Midday Picnic vintage clothing sale returns to campus

Midday Picnic is a sustainable and vintage pop-up event where small businesses sell clothing and accessories. The event returned to Algonquin College on Jan. 17.

The event is hosted once a month in the Student Commons Building from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesdays.

Prequalified vendors bring unique and inclusive inventories, from hoodies and shirts to pants and accessories.

Some of the popular brands seen at this event include Carhartt, Patagonia, Nike and Arc’teryx.

With the recent winter storms that have hit the city, students were looking for cozy and comfortable items.

Courtney Todd, a first-year veterinary technician student, found and purchased a brown Dickies jacket from Thrift Sola.

First-year business fundamentals students Aggiu Dimitruk and Mackenzie Rafter enjoyed browsing the vintage pieces.

“We’re just looking for old vintage, lots of jeans,” Dimitruk said.

“Kind of like graphic tees, hoodies,” Rafter said.

Library and information technician students Katrina McNabb and Rosalie Gagnon were also window shopping.

“I’m just kind of looking around. I love sweaters, so any vintage sweater is a good find for me,” said McNabb.

Gagnon said, “I love a good vintage jacket or a cool pair of trousers, so that’s kind of what I’m looking for.”

Since this event is in the Student Commons, students found it convenient to stop by between classes.

Architectural technician student Ilana Roy said, “Yeah, I really like the music here. I like that people are having fun. Everything looks so cute and some fashion that I never seen before.”

Mark Sola, owner of Thrift Sola, has a strategic plan when sourcing inventory. Sola sticks to what he would wear and what stands out to him.

Sola said that they mainly focus on what is trending “because I’ve tried selling stuff that I’m not really into and doesn’t really hit the same.”

Sola is one of the three organizers of Midday Picnic. The Midday Picnic team includes Brady Warnock from Thrifting With Brady and Red from Royal 22 Thrifts.

Sola said that this event requires a lot of collaboration, organization and planning.

“It’s a lot of discussion. Well, Algonquin is locked in, but it was a lot of work to get into Algonquin,” said Sola. “So it’s a lot of discussion of like, ‘Oh, what are our goals, what do we want to accomplish in the next year or what are our short-term/long-term plans?’ But it’s between Red, Brady and I.”

Midday Picnic will return on Feb. 14, March 13 and April 10. You can follow the event on Instagram @middaypicnic for sneak peeks and updates.