A} EDITOR DEREK BEDRY

Over the summer, Vancouver lost its spot as the best place in the w

Worst-dressed rank
Stymies students,
confounds experts

MSN Travel’s summer study of sloven-
liest cities places Vancouver third, but

who cares?

By DEVON MACKENZIE

4
\ Ey writer Vivian Song.

AONE But Langara students and local ex-
perts disagree.

Song justified her ranking by writing that
yoga pants had become too mainstream.

“Yoga pants are a ruse worn by lazy pseudo-
fashionistas,” Song said. She implied that athlet-
ic-wear giant lululemon was the main offender.

When The Voice asked for a comment, lulule-
mon public relations representative Erin Hoch-
stein declined, saying they did not have an avail-
able spokesperson.

So, is Vancouver really as sloppy as Song
says?

“Tm a little insulted,” said Ashley Pothiboon,
19. “I don’t think we dress that badly and I don’t
think yoga pants are that atrocious. There are
worse things that people could be wearing.”

Vancouver fashion blogger Paul Melo of Style-
Quotient.ca agreed that Vancouver is definitely

»

vancouver is the third worst-dressed city
“in the world, according to MSN Travel

not the third worst dressed city in the world.

“T agree we have too much yoga wear on the
streets as day-to-day fashion....but Vancouver
3rd worst [dressed] in the world? Not even in
Canada. I’ve photographed over 2000 stylish peo-
ple over the last two years and I only stop a
small percentage of the people I see,” Melo said
in an email.

Langara College’s yoga coordinator, Naseem
Gulamhusein, 35, agrees yoga pants belong in
the studio.

“T like to get dressed up and feel feminine
when I’m not at the studio,” she said. And when
Gulamhusein spends her days teaching yoga
classes she says that she never dons stereotypi-
cal revealing yoga wear.

“If yoga is viewed as a profession, we as in-
structors have to treat it that way. There has to
be a certain standard of professionalism and
that includes how you dress.”

So the question remains - will people think
twice about putting on yoga pants before they
hit the streets?

“T definitely will,” laughed Pothiboon. “I don’t
want to be that girl!”

Langara yoga coordinator Naseem Guiamhusein, above, believes it’s
unprofessional to wear revealing workout gear even when teaching.

Arvinder Hundal, 19, is among Langara students who don’t put much
stock in MSN Travel writer Vivian Song’s opinion.

DEVON MACKENZIE photos

MSN Travel ranked Vancouver the third worst-dressed city in the world, blaming i

Survey by LYNDA CHAPPLE

very year, the Georgia Straight makes a |
in light of the numerous blights to befal.

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