page 10
arts and culture
European envy
KAROLINA WISNIEWSKI Editor-in-Chief
Though I profess no expertise in the realm of fashion (I instead defer to our resident fashionista, Angie Sheep), and though I prefer to reserve all extraneous and non-law-related thinking for the things that really matter (how will Mary cope with Matthew’s death in the upcoming season of Downton Abbey?), my interest was sparked by an article I recently read on the Toronto Standard entitled, “Why Montreal Style is Just Plain Sexier than Toronto Style” (http://www.torontostandard.com/style/ why-montreal-style-is-just-plain-sexier-thantoronto-style). The provocative title drew me in and the colourful language made for an interesting read, but I was left feeling skeptical regarding the conclusion of the article and vaguely disconcerted about its implications. The author unequivocally typified Toronto as the less edgy, less interesting and less adventurous city in terms of its denizens’ fashion choices: “Toronto definitely doesn’t have Montreal’s balls when it comes to putting yourself out there and risking public ridicule for the sake of fashion.” The author went on to conjecture that: “If a guy wearing a top hat, a metallic gold crop top, jean cut-offs and faux fur platforms strolled down Boul. St-Laurent and asked a group of locals for directions, they’d simply direct him where he wanted to go without blinking an eye. In Toronto, I’d half expect people to clutch their Louis Vuitton bags in horror as they dialled CAMH to report an escaped patient.” As a native Torontonian, I resent the implication that we are inherently puritanical and cripplingly conservative – the Canadian equivalent of an uptight, my-ancestors-came-over-on-the-Mayflower New Englander, donning a pearl necklace and toting around designer handbags. Perhaps Montreal style is “sexier” than Toronto style, although I question the automatic association of “sexier” with “better”. Surely, there are a multiplicity of qualities that comprise good or superior fashion sense, sexiness being only one of them. Regardless, what is more troubling, as I see it, is the author’s reasoning as to why Toronto suffers from substandard style: “Most Montrealers believe we’re from the greatest city in North America… the city’s belief in its own greatness and international importance has never dis ?\]Y [? ]8?&\? ?]XZ?\?] ?? ?^ K??'H \??[?? ?\?Y\?]X?[ H[\?\?\?Y?[???[?YX[?? H]]? ?X\??\?\? \?8?'?[?????[?[ H?] ? ]]8?&\?? \?\ ????X[?? ?[ ?\???[?? H ?[YH ?[??H? ?^[?\??[??X\?\??\?? ][?^H H ?\ [X?\? M? H ? L?H[? ?X[\??]?H[? ?\? \??'H\?H ?Y[HZ?H?\?[?\?\??\?[???? H]]? ?XZ?K????H [?? ^H ?Y[H ?[??\? H??[[? H
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