Editors’ Picks: Our Favourite Vanmag Stories of 2022

A Hyper-Specific Holiday Gift Guide

The holidays may be over, but I’m going to treasure VanMag‘s gift guide for months to come. It was curated by assistant editor Dani Wright (currently on leave—we miss you!), and I’m just delighted by the hyper-specific personalities she concocted to assign each of these thoughtfully chosen goods to. As a magazine nerd, my gold standard for gift guides is always New York magazine, and so please know this is my very highest compliment when I say that I’m getting NYMag vibes from this story. Sure, I could’ve pumped my own tires here and directed you to stories I wrote this year (like “Was Botox Really Invented Here?” or “Why Do Vancouverites Set Off Fireworks at Halloween?”) but I’ve gotta give credit where credit is due. This gift guide rules. If you’ve got a birthday coming up, know I’ll be shopping for you with these pages clutched in my sweaty little hands. —Stacey McLachlan, editor at large

Strata Squeeze: Could Florida’s Condo Collapse Happen in Vancouver?

Jennifer Van Evra’s piece was a chilling look into just how precarious many condos are in Vancouver. As strata councils face pressure to keep maintenance fees low, repairs aren’t always kept up to date—and the longer they’re put off, the more disastrous the consequences can be, as we saw last year in Florida. It was one of those stories where I had several people tell me they immediately dug into their strata documents after reading it (and you should, too). As Tony Gioventu, executive director of B.C.’s Condominium Homeowners Association, told Van Evra: “It’s a self-regulated industry, so it’s buyer beware. Do your homework before you buy. It’s fine to say there’s a depreciation report, but how much money is there really in the bank?” —Anicka Quin, editorial director

Love Letter: In Heartfelt Memory of My Crappy Vancouver Basement Suite

Look, I’m an egomaniac! My favourite Vanmag story of 2022 is my own love letter to my own tiny basement suite and my own wonderful friends. I know that’s a little cringe-y, but I chose this story because it’s so special to me: to be able to officially memorialize the years I spent boiling water on the stove to add to my bath (the water didn’t run hot enough for long enough), the hours that my friends and I spent crammed on the ugly red sofa in our kitchen, and the moments that I felt lucky to pay less than $700 a month for access to three extra wardrobes and four extra opinions on those wardrobes. And the story of a car running through our back fence twice is simply too good not to spread around. Housing here sucks, but it sucks a lot less when your roommates are the best people you know.—Alyssa Hirose, associate editor

We Tried It: Indochino’s New Custom Women’s Suits

Ever since I saw Cate Blanchett parade amazing suit after suit while plotting a she-heist (sheist?) with Riri and the rest of the girl gang in 2018’s Ocean’s 8, I knew I was in love. Yes, in love with Cate (who isn’t) but deeper than that love was an almost obsessive longing for a fitted suit that was as powerful as it was feminine. When I discovered gal-about-town Stacey McLachlan (the Sandra Bullock of our Ocean’s 8 editorial team, if anyone is asking) was doing a piece on this piece of clothing, I knew I would get to live my dream vicariously through her (something I hope to one day get to do with my own children’s aspirations). It was fun, informative and—dare I say— trailblazing (I’m sure I’m not the only lady out here that had no idea you could now get a fitted suit at Indochino). For making my suited dreams a reality, this article gets my top prize (the story also features a guest appearance of baby-about-own Coco, and that alone places this story high on this list or any list for that matter) (oops, now I’m thinking about a baby in a suit and my life is forever changed) (Indochino that one’s for free!) —Kerri Donaldson, assistant editor