Ports of Call

I’m preparing for a conference in Canada, and so my mind has been drifting back to my northern home daily, remembering things I didn’t know I’d forgotten.

Lately I’ve been thinking about a fashion house that has special meaning for me. My stylish grandmother, who, as I’ve noted here before, would plan two shopping events a year in Montreal, (a significant journey from her Prince Edward Island home). She’d go to Ogilvy, and select her seasonal wardrobe.

More often than not, a significant part of that wardrobe was comprised of Ports International (now renamed Ports 1961). She’d buy some shirtdresses—always well tailored, in pretty colors, some handsome silk or cotton blouses, some smart jersey knits, and pencil cut tweed, wool, or cotton skirts. She’d never select a print, preferring to accent with scarves.

My generation missed out on the Ports experience, because by the time I could afford it (late teenager/early twenty-something) it coded too old for me.

But now vintage Ports is undeniably cool (check out K.Line, for instance) and I’m dying to get my hands on some new Ports 1961, which has had, in the previous seasons, some gorgeously ethereal dresses and mod coats that wouldn’t be out of place in London in the sixties. Fun fact: the Canadian Dsquared brothers used to design for Ports (so I’m told). Its current designer is Tia Cibani, who was born in North Africa and raised in Vancouver.

I hope to check out this line during the summer. It's not my gram's Ports any more.