Notes From the 6 Train: My Time in Toronto

Kennsington Shop

I want to tell you about the cool things going on in Toronto. It’s a really neat city that’s super close to New York and is cheaper to get to the most US cities. Luckily, I have friends there who were able to show me all around the interesting places, and avoid all the toursit traps. We went to Kensington Market that was made up of all sorts of homey and inviting shops that just scream “come check me because I will probably have sorts of stuff you won’t find anywhere else.” This was true indeed. We also got to eat some amazing churros infused with chocolate and dulce de leche cream. I didn’t know that such a thing existed but once I found it, I keep returning to the market just for the churros. Here was where I found the groovy hat in the picture beneath. I found it at a vintage store for about $8.50 US dollars! Any avid vintage shopper knows just how pricey vintage items can be, so this was quite a steal. It is now my favorite hat!

I was lucky enough to be in town for Toronto’s biannual Vintage Crawl. Vintage Crawl is when all the vintage stores in the city stay open until midnight, offer AMAZING deals on merchandise and offer free drinks, beer and snacks. Some stores even had live Dj’s. I guess they figure the more you’re eating, drinking and dancing, the less attention you’re paying to the money flying out of your wallet. They’re probably right, because I bought several items, and every single person I went to the crawl at least bought one item. I’ve never been to the vintage crawl on Brooklyn, but I had such a good time in T. Dot that I will certainly check it out the next time it crawls around.

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That’s me at Toronto’s largest monthly queer hip hop party, Yes Yes Ya’ll! Toronto has a pretty progressive queer and polyamorous community, so being able to experience just taste of it was a treat. The entire placed was packed and the crowd was incredibly diverse. They also played a variety of music types, from old school hip to current hip hop as well as reggae and dancehall ( Canada has an extremely large Caribbean community, with their being more of Caribbean descent in Canada than in the actual Caribbean).

I also went to the Textile Museum of Canada, which had several interesting exhibitions, but one of my favorites was about kimonos. I also went to check out “This Is Not A Toy,” curated by Pharell Williams at the Design Exchange, which was all about… TOYS!

unnamed ( Me looking like a nerd attempting to wear a kimono)

pharrell_williams_guest_curates_design_exchange_this_is_not_a_toy_exhibition ( Snapshot from “This Is Not A Toy)

I was able to do so amazing cool things in just the 4 days I was there. If you’re looking for a quick get away this summer, jut look up!

All things Color, Love, & Fashion,

Ayanna L.

2 replies on “Notes From the 6 Train: My Time in Toronto”

  1. Looks like an awesome trip, Aya! Next time, try to make it up to MontrĂ©al. It’s closer and the queer scene is amazing. Best drag bar ever? Cleopatra, where French Canadian bearded men in plaid shirts do Madonna.

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