on special occasions. And the place is but a bunch of small communities made into one city that to me feels so compartmentalized---it's a no wonder people are all over the place in dress and lifestyles in Bytown.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Huh. If they had come to Kingston, they'd have said the same. We're like Ottawa's little sister; we wear her hand-me-downs!

It's true, though—especially in Ottawa and Vancouver, gear is de rigueur. On the positive side, this says that the city's inhabitants spend a lot of time in the outdoors, and are active. On the negative side, it says (perhaps) that shopping and nightlife are a bit lacking.

Krishnadoux, do you know the boutique Vanilla, on Elgin Street? They have some nice things there, I think.

I share your irritation and frustrating about our online options in Canada. I would LOVE to be able to order from Ann Taylor, for example. But can't. And I just can't justify all the taxes and duties that would accrue if I ordered from Nordstrom's. It's too much. GRRRRR.

Heather

Veteran

Ignore it! It is all relative.

DressLover

Veteran

I would definitely ignore. GQ usually has 40 cities on the list, so honestly no city escapes it. It is GQ's satirical way of pointing out stereotypes in cities.

Austin - hipsters
San Diego - flip flops and swim coverups
Maui - Hawaiian shirts
Seattle - grunge
Miami - clubwear
Pittsburgh - sports gear

Pretty much any city you can think of is on the list, even ones known for being fashion-forward. I mean really, Manhattan in the Top 5? *eyeroll*

Isabel

Veteran

DL - those are some good points. The Boston description states that people are "preppy" there. That is just *not* true. Maybe on Cape Cod or Nantucket, but not Boston.

DressLover

Veteran

And they got Martha's Vineyard too. (I have seen Cape Cod and Nantucket on the list before too.)

Basically everywhere gets slammed at some point or another by GQ. Except one city in particular....

krishnidoux

Veteran

Mo, true about style not needing money to happen. And about city cultures. In Montreal style is a given. You have to have some, otherwise you're not in the game. Style there can be sexy or quirky or both. In Victoria style is stuck somewhere in the fifties, which is great of course if you like vintage. Lots of thrift shops there too, called "consignment stores". In Victoria you can also go shop in your PJ's, literally, which never ceased to amaze me. Now here in Ottawa, well...

Celia, I'm so sorry you had a sad visual experience on your trip! I didn't know Europeans were supposed to be badly dressed (?). I thought Italians for one were leaders in fashion. Europeans didn't strike me as badly dressed, or has Ottawa affected my ability to see clearly in that matter?

Suz: Thank you for the tip! I haven't heard of that store but I will definitively check it out. There is a small boutique I like to go to, called "Milk" on Dalhousie. It is generally geared towards a younger crowd, but there are some unique pieces and accessories there, that can be worn at any age, and it's not too expensive. The boutique is run by two very hip sisters who have a knack for finding cool stuff, along with their stylish mother.

Dresslover, thank you for the reminder.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Ooh! I remember Milk. I've been in there a couple of times. Krishnadoux, maybe we can have a meetup sometime in Ottawa? I think Freckles lives there, too...

Another very interesting store is Kaliyana. It's way out Japanese inspired designs and not everyone's cup of tea, but it is a far cry from the staid. I fear that I am probably too small to wear their clothing but I like to look at it: http://www.kaliyana.com/eng/home.html

krishnidoux

Veteran

Yes! I know Kaliyana and have been drooling over their outfits ever since I arrived here. And me too, am too small to fit into the clothes ;(

Yes, let's do a Ottawa meetup!

catgirl

Veteran

I wouldn't take that too seriously - Boston was #1 on the list! Did they even bother coming to Anchorage?

My friend who visited Boston came back and asked me if all the men there were gay, because they were all so good-looking and well-dressed.

nicoleb

(website)

Veteran

As someone is lives in a place constantly surrounded by....um..."non-fashion" i say ignore it and stand apart from the crowd as your beautiful and well-dressed self! Maybe others will follow.

Or if you're town/city is like mine they'll just look at you like you're crazy and make comments. >.>

DressLover

Veteran

AG, Wasilla has been on the list the past couple years.

nicoleb

(website)

Veteran

*shudders*

I'll never forget the last time i went to the fair and they were selling those "Valley Trash" tshirts. And people were buying them. -_-

ETA: In AK

Transcona Shannon

Veteran

Clearly who ever came up with that list has never been to Winnipeg! My home town of the 'Peg is very blue-collar so not a lot of dressing up goes on around here. And you will never see so many women wearing men's sweatshirts and Crocs in your life! But I've always been the type to swim upstream so dress how I like even though I've had people say right to my face that I'm over dressed or "too fancy" (that one made me laugh).

I share with my fellow Canucks the frustration with the online ordering. Like Suz I'd love to order from Ann Taylor but that's not an option. And some places that used to have international shipping are now removing that option.

rae

(website)

Veteran

I didn't read everything, but the first thing I thought was, "Wow, someone should corner that Ottowa thrift store market!"

krishnidoux

Veteran

A (cool) video showing Ottawa, for those who have never seen it:
Ottawa Summer in 30000 Frames
http://vimeo.com/7401069

krishnidoux

Veteran

Thrifting in Ottawa: I stand corrected...
http://thriftkitty.blogspot.co.....ssion.html

Sveta

(website)

Veteran

I don't know about Ottawa but London ON did not strike me like a city of well dressed people when we moved here from Europe. Actually it was the biggest culture shock I got here! I see a distinct difference when I come to Toronto or Montreal but all other Ontarian cities I visited so far were a far cry from fashion. More than that, it also get a bad influence on people which come to live here and who paid more attention to dressing before. I noticed that on myself and my friends: you kind of get into the overall feeling of not caring much because everybody around you does not. On my last job my boss was coming to work in running shoes with very visible holes in them - even when we visited clients! Of course we were a tiny software company but still! I feel that this "not care" thing is often taken to the extreme here.
On the other hand I don't think that lack of shopping can be blamed on this entirely - more like lack of interest. We still have some nice stores here, even chain ones. Winners can be a great hunting ground - sure I go away empty-handed quiet often but some gems were found there. Le Chateau has very interesting designs and I adore Danier leather coats and jackets for their quality and unique styles - and sales there are quite good and make them affordable. Not that I would not welcome better online shopping options for Canadians - I am often green with envy reading this forum about amazing online shopping in US. But it may be as chicken and egg: there is not much interest in dressing well in Canada so retail is not developed much and because of this people have hard time dressing well...
You know, there was an ad on TV several years ago which I hated. I don't remember what was the subject of it - beer I guess - but I hated the punch line: "Just one of the guys!" Just blend with the crowd, it is safer this way - and this is what I feel is a mainstream Canadian take on dressing as well. If majority people are dressed super causal to the point of ugly - then you should do the same to blend in...Arggg...
At least we, YLF Canadians doing all in our power to bring the style quotient up in Canada. All we need is get more YLFers in Canada to turn the tides here!

celia

Veteran

My English came out really bad.
What I meant was that being from Europe I always listened that people in Canada dressed poorly.But in Toronto I always thought people look well dressed.
In Ottawa,however people don't look very well dressed.

Kari

Veteran

Hey, it looks just like where I live. Rock on!

I actually notice quite a difference when I hang out in downtown Seattle or other heavily urban areas within the actual city of Seattle (I don't live or work there) vs. some of the suburban city centers, which tend to be more casual or simply less creative. I was downtown for 2 days this past week to serve on jury duty, and as is my usual, I wore pencil skirts with low heels. On the east side across the lake from Seattle, where I work, wearing a skirt is considered "dressy" by most. Downtown, I felt like I actually blended in a bit. I wonder how my style would be impacted differently if I actually lived and worked in the city instead.

Krishnidoux, I'll bet you are raising the style quotient of your city by a few notches!