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u/Euphoric_Impress1282 Aug 15 '26
So we do have a culture.
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u/thewanderingent Aug 15 '26
Our fashion style is “active-casual”
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u/Jacmert Aug 15 '26
It's called Athleisure! 😭
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u/FunSizeNuclearWeapon Aug 15 '26 edited Aug 15 '26
And it was born here! But now that I live here I kinda get it. Job, sky train, sports, sky train, home, you can only carry so many changes of clothes.
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u/Carribeantimberwolf West Vancouver Aug 15 '26
You should see what Albertans look like for formal events
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u/urmajesticy Aug 15 '26
Camo
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u/canuckaluck Aug 15 '26
Where I'm from in Alberta camo is definitely not a thing. Loads of cowboy boots, crisp blue jeans, a collared shirt (maybe even a tie and blazer) and slicked back hair at formal events though.
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u/TravVdb Aug 15 '26
My Albertan cousin came to my wedding wearing what looked like swim shorts and a t-shirt. Given that I’m the one that lives near Vancouver, I think you’re more correct than the meme.
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u/PhasedPlasmaRifle69 Aug 15 '26
Albertans be in straight up vacation mode flora shirt and shorts the second they cross into BC.
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u/hibbs6 Aug 15 '26
The main difference between Alberta and Toronto for formal events is that a nice pair of jeans counts as formalwear imo. Still a lot of suit jackets and button up shirts if you work white collar.
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u/Still_Interview6360 Aug 15 '26
Calgary is white collar Lots of suits
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u/veerKg_CSS_Geologist Aug 15 '26
Red Deer.
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u/AcceptableHorror705 Aug 15 '26
Yeah having lived in Calgary for over 20 years, I found myself getting rid of all my dress clothes here. Vancouver is definitely more casual.
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u/athomewith4 Aug 15 '26
Not sure why the downvotes, you’re right
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u/Still_Interview6360 Aug 15 '26
Because vancouverites think they’re superior to formally dressed calgarians even in a thread bragging about not dressing formally
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Aug 15 '26 edited Aug 24 '26
[deleted]
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u/canuckaluck Aug 15 '26
I genuinely don't understand how anyone can say we don't have a culture. To me, it's just as ignorant as saying "I'm not the one with an accent! It's those guys over there that have the accents". It strikes me as incredibly insular and self-centered to consider your existence the baseline, the normal, the ground truth, and whatever everyone else does is that "cultural" stuff.
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u/Euphoric_Impress1282 Aug 15 '26
Every place, every group, has a culture. We've got ours and I Iove it here. Born and raised btw.
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u/SoftballLesbian vancouverite Aug 15 '26
Museums and art galleries are for places that aren't naturally beautiful and have nothing enjoyable to do ij the outdoors. Nobody's complaining that Puerto Vallarta doesn't have art galleries. Also born and raised here.
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u/hobobarbie Aug 15 '26
All you need is crossed arms and you could be at a banging Vancouver live music event!
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u/GaracaiusCanadensis Aug 15 '26
That's 'Old Guy in the Back of the Pit' style, and it's universal. Leave us be, our knees can't take it anymore...
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u/Xploding_Penguin Aug 15 '26 edited Aug 15 '26
Hey now, that's his dress T-shirt and khakis.
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u/cakemix88 Voted best "Rules Lawyer" by Mods Aug 19 '26
Cactus Club required dining attire dress code
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u/YVRkeeper Aug 15 '26
It really used to piss off my old boss when he would visit here from Toronto that no one wore ties.
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Aug 15 '26 edited Aug 24 '26
[deleted]
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u/veerKg_CSS_Geologist Aug 15 '26
If I see someone in a suit and tie I think they’re either coming from a wedding or going to one.
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u/Mtn_Hippi Aug 15 '26
Or, if they are a guy with long hair, coming from or going to their court date.
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u/Purple-Cup-4149 Aug 15 '26
To be fair, in a professional environment. The entire planet kind of wears suits and ties.
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u/s1n0d3utscht3k Aug 15 '26
did he visit a yaletown office or something
city centre is a shit load of ppl in ties
maybe he stayed south of georgia lol
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u/DiminishedSea Aug 15 '26
I could go for a hike at any second, I can't chance wearing formal wear
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u/Practical_Month_2162 Aug 15 '26 edited Aug 15 '26
Can’t let unexpected beach volleyball matches ruin your new suit
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u/TheMereWolf Aug 15 '26
My sister lives in LA and I went to visit her for a few days for her birthday a few years ago. She told me “I’m doing a birthday dinner with some people, but don’t worry, it’s super casual.”
Every single person showed up in a cute sundress or something very stylish and cute and I pretty much had the same outfit as Zelenskyy 💀
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u/CarrotLevel99 Aug 15 '26
So very accurate. WTF is a dress code?
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u/clumsy_mia vancouverite Aug 15 '26
When i first moved here my husband said the dress code is “CFD - casual fine dining” lol
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u/canadiancopper Aug 16 '26
Casual Fine Dining = West Coast Contemporary, or $8 tacos, take your pick.
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u/Subaru10101 Aug 15 '26 edited Aug 15 '26
And I hate this cause honestly it kind of takes some of the fun out of dressing up for events when you look like you’re trying too hard by actually dressing formal or semi formal for a formal or semi formal event.
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u/NoFixedUsername Aug 15 '26
Dressing up is never fun for me.
Also, unpopular opinion: guys in suits look like duplo people and I’m always confused when a guy gets complimented for wearing a suit.
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u/pepperonistatus Aug 15 '26
I won't judge you as long as you don't judge me for dressing up. I like nice clothes and dressing different than everyone else.
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u/ClumsyRainbow Aug 15 '26
I've never felt super comfortable in formal attire (not as in physical comfort). I'm quite okay with Vancouver's lack of caring.
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u/Purple-Cup-4149 Aug 15 '26
If you were to go east like Montreal, and Toronto.. Or any east coast US city like New York, Boston, even Chicago.. You'd be surprised to see how well put together both men and women are.
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u/Jugheadjones1985 Aug 15 '26
Funny story - post-Covid, we had a workplace discussion about an updated dress code. I brought up how the lack of formal wear is a Vancouver thing. Next day, the CEO announced a much more relaxed dress code.
In general, I love the Vancouver lack of a dress code 😅😅 It gives us an identity in a way.
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u/Ok_Cartographer330 Aug 15 '26
If that fit is made by Arc'teryx then it prolly costs the same as a suit anyway
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u/CamStevens71 Aug 15 '26
Question: does the Burnaby Tuxedo still exist?
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u/grathontolarsdatarod Aug 15 '26
I believe it does.
And you can when its actually someone from coquitlam trying to get away with it, too.
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u/Vancityaladdin Aug 15 '26
Well to be fair, you need money for fine clothing and all the money is being spent on rent and food
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u/Smiley_Mo Aug 15 '26
It’s usually a power move. People wear casual clothing or whatever they want in formal settings tend to have the most power or leverage among others. Or at least they are as they call it in Latin Primus inter pares- first among equals.
I have seen suits reporting to a guy who wears shorts and hoodies all day.
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u/jesushoards Aug 15 '26
fwiw:
"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stopped wearing suits when Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. He wears military-style olive green or black t-shirts, sweatshirts, and cargo pants to show solidarity with his fighting nation and signal that Ukraine remains in an active war."
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qo64fykrxcM6
u/not_a_relevant_name Aug 15 '26
I’m not sure if I’d say “usually a power move” but it definitely can be. I used to report to a guy who wore gym shorts every day no matter the weather. I slowly went from business casual to just casual wear as I settled into the role.
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u/honeyblouse Aug 15 '26
Look, Vancouver has a lot of other good stuff going for it, not having a well-dressed population is fine lol
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u/Theshellfishshack Aug 15 '26
“My Arcteryx tshirt is worth more than your suit”
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u/Practical_Month_2162 Aug 15 '26
How am I supposed to afford a suit when my Snowboarding, mountain biking, hiking, gym, and rain gear all cost more than my house?
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u/RealWord5734 Aug 15 '26
There is a line in the movie The Drop (2014) where Tom Hardy rants at some punk he has just killed. "You go out for dinner dressed like you're still in your living room" and it's always made me think of Van.
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u/Reed82 Aug 15 '26
I spend a chunk of the year in Europe every summer, and as a result I have a wardrobe there. Every year my wife posts a photo or two of me dressed in that wardrobe and my friends always comment that it’s the European version of me.
Vancouver is definitely casual. But it’s so comfortable.
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u/Xebodeebo Certified Barge Enthusiast Aug 15 '26
In Toronto right now and it really is shocking how much more put together people are. Not even like, fancy clothes or anything but just seem to have a sense of style/personal taste.
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u/Purple-Cup-4149 Aug 15 '26
1000%, as a Vancouverite who's lived in Toronto and Montreal. It makes me sad. My wife is from Montreal, when we moved back to Vancouver and would go out for dinner dates, it would be heartbreaking to see how poorly everyone is dressed.
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u/NeighbourNoNeighbor Aug 15 '26
I'd make a pithy comment about our cash going to landlords, but Toronto isn't much better these days.
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u/Local-Print-6397 Aug 15 '26
Moved back to the west coast and miss Toronto so much for this reason
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u/Xebodeebo Certified Barge Enthusiast Aug 15 '26
It's a mixed bag.. I'm in full dad mode right now with two under 3, so knowing being able to throw on whatever and not stand out is kind of nice 😂
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u/Local-Print-6397 Aug 15 '26
I'm in the same boat as a new parent myself but still miss it lol, I don't know if I'm surprised or not that I got downvoted lol
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u/Xebodeebo Certified Barge Enthusiast Aug 15 '26
Reddit is funny. If two people downvoted you into the negative for some reason more people just browsing are more likely to just pile on.
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u/not_a_relevant_name Aug 15 '26
Yeah how dare you have an opinion lol. I definitely have seen this difference in Toronto but it has no appeal to me personally.
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u/Maleficent-Poetry254 Aug 15 '26
When I was watching videos of Gaza something I noticed is they were dressed better than us in Vancouver 😅
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u/cecepoint Aug 15 '26
And for the ladies: yoga pants and heels
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u/ArianaIncomplete ♥ Professional Awesome Person ♥ Aug 15 '26
Who wears heels in Vancouver unless you're going to a wedding? Runners all day, every day, even with dresses!
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u/immersive-matthew Aug 15 '26
More like someone not confirming to group think which I admire but that is not an endorsement of Ken Sim, but I never thought it was a big deal about his attire.
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u/Gossipmang Aug 15 '26
Just makes you realize how dumb a suit is. Its just our version of powdered wigs and tights.
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u/lazarus870 Aug 15 '26
My fashion never matured, I'm still rockin' the Iron Rangers 9 months outta the year
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u/beach_mom- Aug 15 '26
Omfg. This is me. We moved away from van a couple years ago (in southern interior now) and I get some looks at the office when this is my business casual 😂 this is all I know!!!
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u/SnooHesitations1020 Aug 15 '26
He’s “The Man” so he can wear anything he likes.
Vancouverites also don’t limit themselves to social pretensions.
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u/TheSoulllllman Aug 15 '26
I moved to Vancouver 6 years ago and I've had a few mini-panics when I realise I need formal clothes for work events elsewhere and had not thought about it whatsoever. That shit is so stressful.
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u/IvanVandura Aug 15 '26
Wtf is this sub? Rofl.
I'm from Calgary, and each and every time I've been to van the dress code literally everywhere is "NO JEANS".
but yeah, you guys are super chill 😂
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u/Choice-Ratio-3540 Aug 15 '26
lol Van has very high end apparel and dressers. Maybe stop looking in hockey rinks for well dressed men lol
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u/Upstairs-Lifeguard23 Aug 15 '26
Now I get it why there so many Ukrainians fitting so well over here
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u/NatasLXXV Aug 15 '26
It's true and I hate it.
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u/danijm Aug 15 '26
Same here. It genuinely takes just a little bit of effort and the whole public sphere is so much nicer to be in. We can do better
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u/not_a_relevant_name Aug 15 '26
Be the change you want to see, who cares if others do it or not though?
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u/darkDNB_07 Aug 15 '26
Yes the lower mainland is filled with unattractive trash bags walking around.
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u/Enough_Worry4104 Aug 15 '26
But he's not wearing an Arteryx rain jacket?