what's in a name ?

there are 2 questions i have been asked repeatedly since i opened sympathy almost 2 years ago.

#1. where do you get your clothes ?

- i have a bell attached to a piece of rubber that sits in my parking spot behind the shop. throughout the day people drive up, causing the bell to ring. i go out to meet them and they just hand me bags of free stuff . i make a small donation to a charity and then sell a donated fur coat for $100.

ha. actually, i travel around the province a couple times a week handpicking ( and paying for ) the coolest stuff i can find. i'm always on the hunt . flea markets , auctions , other thrift shops , private dealers , etc. it's the best part of my job , shopping without worrying about size , gender or personal style . if i think it's cool . i buy it .

#2. how did you come up with your name ?

- sympathy for the rebel is a combination of songs from 2 of my 3 favourite bands of all time, the rolling stones & david bowie. if you're a fan of rock n roll the particular song titles are probably obvious.

the extra layer of meaning with the name is that i'd like to think that if you feel like being a 'rebel' and dressing outside of the box we'll have some 'sympathy' for you and keep our price point as low as we can. i never mind paying for quality , i just hate overpaying.

side note : the other band to round out my top 3 of all time ? the clash .

so... if you've noticed the name of our new website you might be wondering how we came up with that one too ? well , it's a little tongue in cheek , definitely not meant to be offensive as i view sympathy to be a part of the 'fashion industry' just as much as any new retailer . but come on, we'd be blind to not admit that some people take fashion a little too seriously and as much as i love reading fashion mags, i can't escape the thought that the clothes featured are really only meant to be purchased by the richest few. poor guys like me buy the mags to eyeball a $2000 burberry leather motorcycle jacket that i'll never be able to afford in my lifetime. i'm all for making a buck but when i can hardly afford to fill my gas tank i wonder if and when the fashion industry will make some adjustments . ( although GQ did have a cool 'under $50' feature this month . wish we had topman in canada !! )

the other part of the website name is a tribute to the record label sympathy for the record industry . a wicked label out of detroit that i grew up wishing i could be on. they released records by the white stripes , redd kross and rocket from the crypt to name a few.

music and fashion , lovers in dangerous times.