What's This Place?: Recent Episodes
Miranda Black
Who has the guts to take four bare walls and turn them into a store despite all the forces in the world saying: It's too tough! Bricks and mortar retail is over!! Shopping has never been so complex and fraught with issues from shipping to shopping local to zero waste. What's This Place? goes behind the bricks and mortar to discuss shopping, retailing and all the complexities in between.
Join me as I share the unexpected odyssey of a blouse that was more than mere fabric—it unfurls the story of my first Poshmark sale, a rare Lou de Beauregard piece and the emotional whirlwind that followed its mysterious disappearance.
This episode isn't just about garments and goodbyes; it's a journey through the shared paths of memory and the acts of forgiveness that help us navigate our losses.
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For the 3rd season of What's This Place? Podcast, I'm gonna tell some stories and spill some tea (or some neon pink dye) on fashion .
What have Lucky Sevens got to do with launching a Poshmark Account?!
Yer gonna need to go inside to find out :)
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Ever thought about the journey your favouritest piece of clothing?
Hold onto your needles and threads, because we're about to explore the world of mending and repairing!
Try to spot my very first invisible mending job on a damaged cashmere sweater, and join me as I journey into the realm of visible mending with Elysha from Worth Mending. We dive into the benefits of mending services in retail stores and how it could be a game changer in the fashion industry.
But this is not just about stitching up worn-out clothes; it's a call to arms against exploitative practices in the fashion industry. We expose the harsh reality behind a luxury brand (Who could it be?!).
Hopefully my mending journey inspires you to take up the needle and thread not just to breathe new life into your clothes, but as a subversive act against fashions unethical practices. So, join me, Miranda Black, on this second day of Remake's #nonewclothes mini challenge!
Stitch by stitch, we'll transform how you perceive your clothes and the industry that creates them.
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Am I about to become a nudist?!
Noooo!
NoNewClothes is a is a challenge just like pouring ice water over your head or eating a spoon of cinnamon except way less cold and dangerous!
Can I do it?!!
Can I go without buying ANY NEW TEXTILES for 90 days?!!
Let's go inside to find out!
Hey, I'm Miranda Black, the DeGrowth Diva and this summer I set out on the No New Clothes challenge - a 90-day commitment to abstain from buying new clothes. In this episode, I share my unexpected revelations, and the steps I took to get my family onboard with the challenge. Trust me, you'll want to hear about the hilarity that ensued during my kid's PJ emergency!
As an ambassador for Remake - a not-for-profit championing climate and wage justice in the fashion industry - I encourage you to try the No New Clothes challenges. This annual movement is a call to arms to change our relationship with what we wear.
Across the next five episodes, we'll delve into the origins and life stories of our garments. Whether you're itching to take up the challenge yourself, or simply wish to understand more about sustainable fashion, this episode takes you on a mindful journey into the world of clothes that might just change your shopping habits forever.
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Caitlin Martella had never been a second hand shopper prior to starting her second hand business. In fact, She had a lot of pre-conceptions about what thrifting meant and decided long ago that it was not for her. Like me when I ran my store, she had never even heard of the circular economy and now…well, I’m going to let her describe how she ended up on this path.
So, who is Caitlin Martella and what is Curated Cubs?
In this episode we talk about the Circular Economy (click to get more info on what that looks like).
Curated Cubs donates their overstock to Jessie's Center, and you can too!
They also donate stained baby cashmere to Rapt and Held to be used as kids glove lining. ADORBS!!!
Join us as we shine the spotlight on Caitlin Martella, a remarkable sustainable clothing entrepreneur.
If you are curious about shopping preloved for your kids visit Curated Cubs! Your participation can greatly reduce the amount of textile waste that will ultimately be passed on to our children!!
Together we can DEgrow that waste :)
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Medication and surgery works for all sorts of different diseases.
But they frequently do not work to cure chronic pain...and I know this very well because I have been living with chronic pain for well over a year and nothing doctors gave me worked.
So I have been on a pretty intense journey to heal myself and I've discovered a number of non-drug non-surgery ways to significantly reduce the amount of pain I feel in a given day.
They work for me. And from what I can tell, they work for hundreds of thousands of other people.
I am not 100% "cured", I still have bad days...but I have SIGNIFICANTLY reduced my reliance on pain medication. And, most importantly I have discovered how to stay hopeful and happy despite the pain. This is true for almost everyone who uses these tools.
If you or someone you care about suffers from chronic pain (migraines, back or leg pain, elbow or neck pain...ANY PAIN that's long term and wont go away) I strongly recommend you give these things a try.
You dont have to believe they work.
You dont have to want to do them.
Just give them a try!
My five ideas to help ease your chronic pain:
1. Go to Curable Health and try it out for a month: https://www.curablehealth.com/
2. Listen to some doctors explain the pain cycle...and how to break it: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tell-me-about-your-pain/id1503847664
3. Listen to some people who significantly reduced their pain which can give you the inspiration you need to believe you can get better: https://www.curablehealth.com/podcast?gad=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIveqXyarhgAMVw4VbCh0pjwUOEAAYASAAEgItQfD_BwE
4. Watch some videos on Cold Plunging with Wim Hof: https://www.facebook.com/reel/6995193690493339
5. Read a book on the science and history of breathing by James Nestor: https://www.mrjamesnestor.com/
And a bonus: listen to my episode on how to gradually reduce your pain medication.
You can also follow me on instagram @whatsthisplacepodcast.
I would love to hear how the process was for you. Email me at miranda@theodore1922.com.
Enjoying the podcast? I am fiercely independent, and rely on listeners like you to help me stick around.
Can you share the episode on social media, or write a
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Everyone thinks that December is peak "fat pants" month. But I'm going to suggest that March could give December fat pants are run for their money.
In December you're still coasting on the last remains of summer energy: going for walks or riding your bike to work.
But then January.
And God, February!
The bike has been locked up for weeks. Summer energy is a distant memory.
And all that hibernation stuff that I talked about in the chat GPT episode, the slowed metabolism, the inward journey, the quiet season...it's really great for your mental wellbeing but it can take a toll on your waistline. By the end of March, the pinch of those pants, it is too much to bear. You need to let them out.
Enjoying the podcast? I am fiercely independent, and rely on listeners like you to help me stick around.
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Every business creates waste but imagine turning that waste into a NEW business?
That's what Jesi Whelan did with her kids clothing company, Phoenix Pre-Worn. The clothing that's too torn or stained to be sold gets used in her second business she started with Samantha Hulst from June Bird.
Together they teamed up to create a craft subscription box using textile waste from kids clothing called Canary Kids Club.
Jesi talks about the misconception she had about Big E Entrepreneurism...it's not all Elon Musk and Stock Options!...and how her perception shift made the leap to opening her own business less scary.
We talk about Ghost Energy on thrifted clothing...does it exist?!
What is this place?!
Let's go inside and find out.
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A guided meditation on the feelings Valentine's Day can bring up. Great for anyone who feels overwhelmed by the amount of STUFF in their homes.
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Born during the darkest days of the pandemic, Clotheshorse The Podcast, took everyone behind the scenes of Fast Fashion...what REALLY goes on to make us soooo addicted we stop caring about the people who make the clothing.
Amanda McCarty, the creator of Clotheshorse has worked retail her whole life. She's worked on the floor, she's worked in the head offices, she's been a consumer like me.
Amanda paves a path, both for people to get more conscious about their clothing consumption consumption, but also to get more conscious about working in retail.
Retail and wholesale is the largest employment sector in both Canada and the US employing more people than agriculture or manufacturing or healthcare! It's huge.
But as you might know, retail is under a huge transformation...some even call it The Retail Apocalypse! By 2030, a mere 7 years from now, there will likely be 1 MILLION fewer jobs in retail than there are now. In fact, Retail may lose it's crown as the largest employment sector.
So what to do? How do we transition out of a retail culture into whatever is next (a warehouse culture?!)
I asked Amanda and she has some sage advice for people trying to transition out of retail.
So who is Amanda McCarty and what is Clotheshorse?
Let's go inside and find out.
Enjoying the podcast? I am fiercely independent, and rely on listeners like you to help me stick around.
Can you share the episode on social media, or write a
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I've been talking more and more about de-growth and I'm seeing more and more articles and media out there talking about de-growth. It's becoming a bit of a buzzword but what does it really mean?
I interviewed that new chat bot, the one that can create the written word from artificial intelligence. It has creators and writers wondering if their jobs are about to be taken over by AI. Did it write this podcast? Who is CHAT GPT?!!? Let's go inside and find out.
Enjoying the podcast? I am fiercely independent, and rely on listeners like you to help me stick around.
Can you share the episode on social media, or write a
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This episode, What's This Place? goes behind the bricks and mortar of New Circles, a multi dimensional, not-for-profit agency here in Toronto.
New Circles helps alleviate poverty through their free clothing bank GLOW (Gently Loved Outfits To Wear)...and if I am being honest, that's all I thought they did!
But once I went behind the bricks and mortar, I discovered that GLOW is a jumping off program for so much more...
They offer free employment skills training and newcomer settlement support programs.
They benefit the environment by diverting 300,000 lbs of clothing from landfill every year.
I ask Cindy Blakely, the founder of New Circles, all my usual origin story questions...but the answers were not what I was expecting.
Find out how one woman created a legacy that benefits tens of thousands of people every single year.
How did it all start? And how has it survived the Covid Era?
Let's go inside and find out.
Enjoying the podcast? I am fiercely independent, and rely on listeners like you to help me stick around.
Can you share the episode on social media, or write a
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This week I get interviewed by Jason Shepherd, the host of The Real Hero's of E-commerce, a podcast on shopping!
We're talking zero waste costumes, decorations and candy with a special mystery guest!
We also talk about stats and how they aren't helping and may even be contributing to people not caring about making small changes!
RIP stats!!
This week I go behind the scenes of my own business, Theodore 1922: how I started, how I very nearly went bankrupt and how one man changed everything. Pasquale started tailoring at 6 years old...yes, you read that right: 6 years old!
So what is a Bespoke Tailor? And who is Pasquale Buonjourno?
What's This Place? podcast turns one this week. I launched my first episode with Sharon Smyl from Collected Joy a year ago this week and heck yeah, I'm going to celebrate!
I'm giving away a chance to win one of 3 garments from Blondie Apparel, a 100% Made in Canada garment...from fabric to hang tags to thread. Go to my Instagram
or Twitter for rules and entry. You can also send a screen shot of a review you write between now and September 27th at 11:59pm to miranda@theodore1922.com.
This week on the podcast we go behind the blood sweat and tears of Blondie Apparel. Brodie and Michelle Brodie started out making hats and scarves... scarves seem to be a gateway drug to female entrepreneurship on this podcast, lol!
Anyway, they decided to put everything on the line and start producing garments made entirely in Canada, but could they do it?
Was there an infrastructure?
Could they even compete in casual basics by going all Canadian?
Who are Brodie and Michelle and what is Blondie Apparel?
Let's go inside and find out.
Why Isn’t More Clothing Made In Canada?
Well today we are going to talk to someone who actually wrote an article with that exact title…you can google "Why Isn’t More Clothing Made in Canada?" and the first result you should get is a Chatelaine story with that exact title by Isabel Slone who writes for The NY Times, The Globe and Mail, Macleans etc and today I’m going to pick her brain about Made in Canada.
if we really want to "Shop Local" and "Buy Canadian" are there any clothing brands who can genuinely claim to be Made In Canada?
Well today we’re gonna find out and Isabel Slone is going to help us do it.
So, who is Isabel Slone and What actually is Made In Canada anymore?
Soak Wash is a huge Canadian success story...there's also has a ton of sustainability built right into Soaks production. A perfect fit for this season on What's This Place?
Jacqueline Sava wanted to build a laundry detergent from a skin care perspective: Something that is as gentle on your hands and smells just as great as the soaps we use on our bodies.
"People sometimes think of clothes so passively. It's actually incredibly hard work from a design standpoint, to make fabric fit on the human body in a way that's comfortable and functional. It's complex to make clothing great! So enjoy it and appreciate that, and take care of it because it's an important part of your life."
Forget about those other laundry washes, this is the one you've been searching for.
Who is Jacqueline Sava and what is Soak Wash? Let's go inside to find out.
This week we talk to Danielle Green, the owner of ADC an independent thrift store thriving and surviving in one of the most expensive cities in the world.
Danielle shares how she had to shift her game when covid hit, how to thrift for the average person and how to support independent thrift stores everywhere.
What is a Sustainable Stylist?
Miranda Black interviews Jess Raffills from The Finder's Life who has been a sustainable stylist before anyone really knew what that was!
Jess is from New Zealand where they weave sustainability into their lives a little more seamlessly that we do here in North America (scute the pun...weave, seamlessly lol).
Jess gives some great tips you can start using TODAY to start your sustainable style journey and get more confidence about your style.
Miranda Black sits down with Jessica Correa from Random Acts of Green to learn why it's important to have some green goals even if they are little ones.
Jessica shows us how small actions can create huge ripples and how to gain confidence developing your own sustainable style.
Miranda Black realizes the traditional ways of shopping & staying stylish no longer feel great if it means she's disproportionately contributing to the destruction of the planet. How on earth can fashion survive? What does sustainable style mean? How come fashion is so destructive? Let's go inside and find out.
Go behind the bricks and mortar of Peach Berserk, a 35 year old independent fashion house owned by Kingi Carpenter.
Peach Berserk is an iconic fashion line in Canada. It has been profiled in thousands of fashion articles, worn on hundreds of red carpets and countless proms and weddings. Maybe even you owned something from Peach Berserk! The brand was THAT ubiquitous. Kingi Carpenter, the brains behind Peach Berserk, closed her store in 2012 but she is back with a whole new interactive fashion/art gallery/creator space. What is Peach Berserk? Let's go inside and find out.
For over 40 years, a yellow and red awning has hung over a seemingly deserted storefront. No one ever seemed to go in or out.
In 2018, R.A.I.D. took over this infamous and mysterious storefront. It was like a time capsule from the 1980s: the bar, the ticket booth window, even the disco dance floor hadn't been touched for four decades.
Ramon Perez is not a retailer. He's a successful illustrator, a cartoonist...he draws for Archie comics and the amazing Spider-Man!...he had a burning desire to turn this deserted dilapidated eyesore into a communal artist space. So who is Ramon Perez and what is R.A.I.D.?
Michelle Genttner and Luis Martins sold their restaurant, bought a grocery and turned it into Toronto's first Zero Waste grocery store. But what is Zero Waste...it sounds intimidating. Is it just a PR term or will Unboxed Market revolutionize how we shop? Let's go inside and find out.
At 23, Sarah Dougall bought a building and started a jewellery store...and she was pregnant when she did it. Now, 20 years later, she shares her business wisdom with What's This Place Podcast. It's an incredible story of retail perseverance. How has she made so many people look...both online and in real life?
What is this place? Let's go inside and find out.
Catherine Choi had her life all planned out: she was going to be a kindergarten teacher.
But first she flew to Korea to teach English...and that’s where she met Hyun Suk Choi, who wanted to open a restaurant.
Fate put these two together to create one of Toronto's most unique and cherished paper goods and gift stores. Who are Catherine and Hyun Suk Choi and what is Hanji Gifts? Let's go inside and find out.
Steve white and Tracy Acker were running an artists retreat...y'know, where you find your inner self. One summer, they found an abandoned store at the end of a dead end road near the retreat and decided to follow their own "inner-calling" advice and open a cafe with cookies, pies, and a "what you sit on is for sale" concept.
Now they're upgrading to a single 13,000 square foot space in downtown Kingston. That's right: 13,000 square feet! As a former retailer, this blows my mind. So who are Steve White and Tracy Acker and what is Antique Emporium? Let's go inside and find out.
Andrew Livingston was climbing the corporate ladder while simultaneously hosting a golf show on TV. It was a pretty sweet life!...until the one-two punch of the dot com crash and 9/11. He lost both gigs and found himself unemployed.
Andrew did what every consummate entrepreneur does: he researched, made plans, failed and grew. Who is Andrew Livingston and what is Neat.Space.Edited? Let's go inside and find out.
Sharon Smyl had a stable job making good money. She got the entrepreneurial bug and gave up all that security to open a bricks and mortar store at the peak of the Retail Apocalypse. She's seven years into it now. She even opened a second store...right before the pandemic hit. And she has plans to open more stores! Where does Sharon Smyl's business optimism come from? And how can all retailers be this filled with joy?! What is Collected Joy? Let's go inside and find out.
Imagine opening a bricks and mortar store after the pandemic started? Your potential customers have disappeared from the streets. Walk-by-traffic is gone. Wage subsidies and rent relief aren't available to someone who opened up after March, 2020. But Mira Vuletic had a dream to open a Zero Waste cafe and boutique...and the pandemic was not about to stop her. Who is Mira Vuletic and what is The RE Place? Let's go inside and find out.
Go behind the Bricks and Mortar with Miranda Black and find out what it takes to survive and thrive owning a local store.