Spring styles bloom

The biggest trend this season 1s individuality

66

The lines This season, individuality,

styled layers and ’90s nostal- §°%
are so gia are in vogue. | ae
blurred Kim jKrempien,

VFW fashion director and cur-
now be- rent fashion director for LA
tween Fashion Week said the a

biggest trend is the 2 E¢y a
all of the showcasing of individu- Xe
different ality.

“Youre just looking like /}
ways yourself but wearing all
people these pieces that have some
dress and special meaning to you and

. are presenting your personali-
I think ty in a certain way,” said Krempi-
that’s on.

Krempien saw layers on layers
actually that were very styled, but indi-
quite vidually based with

° . model looking different on spring
liberating runways.
KIM According to Krempien, nowa-
KREMPIEN days almost anything is accepted in
fashion.
DRRON “The lines are so blurred now be-

LA FASHION WEEK

By ANNA TILLEY

arm weather is teasing

Vancouverites out

into the streets and

spring wardrobes
out of the closet.

Vancouver Fashion Week
runs from March 14 to 20 for
fall and winter, but spring
trends are currently hitting _
the streets. 4

former |

each

tween all of the different ways peo-
ple dress and I think that’s actually
really liberating,” said Krempien.

Jessica Newland, the ladieswear
manager at Hill’s of Kerrisdale on
West 41st Avenue has noticed an
active or ‘athleisure’ trend.

This trend includes sneakers, tai-
lored sweatpants and bomber jackets.

Another trend is a 90s resurgence

come

land.

re age

skirts, cropped flare jeans
and chokers.
“Things like that always

back in a new, more

polished way,” said New-

Eric Ueland, mens-
wear manager at Hill’s
of Kerrisdale,
seen

has
the heritage
vibe trending in
menswear with
leather work-boots
and head-to-toe
denim.

“Almost what
youre told not to
do in fashion is
trending,” said

Ueland.

Giovanni
Amenta, founder
of Pink & Grey

f Personal Im-
and

‘SJ * Branding and

tic

image case
studies in-
structor at
Langara Col-
has noticed
florals,

lege,
prints,

fringe, graphics, roman-

fashion and ‘hipster’

style trending.

“The whole hipster

| concept has become
very mainstream. I’m
surprised the hipsters
are still doing hipster

quite

frankly,” said

Amenta.
However, Amenta said

—_

~

which includes

high-rise

denim

it never hurts to break
rules.

“As long as you feel
amazing in what you’re
wearing then it’s the
right thing to wear.”

ANNA TILLEY photo
Models walk the runway in the Shelley Klassen for Blushing Boutique
Spring 2016 show at Vancouver Fashion Week on Monday. Flowing fabrics
and floral patterns were showcased in the Canadian designer’s collection.
Vancouver Fashion Week runs from March 14 to 20 at the Chinese Cultural

Centre of Greater Vancouver.

Status update: deceased

Digital wills allow people
to pass on control of online
accounts after they die

By DANIEL DADI-CANTARINO

hen Greg Joiner’s friend passed
Wis Joiner inherited his

friend’s laptop through a tradi-
tional will. What wasn’t in that will, was
any instructions on how Joiner should
manage his friend’s active online ac-
counts.

More people are preparing digital
wills to tie up the loose ends of their on-
line presence after they die.

Digital wills are available through
various websites, such as thedigitalbe-
yond.com and afternote.com. Some give
members the ability to record videos
and messages while others take in on-
line financial information for safekeep-

BRIDGETTE WATSON photo
Digital wills can grant Facebook
control to a legacy contact.

cially here in British Columbia, is
questionable.

In the absence of a digital will, Joiner
took it upon himself to take care of his
friend’s account the best he could. Upon
learning about digital wills, Joiner was
sceptical.

“[It]doesn’t sound like a bad idea to
somehow have it be a legally binding
tract instead of a sorta ad-hoc anybody
can do what they want kind of thing...I
can see it going terribly wrong.”

In the past two years, Facebook,
Google and Ama-
zon have all built

policies directed
towards account
holders who pass
away.

Chad Hortelano,
a computer science

: student at Langara,
GREG JOINER

. is optimistic.
Managed online “| think it’s a
accounts for a P
deceased friend good idea. Most of

us have a huge on-
line presence in
this day and age, and we need to have a
way to manage it after we die.”

According to Mary-Jane Wilson, a
Lower Mainland wills and estate law-
yer, these digital wills are not up to B.C.
standards.

“Here in B.C., we’re governed by the
Wills, Estates and Succession Act, and
it says that to make a proper will, it has
to be in writing, and you need two wit-
nesses in the same room at the same
time to witness it,” said Wilson.

But it may take a while before the le-
gality of digital wills is clarified.

“T would expect it will probably be an-
other 50 years before we get in line with
digital stuff for wills.”

ONLINE
afterlife

1 digi.me

Founded: 2009
Stores personal
digital data in one
place that can be
shared with a loved
one

2 1000memories.com
Founded: July, 2010
Invites loved ones
to submit memorial
photos

3 afternote.com

Founded: 2013
Emails goodbye
messages to
contacts

4 ProtectTheirMemo-
ries.com
Founded: 2014
Acts on behalf of
deceased to delete
social media ac-
counts

5 YouMattered.com
Founded: 2014
Creates an online
memorial to honour
loved one

Source: thedigitalbeyond.com

Taxes should not be taxing

For students, doing taxes
need not be difficult and
can often be rewarding if
eligible for refunds

By REUBEN DONGALEN JR.

of April, not just because classes

will be over, but because they could
get a nice chunk of coin from Canada
Revenue Agency.

April 30 is the final day for Canadi-
ans to file their personal income tax
return for 2015. However, for students
either unemployed or working low-in-
come jobs there is incentive to file their
income tax because they may be eligi-
ble for refunds, said former BCIT ac-
counting student, Dave Joson.

“For post-secondary kids, they should
receive their T2202A, a form of tax infor-
mation on their tuition and school books.
They can use that in their tax return, and
maybe get a refund,” he said.

When Joson did his first tax return he
wasn’t employed and was enrolled at
BCIT, however, he was eligible for GST
credits, making approximately $95 every
three months due to his low-income rate,
he said.

According to Rick Gill, resource offi-
cer for CRA, students can file their taxes
without having to worry about the ex-
penses of an accountant.

“(Students) can use our online feature
Netfile. There are a variety of software
options that are available on our website,
and a few of those can be used free of
charge,” he said.

According to Gill, using online soft-
ware rather then paying for the services
of an accountant means that students

Si can look forward to the end

A. 7,

REUBEN DONGALEN JR. photo
Langara business student Julima
Gallardo scans a T2202A tax form.

can keep track of their own forms with-
out pulling money
out of their own r4 4
pockets.

A former finance

services represen- For

tative for Westmin- students,

ster Savings Credit .,,5

Union, Jedd Sobre- it’s

pena, said the tax straight-

filing process for

students is simple, fe orward.

especially with the There

use of online re- ’

sources. aren't as
“For students, it’s many slips

straight forward.

There aren’t as EDD SOBREPENA

many slips. Some of
them include a T4,
maybe any contri-
butions they’ve made to an RESP, and
their T2202A,” he said.

“Tf your taxes are simple, you
shouldn’t need to use (an accountant’s)
services... There’s no hidden thing you
would miss. Especially if you use a soft-
ware, it does all those things automati-
cally for you.”

TAX EXPERT