Local Top Tips
Searching for Style’s Top Ten Tips for Shopping in Vancouver
Vancouver may not be a major fashion capital, but there are definitely things worth buying, be it vintage treasures or designer gems, not to mention all of the traditional aboriginal clothing, like leather, fur-trimmed moccasins and Cowichan sweaters. Below are UJ’s Top Ten Shopping Tips for the city, as scribed by our insider at local fashion blog, Searching For Style.
- Vintage shopping is excellent in Vancouver, because fashion trends- as a general rule- tend to be quite behind here. When skinny jeans were trendy elsewhere, Vancouver was still wearing flares, so it’s easy to pick up product that hasn’t caught on yet. Check out C’est La Vie, True Value Vintage, and Deluxe Junk. Also, all of the big London (a city notorious for its fascination with retro treasures) vintage retailers buy stock from Canada, so get it here, straight from the source, for a fraction of the price.
- Vancouverites don’t spend a lot of money on fashion - they simply aren’t willing to - so clothing’s quite reasonably priced here, particularly vintage. Boutiques tend to mark up by 100%, which is significantly less than Europe, so you can also get a lot of new product and European brands here at reasonable prices. With the US dollar being so low, American names like Alexander Wang and Philip Lim are also well-priced here. Winners can be good for discounted products from old seasons, but it’s a question of luck. I seem to fall on tacky Micheal Kors shoes when I’m in there, but my friend finds $300 Marni dresses.
- Customer service is excellent, to the point where it can be quite surprising if you’re used to unfriendly shop assistants. They are very willing to help, recommend items, and they also tend to know a lot about the product. Don’t be afraid to ask. And if you are really nice to them, it’s not hard to bargain for freebies or discounts, as long as you’re reasonable. I’ve had free chocolate bars or 10% discounts on clothing after spending some time chatting to the sales assistants.
- If you are looking for locally designed or manufactured products, stick to small boutiques. There are a lot of gems out there, and many small boutiques tend to support local talent, while the big retailers really don’t. Make sure to get the full story about the local products from the sales assistant. Try Front and Eugene Choo on Main Street, and stores in Gastown for local brands.
- A lot of the good shops are in pockets of the city, so you can’t do it all on foot. If you are staying downtown, the Robson street area will give you the big brands, while Yaletown and Gastown will have smaller boutiques and vintage clothing stores.
- Vancouverites play it safe, buying big, well-known brands and classic pieces. There aren’t many unusual brands or products, particularly in the department stores, although some boutiques carry more unique names. Holt Renfrew, our luxury department store, carries a lot of “Top 40” luxury handbags, and lots of Coach (Vancouver is infested by Coach bags.) Stick to smaller boutiques for luxury goods, Boboli on South Granville is generally aimed at older women, but you can find a few cool pieces in there that the older ladies won’t touch. Gravity Pope on 4th is where the edgy brands are, as well as smaller boutiques in Yaletown and Gastown.
- Sales are terrible here. The department stores discount 20% and 30%, maybe up to 50%, but rarely more. They don’t try and sell all the old stock during sales, because Vancouverites aren’t picky and they’ll continue to buy old seasons well into the next. If you are looking for discounts, drive across the border and hit the outlets in the US, usually about an hour away. But be careful at the border, they are very strict about shopping limits.
- Canada’s bargain basement retailer is called Joe Fresh (available at Superstore), and like the UK’s chain of Primarks, is relatively fashion forward at low low prices.
- Don’t be put off by the visual merchandising in Vancouver – it’s really terrible, so don’t make judgements based on a window display or the way the clothes are hung. Leone is a great example, an amazing luxury boutique in a beautiful heritage building, but terribly merchandised.
- Vancouver has great homewares and vintage home décor stuff, often undervalued by people here, so sold at excellent price points. If you like retro furniture, there is tons of it, new vintage-inspired and genuine vintage. I found a 1950s fridge freezer and matching stove in perfect condition for $80, it was worth at least $500 on Craig’s List. There are also tons of amazing furniture designers, usually working out of their studios in East Vancouver. Check the Eastside Cultural Crawl website for names, and go and visit them directly. There are tons of amazing modern furniture designers and local artists who sell at excellent prices direct to customers. I love Christian Woo’s modern furniture, and its quite cheap compared to what you’d pay in Europe. Although make sure the shipping costs won’t break the bank.
For more shopping tips on Vancouver visit Alexandra Suhner’s blog. searchingforstyle.com.
Alexandra Suhner is the author of Searching for Style and works as a fashion trend forecaster, as well as lecturing in fashion marketing and design.
