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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Downtown Yellowknife will welcome a new clothing store on Friday when Vintage Vogue opens its doors along Franklin Avenue.

The Canadian Medical Association held its annual conference at Saint Patrick High School from Aug. 12 to 15. Approximately 300 delegates, in addition to their families and additional staff, visited Yellowknife before, during and following the event. - Lyndsay Herman/NNSL photo

The store will feature "high -end consignment," but that doesn't mean it'll focus on high-prestige labels, said Tanya Kidston Kasteel, owner and operator of the store.

"I'm calling it a high-end consignment clothing store but that's not to deter people from bringing in items that are not (designer) brand name," said Kasteel. "There are a lot of people in Yellowknife who make good money and are nicely dressed. Now there is somewhere to take that Christmas dress you've only worn once and a get (some money) for it."

The only rules are items must be free of pilling, rips, tears, and stains and must be cleaned and ironed before they are brought into the store.

Accepted items will be kept on the floor for 90 days. If it hasn't sold in that time, Kasteel will contact the original owner to pick it up.

She said any items left after that will be donated.

Kasteel, who has been sewing since childhood, said she decided to move forward on the idea after a local facebook group, YK Chicas Buy, Sell and Trade, acquired 1000 member within a week.

The group now has almost 2000 members and daily posts from Yellowknifers looking to sell and acquire nearly new clothing.

"Yellowknife doesn't have all of the shopping options available down South," she said. "Now we'll have all these different brand names available in one spot."

The store will also feature a corner for her other business venture, Domestic Diva, where Kasteel will design, sew and sell her unique aprons for men, women, teens and children in-house.

"I'm also planning to bring in new lines of hats, scarves, jewellery and for that I'll be looking for Canadian designers," she said, adding that she and her husband have noticed to burgeoning popularity of stores like these in their travels across Canada.

Previously working from home and raising her children, Kasteel said the timeline was right to venture back into the workforce and into a new line of work.

"It's something I've wanted to do for a long time," she said.

Vintage Vogue is still accepting men's, women's and children's clothing, as well as accessories.

Kasteel said she expects the store to open Nov. 30, at the latest.

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