Vintage always a classic choice Shoppers on the hunt for quality and uniqueness keep vintage alive By CLARE HENNIG ntage items, from vinyl records to the second-hand little black dress, are becoming increasingly popular in Vancouver as buyers try to balance budget with quality, es- pecially during the Christmas season. Miranda Mizrahi, owner of The Main Exchange consignment shop, said vin- tage shopping is a growing trend be- cause everyone wants to feel like they are purchasing something special. “We're just driven to wanting that one-of-a-kind piece,” Mizrahi said. Mizrahi described the example of her last customer, a woman who had just bought a dress for a Christmas party. The customer, Mizrahi said, wanted something special to wear — that no ihe a) | Esti ta ul (ERI ee y : be]. E yan i) CLARE HENNIG photo Top photo: Neptoon Records, a shop that sells vinyl records and CDs. Bottom photos: The Main Exchange, a consignment clothing store. one else at the party would be wearing — and to feel like she was getting the best quality for her money. “Every woman wants something unique,” Mizrahi said. “I feel the same when I go into a store and I see some- thing that I like, but there are ten of them. All of a sudden, I don’t feel like I want it anymore.” Karen Green, manager of Bohemia Gallery, also said the motivating rea- son people come to the vintage con- signment shop is because they are looking for something affordable and different from the mainstream. “We're not big on designer names, we’re more into bohemian than formal suits,” Green said. “They are unique pieces and our prices are low.” Mizrahi said the growing trend of seeking vintage and used clothes fits into Vancouver’s image. “We're such a green city and we want to be the greenest,” she said. “I think that goes hand-in-hand with used shopping, keeping things out of the landfill by repurposing and not contrib- uting to corporations that have cheap clothes.” It’s not just people seeking unique apparel that appreciate vintage items. Ben Frith, the manager at Neptoon Records, said sales of vinyl records have skyrocketed over the past couple years. “The number of sales has really shifted a lot,” Frith said. “There is no norm or stereotype [of the kind of cus- tomer] anymore. For a long time, it was middle-aged dudes and that was it. But that stereotype is long gone.” He said the vintage aesthetics of re- cords is part of the appeal, alongside the desire to have a better listening ex- perience at an affordable price. Quality rather than quantity is a driving force behind vintage shopping. Eating ethically on a budget isa challenge Many people who want to eat an organic diet find themselves not being able to afford the high costs By CLARE HENNIG and costs of living, spending the extra cash to buy organic or free trade gro- ceries can be difficult on a student bud- get. Despite what can be high costs of eat- ing organic, there is a large market for organic and ethically sourced food in Vancouver. Megan Brown, associate manager of Organic Acres Market, said she has seen the store’s customer-base grow ex- ponentially in the three years she’s been working there. “More and more people are trying to keep as many chemicals out of their bodies as they can,” Brown said. “Peo- ple are interested in their health and eating properly.” She recognized that the financial costs are a concern for many customers, though. “T think it can definitely be difficult {on a student budget],” Brown said. “We do offer discounts on vegetables so you [: a city with sky-high housing prices COGAN SHOTTHA Owner of the August Market. 66 It shows the discon- nect in Vancouver between people who have a lot of discre- tionary spending money and people who don’t still get the good quality just a little bit cheaper.” Produce that is bruised or coming up to its sell-by- date often goes on sale, Brown said, and that attracts customers who otherwise would not buy organic. “It’s not always possible to buy all organic,” said Brown. “But if I am I finding that [when] I couldn’t get everything or- ganic, I would make these things my priority— dairy, cleaner meat that’s grass- fed and antibiotic- free, and certain produce.” Navandeep Dhaliwal, a bioin- formatics student at Langara, said that she doesn’t think buying or- ganic food is always worth the high cost. “At some point, we have to consider the ethics of the food,” Dhaliwal said. “But most things are out of reach be- cause it’s too expensive.” Gogan Shottha, owner of the August Market, agrees that organic food is im- portant but thinks it can cause a divided society. “Tt shows the disconnect in Vancou- ver between people who have a lot of discretionary spending money and peo- ple who don’t,” Shottha said. “I don’t like how it becomes something that di- vides people.” Healthy doesn’t have to mean expen- sive or organic, Shottha said. “If youre making decisions to eat zucchini and broccoli and apples more often than processed foods, you’re al- ready going in the right direction,” he said. “It’s fine if you’re not eating organ- ic all the time or right away.” CLARE HENNIG photo Organic Acres Market sells organic food advertised as being “Not As Expensive As You Think.”