2010 August | Style Blog

EDIT by Jeanne Beker Fall 2010 Preview

We live in a world where celebrity clothing lines are dime a dozen. And while I have no idea who in their right mind would ever even consider buying something with Heidi Montag’s name on it, when The Bay invited me to attend an intimate preview of Jeanne Beker’s new clothing line EDIT, it really made sense. After all, Jeanne is an iconic figure of Canadian fashion with an immaculate sense of style and an immense knowledge of the industry – who better than her?

And though Jeanne didn’t design the collection herself (“I’m not a designer!” – she exclaimed), she did have a hand in editing the collection to create a selection of simple, yet timeless pieces, ranging in price from $79-$195 and sizes 2-16. There’s a classic pencil skirt, a structured blazer, crisp white button-up, ubiquitous LBD – all staples in any working woman’s closet. My favorite of all was the cozy cape ($195), that came in grey and camel colors – such a versatile and fun piece to rock for fall – definitely a must-have on my list. But EDIT is not just for the ladies at the office - available are also Jeanne Jeans and Jeanne Jeggings, with portion of sales going toward Dress for Success.

The launch of EDIT not-so-accidentally coincides with the 25-year anniversary of Fashion Television, which drove Jeanne to do something a bit more personal to share with the world. The collection consists of 25 pieces, and will be available at 65 Bay stores come September.

To see some of the looks modeled by Jeanne Beker herself, check out Style Blog’s Facebook page here.

Wishlist: H&M Fall 2010 Collection

As much as I wish that summer was here to stay, the grim reality is that fall is just around the corner. And though I love the warmth of long summer days, fall fashions are much more interesting and…dare I say…grown-up? Seeing these new pics of H&M’s Fall 2010 collection, makes me feel slightly better about the impending cooler weather, and the necessity of wearing sweaters and jackets again. Love the ladylike blazers and skirts, the chunky knits (even the squirrel pullover!), and abundance of camel. Haven’t seen most of the pieces in stores yet, but I’ll definitely keep my eyes open.

Are you excited about fall fashion? Or do you wish that it was summer all year-round?

Photo Credits: H&M

Friday Faux Pas: Let’s Go To The Ex

If you can believe it, last year was my first time at The Ex! And of course, after the addictive games, and stuffed toys, and horrible unhealthy food – I knew I’d be back again. This year, le boyfriend and I went during the opening weekend. It was a gloomy, rainy day, but we both had an amazing time. It’s a bit scary how much fun one could have just by being surrounded by hordes of people and screaming kids, paying way too much to win a silly toy, while being rained on standing in endless lines to buy greasy, fried food! And last weekend it felt fantastic to be young and happy and in love…feeling like a little kid at a fair, eating mini donuts, looking for Snazzy Napper to make fun of, and finding this place full of tacky things and glittery lights extremely romantic. The entire place was one huge Faux Pas – and I loved every minute of it.

Gap Canada Online Shopping Launch

As a blogger, I spend a lot of my time online. 9-5 at the office for my day job, and then a few more hours at home scheduling posts, answering emails, reading pitches, and of course, as a girl in my twenties – shopping online. As I got older, my real-world shopping trips got more sparse, and my online deal hunting time increased dramatically. And why not? It’s so convenient – just click and pay…et voilà!

So when Gap PR invited me to attend Gap Canada’s Online Shopping Launch, I was thrilled! Gap, Old Navy, and Banana Republic have had huge presence worldwide and in Canada for many years now…but we weren’t able to shop online until now. All three sites, one shopping cart, free shipping (over $50), warehouse in Canada, no tariffs - easy, peasy.

Shopping at the event was easy too. Attendees were given $100 to spend on any Gap Inc. items available online, via www.GapCanada.ca. After initial browsing, I selected a cute double-breasted sweater from Gap, and some socks from Old Navy, clicked Checkout, and was done in mere minutes – the way online shopping should be.

Gap Inc. is a huge corporation…and all this ease has made me wonder why we (Canadians) didn’t get online shopping sooner. Thankfully, Gap Inc. Direct President Toby Lenk was on hand to answer some of my questions. He and Debbie Podberesky (VP Gap Inc.) shared that though online shopping could’ve been offered to Canadians much sooner, the infrastructure was not in place to allow direct shipping from Canada to Canada, which would’ve meant that packages would be shipped from the States, incurring tariffs, and making in-store returns nearly impossible. With a new warehouse in Southern Ontario, shipping is supposed to be fast and efficient, while returns and exchanges - a breeze.

I also wondered about the goods’ selection online – having shopped firsthand myself, I noted that many items offered in stores or on the US site were noticeably missing. But Mr. Lenk confirmed that it’s just a timing issue – the site is still in its early stages, and more product will be introduced as time goes on.

But as expected with any brand new launch, my online shopping did have a minor setback – an email stating that my order was cancelled. After phoning the number on the email, and speaking to very courteous and helpful support staff, I was informed that due to a large number of sequential prepaid credit card orders, the system halted said orders, suspecting potential fraud. The problem was fixed, and it somehow made me feel more secure about shopping at Gap Canada online, if mildly confused at first. A couple of hours later, all orders were re-instated, my package was still scheduled to arrive at my house in 5(ish) days. Hooray!

Now, I don’t know how fast I’ll be getting my goodies in the mail, so I can’t vouch for speediness and packaging, but as soon as that parcel arrives at my door, I’ll make sure to let you guys know all about it and post some pics too!

Are you excited about being able to shop Gap, Banana Republic, and Old Navy online, all on one site? Let me know in the comments!

UPDATE: Got my package in the mail 2 days after ordering. That is TWO days with FREE shipping. If that’s not amazing, I really don’t know what is! The sweater was a bit big on me, so I went in the next day to exchange it. Brought the bill with me, sales associate processed the exchange without questions. I got a pair of jeans instead of the sweater…and they fit like a dream. They’ll definitely get a lot of use on my upcoming vacay. Look out for pics!

I Wore: Pants – Gap; Shirt – H&M; Shoes – Zara; Bag – Longchamp; Belt – Nine West via The Bay

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Style Blog, August 26th 2010 | Tags: Banana Republic, Debbie Podberesky, Events, Gap, H&M, Longchamp, Nine West, Old Navy, Shopping, The Bay, Toby Lenk, Toronto, What I Wore, Zara
Posted in Events, Fashion, Shopping, What I Wore

Shopping: Forever 21 Miu Miu Lookalikes

Leave it to Forever 21 to plagiarize offer an affordable substitute to Miu Miu’s highly coveted (yet, highly unaffordable by many) Mary Jane platforms. I’m pretty sure these will be gone before you can say “knock-off”, but for the quick and thrifty ones, these Posy Platforms are probably the answer to their fashion prayers. Will you be getting a pair of these for yourself? Let me know in the comments.

Photo Credits: Forever 21

Foodie: Oliver & Bonacini Café Grill

Oliver & Bonacini Café Grill

33 Yonge St.

Toronto, ON

647-260-2070

Perfect For: After-work Drinks, Brunch, Lunch, Date Night, Patio

For the longest time, the coveted corner of Yonge and Front has been occupied by Shopsy’s – the restaurant that I’ve been to a few times, and which left absolutely no impression on this rookie foodie. So when I found out that its days were numbered, there was no sadness on my part – on the contrary, I was super excited to hear that Oliver & Bonacini was coming to take Shopsy’s place!

Yes, O&B is a franchise, and yes, it’s not a cozy mom and pop shop, but it doesn’t mean that it lacks personality - though it did seem like that at a first glance. The restaurant is huge. There are a few dining rooms, stylishly appointed – a far cry from its previous occupant – its minimalistic design is pleasing to the eye, and the huge patio is a godsend on hot summer nights, and for the after-office-hours crowd.

A couple of weeks ago, I stopped by for a quick Sunday afternoon bite without my camera, and last week I came back for brunch (pics below) with le boyfriend and his mom. On my first visit, I went for my staple brunch fare – eggs with bacon and toast ($12.95)…and it was, as expected, great – runny egg yolk and crispy bacon - YUM! Le boyfriend tried their Grilled Chicken Panini with Gazpacho ($13.25) and both were delicious! I am a big fan of the chilled Spanish soup, and I found it very flavourful and refreshing – with chunks of avocado and just the right amount of spiciness.

On our second visit, I opted for a dish that I usually don’t tend to order – Eggs Benedict ($13.50), which came served on scrumptious cheddar scones and covered in hollandaise. I’m not a huge fan of potatoes in the morning, but le boyfriend sure did help himself to the well-seasoned home fries on my plate. It’s ok, because his Poached Eggs ($13.95) didn’t have potatoes, but came with some polenta and veggies. Not a huge fan of polenta, I didn’t try his dish, and it wasn’t le boyfriend’s favorite either. But I guess, it’s a matter of preference.

Last, but not least, le boyfriend’s mom went with Savory Smoked Ham Crepe ($14.95), which she definitely enjoyed, and which also looked like the healthiest dish on our table.

The service was amazing. Our server was extremely accommodating and attentive, refilling our coffees even after we were done eating, and were waiting for the rain to stop. Wish more places treated their customers this way – it definitely made me want to come back again.

Overall, the proximity to my office will absolutely make O&B my new favorite after-work dinner place, and with a great menu, fantastic service, and fun decor, it surely is a great addition to the area. And judging by the daily crowds on the patio – I’m not the only one to think so.

Photo Credits: Top image – Oliver & Bonacini, all others Style Blog

Shopping: Shoes at The Bay

Hello, lovelies! Meet the new addition to the Style Blog shoe family – my new Via Spiga leopard print peep toe pumps. Got these babies at The Bay deeply discounted…basically 75% off original price! Now if that’s not a good deal, than I really don’t know what is! While shoe-shopping, I spotted a few cool pairs by L.A.M.B., Botkier, Halston – all aditional 40% off the last reduced price. If you’re looking for a pair of shoes – make sure to stop by The Bay before the sale is over!

First Victoria’s Secret Store in Toronto!

The Angels are landing indeed. This Thursday, August 26th, the first ever Victoria’s Secret store in Toronto will finally open its doors! And to give its customers something really special, VS is flying Adriana Lima in to sign autographs at the Yorkdale Shopping Centre location. If you’re wondering where your boyfriend is this Thursday between 1:30 and 3:30pm, Yorkdale might be a good bet.

Oh, and if you spend $100 or more, you’ll get to jump into the VIP line, which (as noted) should be faster than the regular ol’ lineup.

Are you excited about having Victoria’s Secret in Toronto? I used to work there (at the NYC flagship location), so I still have some unworn items in my drawers (hence no need for more) – but I sure am excited about the lotions and the beauty products! And though Adriana Lima is not my favorite Angel, if I didn’t have to be at the office that day, I might’ve ventured out to get a glimpse. Will you?

Photo Credits: Yorkdale.com

What I Wore: True Blue

Rainy weekend in Toronto – what better time to wear my new Vivienne Westwood x Melissa Lady Dragon shoes? Love them so much, but unfortunately, they are too small for my feet…and size up was too big! I think I’ll just have to keep them in their box to look at when I am feeling blue – those hearts would cheer me up in no time!

But I do wish, I could wear these shoes more often…they are just too cute! Oh well…maybe one day my feet would shrink magically? Anyone know a good foot diet?

I Wore: Shirt – Gap; Jeans – Urban Outfitters; Belt – Nine West; Sunglasses – H&M; Bag – Longchamp; Shoes – Vivienne Westwood for Melissa

STYLESENSE Stiletto Sprint 2010

Last year, STYLESENSE held Toronto’s very first Stiletto Sprint. It was a great event that I had the pleasure of participating in. If you weren’t there last year, I highly recommend that you try the sprint this year! All proceeds from registration fees will be donated to Look Good Feel Better, Canada’s only national charity that addresses the appearance related effects of all cancers affecting women. And you will have a chance to win some pretty great prizes! “The winner of the women’s final will receive a whopping $10,000 in cash (not to mention fame and glory)! Women’s second and third place will receive $2,500 and $1,000 respectively.” And if your man or guy friend is interested in supporting Look Good Feel Better, then he too can put on some stilettos and run like the wind (seriously, last year’s men’s race winner ran super fast) - the winner of the men’s final gets a prize of $1,000!

Date:

Friday, September 17, 2010

Time:

Registered participants to arrive at 6AM
Races take place between 6:45AM – 8:30AM

Location:

STYLESENSE, Heartland Town Centre, 5915 Rodeo Drive, Mississauga, Ontario

Registration Fee:

A minimum $25 donation to Look Good Feel Better. Plus, for every dollar you donate above $25, STYLESENSE will match it! (to a maximum of $20,000)

For shoe specs and registration, please go to www.stylesensestilettosprint.ca

For more photos from last year’s event, click here. If you do decide to join the sprint, make sure to send me some photos and let me know the results! Good luck!

What I Wore: In My Shoes

I wanted to show you the whole outfit, but unfortunately…the rest of the photos came out blurry and out of focus…and no, the photographer wasn’t drunk, and yes, I should’ve let him use flash…le sigh. But in any case, here are my new lovely shoes!

They were extremely comfy when I bought them (thanks to the stretchy elastic bands), but now, after a couple of wears, they are actually slightly painful (thanks to not-so-elastic bands over my toes). I have to make sure to break them in before my trip – otherwise, I might end up barefoot in Milan, and that’s not a look Italians would appreciate (derelicte is so out). So far, I bought some Dr. Scholl’s shoe tape, and it seems to work ok. But I might actually have to resort to more drastic measures…all in the name of fashion. If you have some shoe tips, send them over, I’m curious to see if there’s something else I could do (short of bringing a pair of flip-flops along).

I Wore: Boyfriend Jeans – Urban Outfitters; Shoes – Steve Madden

Freebies: $50 Worth of Gap For Only $25!

So Gap has been all over the internet lately, what with the new premium pant collection, and their new line of well-fitting jeans in stores, I must say the buzz is quite justified. I, myself, got a pair of cropped work pants the other day, and I just don’t want to take them off – they fit so well! But today, there’s another reason to shop at Gap – a 50% off Groupon coupon!

Just as a disclaimer, I am not associated with either Gap or Groupon, but a deal this good is TOO good to pass up! All you have to do is register with Groupon (if you still don’t have an account), and purchase today’s buy for $25! You then will be emailed a $50 voucher to be spent at any Gap store in the US or Canada (expires in November 2010). It’s basically 50% off your purchase (even sale items included)! I am definitely buying one today, and getting another pair of premium pants – working at the office, you can never have too many, right?

What are you going to spend your Groupon on? Let me know in the comments!

My Moo

So when Style Blog was just a baby (blog), le boyfriend surprised me with my very own Moo minicards. Back then, I didn’t really know anything about Moo, and the surprise was truly awesome – tiny adorable cards with different images printed on each one. A much better alternative for someone who finds business cards too stuffy.

This time, having run out of my first batch, I ordered Moo myself for the first time…and surprisingly, they have arrived earlier than projected on their site and looking oh-so-lovely! I am super happy that I have my Moo minis before our European getaway, because who knows…I might be invited to a super fun party in Florence or Milan, and meet some very stylish Italians to give my cards to.

So here are my new Moo cards…hope you like ‘em! And if you want your very own batch, make sure to check out Moo’s website – super affordable, super cute, and super customizable! What’s not to love?

H&M Fall 2010 Lookbook

I really like the new Fall 2010 H&M campaign, featuring a fellow Canadian Daria Werbowy. It is by no means groundbreaking, nor especially different, but what I love about the pieces featured is how wearable they are. This is everyday/everywoman chic at its easiest, and by the looks of it at its comfiest too.

I already own most of the pieces featured (or some similar ones), but I still want the above grey sweater with asymmetrical hem – it’s just so simple, and I can imagine wearing it all through the winter. What do you think about this lookbook? Is it great or boring? Let me know in the comments.

Foodie: Breyers Ice Cream Party

When life gives you lemons, you’re supposed to make lemonade. But what are you supposed to do when a PR company sends you 5 coupons for free ice-cream? Throw an ice-cream party, of course! Last week a few of my friends and I got together after a looong week at the office to try Breyers new Smooth & Dreamy ice-cream (with 1/2 fat), enjoy some sunshine, and catch-up.

It all started out innocently enough…with a few cups of jello (thanks, le boyfriend!), chocolate syrup, sugar cones, some popsicles, and Mocha Fudge Brownie, Strawberries & Cream, and Dulce de Leche Breyers ice-cream. The ice-cream was incredibly smooth (just like the packaging stated), and absolutely delicious. The most popular flavor of the night was definitely Mocha Fudge Brownie…with actual chunks of brownies in it. Deeelicious! But I was also smitten with Dulce de Leche ice-cream, because of its creamy caramely taste…it just doesn’t get any better that that. I truly hope that this ice-cream is 1/2 fat, because after all of the cones consumed, I probably gained another 20 pounds that I was intending to lose. But nevermind…

It probably wasn’t such a great idea to hold an ice-cream party on a roof…because our cones were melting faster than we were able to eat them, and with Smooth & Dreamy ice-cream being especially soft, I had to keep running downstairs to refreeze it in order to avoid turning it into a milkshake. A portable freezer would’ve been handy.

Jo came over, wearing her new Marc Jacobs mouse flats…and we decided to take a shoe photo together…here’s my red vintage dead stock jelly Marc Jacobs flats from Apartment 909 and Jo’s adorable patent mouse ones. I think I want to swap!

After we were done with the ice-cream, some folks got hungry for real food, and out came the frozen beef skewers. After defrosting them in the sun, le boyfriend grilled them up, along with some fries. They weren’t fantastic, but it did the trick and maybe they weren’t cooked well enough, or perhaps we were just letting loose after the gruelling week, but the craziness ensued.

We invented a new way of eating ice-cream: cone-rings! Convenient and portable…patent pending.

Other uses for ice-cream cones included cone-noses, cone-ears, and crushed cones all over people’s heads…ahem…I think someone might’ve spiked our ice-cream with Kahlua or something. That would also explain excessive salt on the fries…and my scary facial expressions.

After the clouds threatened to soak our roof-top party, we all moved downstairs to le boyfriend’s condo and continued the party with some Rock Band and some pizza. But not before a few attempts at a group photo…I think this one turned out ok. And it only took us…10 tries?

I Wore: Dress – H&M; Belt – Zara; Shoes – Vintage Marc Jacobs; Sunglasses – Ray Ban

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