Love-filled Fashion – A Valentine’s Day Lookbook

March 5, 2024 CanCulture Magazine

Get your Valentine’s Day fix post-love-day.

By Julia Lawrence

Valentine's Day is when lovey-dovey eyes exchange between partners and friends—it's also when you can show off the pink, red and overall fashion-forward pieces you have in your closet.

CanCulture’s 2024 Valentine’s Day lookbook showcases different fashion styles encapsulating the love holiday’s aesthetic. Scroll down to fill your heart with love, joy and fashion inspiration.

Mikayla Trainor (@meekeela_) pairs a bright pink skirt with a pale pink sweatshirt. (Julia Lawrence/CanCulture)

On a red background, in the middle two people hold each other while facing the camera. On the left side is a man wearing a suit and a white outlined bubble layered on top of his photo is a closeup of his rings and blue tie. — Parker Theis (R) (@_jurassicparker_) and Michael Karant (L) (@michaelkarant) dress to impress for their dinner date. (Julia Lawrence/CanCulture)

On a pink background, a photo is outlined in white with four red hearts on the corners. It is a closeup of the side of a person showing their pink heart-shaped earmuffs, red and black skirt, black shirt and brown coat. — Minori Peters (@minori.peters) wears thrifted heart-shaped earmuffs alongside a simple red and black outfit. (Julia Lawrence/CanCulture)

On a solid red background, three photos are outline in white, two are duplicates of a person's nails over their pink sweatshirt and the middle photo is their full of the pink graphic sweatshirt and black pants. — Lama Alshami (@lama.alshxmi) dons a full pink look with nails to match. (Julia Lawrence/CanCulture)

On a solid pink background is a photo of a person wearing black pants and layered a black corset over a red long sleeve. There is a photo outlined in red next to the other one that has a closeup of their outfit and nails. — Debeshi (@_debeshi_228) (Julia Lawrence/CanCulture)

On a solid red background, a person is doubled to show on one side the bottom of their outfit and the other is their top. In three bubbles outlined in pink are closeups of their corset, pink shoes and heart eye makeup. — Yllana Williams (@yllanawilliams) layers white on white for a textured look paired with heart-eyed makeup and pink heels. (Julia Lawrence/CanCulture)

Solid pink background with for red hearts surround a photo of a person wearing a black coat, red sweater with a heart vest layered over top and purple pants. — Rachel (@booperdontcrossthelinedooper) layers a heart-filled vest over a red sweater. (Julia Lawrence/CanCulture)

Two photos are in front of pink and white borders and a solid red background. One photo shows off pink painted nails and jewellery, the other photo shows a full outfit with brown pants, light pink sweater and a cream cardigan. — Daniella Lopez (@lopez_daniella_) contrasts dark brown pants with a light pink sweater and cream cardigan. Julia Lawrence/CanCulture)

On a solid pink background, a photo shows a woman holding a rose while posing to show off her jeans, white long sleeve and draped bright pink sweater. There are mixed lights in the background of white and red. — Prescela Jeeves (@prescelaaa) matches her pink rose with a bright pink sweater draped over a white long sleeve. (Julia Lawrence/CanCulture)

What did you wear this past Valentine’s Day? Email (cancultureinfo@gmail.com) a photo of your outfit for a chance to be featured on @canculturemag’s Instagram.

Sweep them off their sweet: A Valentine's Day gift guide for everyone and anyone

February 14, 2022 CanCulture Magazine

Who said you had to be dating to celebrate Valentine's Day and give gifts?

By: Samreen Maqsood

A COVID-19 and conversation candy hearts Valentine’s card (Via Etsy Canada)

The COVID-19 virus still may be in the air, but so is love! CanCulture rounded up some of the best gifts for our Valentine’s Day gift guide, but with a twist. This year, we wanted to emphasize self-love and romanticize platonic relationships, while featuring local Toronto businesses you can support.

Gifts for Yourself

Likely General

Likely General is a Toronto-based shop and community space. In late 2014, they opened up Likely General Gallery, a community-minded gallery that showcases new exhibits once a month. They offer everything from clothes and accessories to art and puzzles. Their jewelry ranges from $14 to $625. Treat yourself to a pair of Anishinaabe hand-beaded earrings that come in a range of colours and styles!

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A post shared by LikelyGeneral | shop & gallery (@likelygeneral)

How much love can you candle?

2022 is the year of self-care and what better way to relax than with some aromatherapy candles? Logan and Finley is an eco-friendly Toronto shop that offers both an online and in-person shopping experience. Their products are sustainable, useful and pretty to look at! Along with personal care, home supplies and specialty food, they offer aromatherapy candles for $14 in five different scents: lavender and eucalyptus, bergamot and bay, peppermint, fir balsam and cedar and lavender.

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A post shared by Logan & Finley (@loganandfinley)

Gifts for friends and family

Good Neighbour

You can never go wrong with a cute and cheesy Valentine’s Day greeting card. Good Neighbour is a local Leslieville fashion curator, offering clothes, jewelry, footwear, magic beans and potions. They offer a wide variety of greeting cards perfect for a day of love and sharing, ranging from $6.99 for a single card to $35 for a set of six. Put a smile on a friend or family member’s face with their assorted pun-related cards!

“You’re worth the wait” Valentine’s Day greeting card. (Via goodnbr.com)

Brodawka & Friends

Brodawka & Friends is a Toronto-based gift shop that specializes in Mexican and Portuguese footwear. Founded by a couple who graduated from OCAD University in industrial design, the shop also offers accessories, kitchen supplies and baby goods. They offer cute jewelry holders and trinket dishes ranging from $18 to $24 — the perfect gift for anyone who loves jewelry and needs more storage space!

Mango wood bowl mini solstice trinket dish. (Via brodawkaandfriends.com)

Gifts for a Special Someone

Slow Poke Soap

Slow Poke Soap offers handmade cold process soaps in different shapes and scents. Their Valentine’s Day gift offerings include a one soap gift box for $12 or a two soap gift box for $22 — and you can even add in a cute towel for $8. You can customize your soap bars in the shape of a heart envelope or XOXO!

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Northside of the Map (NSOTM)

Valentine’s Day gifts for that special guy can seem hard. But we got you covered with NSOTM. This Toronto-based streetwear and lifestyle company founded in 2012 centres their mascot, Nanuk, a polar bear found only in the Northern regions of the world. They offer a wide range of clothes; hoodies, shirts, beanies, socks and more! Treat your partner to one of their waffle knit hats for $28 — they come in 14 different colours.

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A post shared by Northside of the Map. (NSOTM) (@northsideofthemap)

Your 2019 Valentine’s Day outfit inspiration

January 31, 2019 CanCulture Magazine

By Regina Dickson

If you’re stuck on what to wear for your Valentine’s Day date this year, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. However, if you’re stuck on trying to find a date… First, you are not alone and second, we unfortunately don’t have you covered there.

As any other outfit, your V-Day look is going to depend on the weather and the setting of your date. Let’s start here.

Feb. 14 is still a couple weeks away, but right now the forecast predicts -5 C and partially cloudy. In terms of the setting of your date, whether it’s a romantic dinner or a wild night at a concert, the following looks are divided into three types of dates. Take a look and be inspired.

Restaurant date

If you ask me, an elegant and, most importantly, warm sweater dress is the ideal choice for a restaurant date.

Left: Photo courtesy of Mytheresa via Pinterest, Top: Photo courtesy of Who What Wear via Pinterest, Bottom: Photo courtesy of Love Street Apparel via Pinterest

Choosing a simple sweater dress like this one will keep you on the current minimalist trend. It will also allow you to make a statement with either earrings, a faux fur coat like this one or maybe a bold purse and a red lip.

Dynamite has a selection of classy sweater dresses which are currently on sale for as low as $30.

Concert/party date

Left: Photo courtesy of Urban Outfitters via Pinterest, Top: Photo courtesy of Etsy.com via Pinterest, Bottom: Photo courtesy of Clothing Clothesmapper via Pinterest

Denim on denim - pretty wild, eh?

Believe it or not, it’s a trend that celebrities such as Selena Gomez and Hailey Bieber have been all over the past few seasons.

Courtesy of Hailey Rhode Bieber (haileybieber) via Instagram

High waisted Levi’s jeans are obviously classic and still very much in style today. So are fleece-lined denim jackets, which go with any casual or more formal look.

With the comeback of 80s fashion, classic rock bands have naturally come back in style as well. Led Zeppelin T-shirts especially seem to have been a hit over the past year.

Lastly, you can’t go wrong with Docs. Do yourself a favour and invest in a nice pair of Dr. Martens - they’ll change your life.

Most, if not all three, of the items above can be found at Urban Outfitters downtown Toronto. H&M usually has a good selection of band T-shirts and Journeys has all the most popular Dr. Martens styles.

Art gallery date

Here’s to hoping you’re going on an art gallery date this Valentine’s Day, because this outfit is my favourite. Corduroy, faux fur, animal print, flare and leather are few of the main trends this fall and winter season. When it comes to animal print, the key is balance. Wearing green booties with a red turtleneck and an animal print coat is probably too much. Choosing somewhat neutral colours with no patterns is a great way to make your look pop with an animal print coat.

Top left: Photo courtesy of ShopStyle via Pinterest, Bottom left: Photo courtesy of & Other Stories via Pinterest, Top right: Photo courtesy of DressLily via Pinterest, Bottom right: Photo courtesy of Topshop via Pinterest

Free People, with a location in the Toronto Eaton Centre, has the most fantastic leopard print faux fur coat, quite literally called the Kate Leopard Coat. Zara is usually my go-to for ankle boots. It always has the widest, trendiest selection with great discounts. H&M and Forever 21 are good places to find a corduroy skirt. As for the cashmere sweater… Aritzia usually has the most warm, soft and high-quality sweaters.

My hope is that you have been inspired and if not, hopefully your date will do a better job at inspiring you than I have this Valentine’s Day.