Local vintage and secondhand shop Hawk & Sparrow offers unique, sustainable and affordable clothing for everyone
Hawk & Sparrow is a vintage, secondhand boutique, located downtown at 126 James St. N. Other than vintage items, they also sell secondhand designer and a mix of everything to accommodate everyone’s styles.
“I don't just do vintage, I also do secondhand designer and then . . . a mix of things. So you can expect a 1950s sweater with a ritzy top and then a Louis Vuitton bag. There's a wide range of brands,” said Sarah Moyal, the founder of Hawk & Sparrow.
Before launching Hawk & Sparrow in 2011, Moyal had a strong fashion background. She worked for Dsquared2 in Milan at their headquarters and did styling in Toronto.
She always wanted to open a clothing store. Originally, she had wanted to open a new clothing store, but she realized that buying inventory would be too expensive for her, so she switched over to second-hand. It worked for her, and it made her more interested in secondhand clothing.
“It's just so much more interesting to have one of everything. And every one of them is so unique,” said Moyal.
Moyal has experimented with making Hawk & Sparrow accessible through online platforms such as Etsy, but she now focuses most of her energy on the store itself, as she has found that it has been getting busier.
Moyal aims to make her store accessible and safe for everyone.
“I would say it's accessible to everyone and any direction of style that someone wants to go. If they want to play it a bit safe, we have that. If you want to go wild, we also have that,” said Moyal.
I would say it's accessible to everyone and any direction of style that someone wants to go and if they want to play it a bit safe, we have that. If you want to go wild, we also have that.
Sarah Moyal, Founder, Hawk & Sparrow
Most of the items are $5 to $25, and there are $5 mystery bags all year round. Moyal is also open to negotiations. She hopes that her customers will continue to find their favourite pieces at Hawk & Sparrow.
“I hope that people will kind of find their unique style here, that they'll discover something about themselves, that they'll not feel a pressure to dress a certain way or follow a certain trend, that they'll just feel free to dress how they want, how they feel,” explained Moyal.
I hope that people will kind of find their unique style here, that they'll discover something about themselves, that they'll not feel a pressure to dress a certain way or follow a certain trend, that they'll just feel free to dress how they want, how they feel.
Sarah Moyal, Founder, Hawk & Sparrow
Over the years, she has experimented with different directions –– such as only vintage (an item from another era, usually from the 1930s-70s), vintage artisan (very old and rare pieces from the 1800s-early 1900s that are typically made by hand) and only designer –– for the shop. The current iteration of her shop has had the best reception from the Hamilton community, and she intends to keep it this way for the time being.
The Ward 1 Councillor candidates sat down for a debate in The Silhouette office and here's what they had to say.
The Silhouette hosted a live-streamed debate between the Ward 1 councillor candidates running in the 2022 Hamilton municipal election. Ward 1 councillor candidates include Ian MacPherson, John Vail and current Ward 1 councillor Maureen Wilson. All three candidates attended the debate. The debate was guided by Silhouette Editor in Chief Nisha Gill and the main topics addressed included the most significant issues faced by Ward 1, the current housing and affordability crisis and detasking the Hamilton police force.
Following opening statements, candidates were asked to discuss what they perceived to be the biggest issue Ward 1 is currently facing and how they would plan to address it in office.
Vail deemed public safety and police protection as the most pressing concern and highlighted the need for more security outside of the McMaster University campus. Wilson discussed council decorum and established that fostering trust, confidence and transparency is of great concern. Lastly, Macpherson discussed street safety and proposed a greater need for law enforcement on the roads.
Vail deemed public safety and police protection as the most pressing concern and highlighted the need for more security outside of the McMaster campus. Wilson discussed council decorum and established that fostering trust, confidence and transparency is of great concern. Lastly, Macpherson discussed street safety and proposed a greater need for law enforcement on the roads.
In rebuttal, Vail accused Wilson of not remaining transparent during Sewergate. However, Wilson explained that this decision was handled by a previous council, and, once elected, Wilson played a significant role in convincing her council to release the information to the public.
Candidates were asked to discuss the housing and affordability crisis and how it pertains to citizens and McMaster students living in Hamilton.
Wilson discussed her involvement in combatting the affordability crisis during her time as councillor and highlighted its significant impact on students and middle- and low-income families. Wilson then concluded by explaining how McMaster has not been doing its part in developing safe and affordable housing for students.
MacPherson discussed the Hamilton Alliance for Tiny Shelters and explained how he feels that the Rental Housing Licensing pilot program is not the correct solution for this issue.
Lastly, Vail maintained that the affordability crisis has been a persistent issue over the course of many councils and cannot be solved in Ward 1 alone. Due to this, Vail suggests that McMaster students should commute to campus instead of renting student houses.
Issues with the Hamilton police force were first addressed by MacPherson after a conversation on the importance of student involvement in the election. MacPherson referred to the Hamilton police force as a hot topic, and expressed that money should not be reallocated away from the police department. During the free debate period, MacPherson asked Wilson to share own her stance on this topic.
Wilson discussed how police are currently tasked with noncore functions, such as dealing with mental health cases. For this reason, Wilson supports the modernization, realignment and detasking of police services. When Vail asked Wilson to differentiate between defunding and detasking the police force, Wilson maintained that what matters most is to steer front line officers away from being tasked with mental health and wellness jobs.
All three candidates discussed the importance of McMaster students getting involved in the election and casting their vote. Election Day is Oct. 24 and more details on how to vote can be found here.
The live-streamed debate was recorded and available on the Silhouette website.
Food security is a major issue that an unfortunately large number of students at McMaster University face. McMaster offers students over twenty different on-campus locations to get food. These locations range in their selection but are united by their general lack of affordability.
The Union Market, located on the main floor of the McMaster University Students Centre, differs from the rest in that they are a relatively affordable institution. They advertise having the best prices on campus, and in fact, they do. A cup of coffee can be as low as $1.40 and a “bigger, better” bagel can cost students under a toonie. Sales are known to occur throughout the week as well that provide students many affordable mealtime options.
Union Market also offers students a range of organic, gluten-free and fair trade products that increase its available consumer demographic. Open seven days a week with extended exam hours, they truly seem to be a place that is catered around student needs.
It is no wonder then that many students flock to Union Market on a daily basis. What is disheartening, however, is that while their prices are affordable, their stock is rarely present.
[spacer height="20px"]For the past few weeks, Union Market has been empty halfway throughout the week. By Thursday, almost all of the stock, most notably its sandwiches and bagels, are off the shelf.
When a cashier at Union Market was asked about the lack of products, she responded by saying that there is a limited number of items that are shelved each morning and that once these items are sold, oftentimes before noon, they are not replenished.
It is true that sales have increased at Union Market since their renovation this year. This may simply be good business for Union Market but for students, especially those on a tight budget, this is a serious issue. By not catering to the demand of the student body, the utility of Union Market becomes limited.
Some would argue that it is not Union Market’s responsibility to be the only affordable and accessible spot on campus. I would agree. But until other establishments can offer affordable prices, Union Market is all students on-campus really have.
If Union Market, and by extension the McMaster Students Union, was sincere in their commitment to fulfilling students’ needs, they would place priority on keeping Union Market well-stocked at the risk of any financial loss. Considering the number of students witnessed entering Union Market and leaving emptyhanded due to a lack of stock, the fear of lost profits is likely unfounded.
The other solution would be to increase affordable options for food on campus. While the recent implementation of Tax-free Tuesdays is a step forward in the right direction, the difference is marginal especially considering the discount applies only one day of the week. Campus-wide, prices have only increased and so it seems unlikely that students will be able to find affordable food elsewhere.
Until student demands are met, it would be wrong of Union Market to advertise themselves as the best spot on campus for food. If you frequent Union Market and are able to snag a bagel or sandwich, consider yourself lucky. The majority of the student body is left disappointed and hungry.
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From Jan. 7 to 20, hundreds of McMaster students participated in #TextbookBroke, a campaign spearheaded by the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance aimed at addressing and opening dialogue about textbook affordability.
The McMaster Students Union ran the campaign alongside the McMaster University Campus Store, and asked students to tweet pictures of their textbook receipts using the hashtag, “#TextbookBroke”.
To address the rising costs of textbooks, OUSA proposes that faculty instructors adopt open educational resources, which are free, openly licensed or public domain online textbooks and course resources that they can develop, share and modify.
The #TextbookBroke campaign comes in the wake of a policy paper published by OUSA on Nov. 21, which was constructed following the provincial government’s increased funding for eCampusOntario, a non-profit organization which has pushed universities to adopt OERs.
The policy paper examines OERs and how the government should continue to work with eCampusOntario. It also proposes a number of recommendations for the Ontario government, such as the suggestion that university faculty members have the financial and infrastructural capacity to develop, use and review OERs.
At McMaster, Ryan Deshpande, MSU vice president (Education), aims to spark discussion about OERs amongst students and professors at the university.
“This is why we are holding events that explain OERs to students, and also provide them an opportunity to advocate to professors through letter-writing,” said Deshpande.
With MSU Advocacy, Deshpande organized an event called “Letters to Professors: OERs,” which was aimed at educating McMaster faculty members about OERs.
“I invited every instructor at McMaster to an event where the CEO of eCampusOntario, David Porter, delivered a presentation to educate instructors about the benefits of OERs,” said Deshpande, who is also interested in working with the McMaster University Faculty Association and the University Administration to incorporate OERs into McMaster’s Tenure Promotion Policy.
Yet advocating for the adoption of OERs is not the only effort the MSU is making to address textbook affordability.
According to Chukky Ibe, MSU president, the MSU is also working through the Undergraduate Council to make amendments to the Undergraduate Course Management Policy, which determines the structure course outlines and how instructors manage their classes.
As a result of these amendments, students will be able to see course outlines at least two weeks before classes begin.
“This will allow students to better select their courses, and understand what course materials we need before selecting our courses,” said Ibe. “Students will be able to see their course materials, and make better financial and academic choices based on
the timely release of the course outlines.”
The MSU has also been working to take control of “McMaster Used Textbook Sales [All Years]” a public Facebook group created by Rachelle Ireson, a McMaster alumna and Career Development Relationship Manager at the McMaster Faculty of Engineering.
Ireson created the group, which allows students to buy and sell used textbooks,
when she was in her second year at McMaster.
“The thing that was most frustrating for me was buying all these textbooks and then taking them back to the bookstore not being able to get anything for them really,” said Ireson. “I thought there must be a better way to recycle books between students.”
During Ireson’s undergraduate career, the Facebook group exploded in popularity.
Over the last few months, Ireson and Ibe have been working to transition the page to MSU Macademics, where monitoring the Facebook group will be built into the role of the Macademics Coordinator.
Overall, the MSU continues to work with community partners and administration to keep additional costs low for students.
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