Toronto L'oreal Fashion Week - Fall 2008 Collections

Sorry for such a delayed post re the Toronto L'oreal Fashion week Fall 2008 Collections.

For the second season now, Toronto L'oreal Fashion week has been in a tent, in the heart of the city at the Nathan Philips Square. This season there were a few positive improvements made from last season that I would like to point out.

- ticket sales, pickup and registration were in a separate tent = less congestion in the main tent
- instead of two entrances into the runway room there were three
- there were less sponsor booths set up inside the mingling area, guests had more room to stand around chit chat and sit
- the runway room had organized a designated photographers and videographer section
- there was standing room added behind the last rows of seats in the runway room

Even though I had been swamped with work and left with little time, I was able to see a few shows (unfortunately my PENTAX Optio S5i camera was crap and all my pictures came out horribly):

Evan & Dean - was all about browns, magenta's, blacks, whites, and beige. There were large collars, blouses accented with big bows, and arm warmers.

Lucian Matis - showed a beautiful collection, perfectly designed for the female body, hugging all the right places and accenting all the right curves.

Bustle - suits, suits, suits! It was all about the suits this season.

Andy The-Ahn - never disappoints. His collection was simple but not plain. His main accessory was the collar like neck piece which was lined with fur, and on almost everything. My favourite was the off the shoulder, double breasted, black, suit jacket.

David Dixon - Set the mood for his collection with a backdrop of a beautiful winters day. He had the bubble dress, the suits, the little black dress, and PURPLE PLAID. His collection was very wearable and classic.

All in all, I was quite pleased with this season's fashion week. Looking forward to the next!

Check out other reviews and pictures @ The Star, Torontostreetfashion, Blog TO

VOGUE - Controversy sparked by new cover? Give me a break.

So... this is the new April cover of Vogue. Different? Yes. In fact my first thought is - for a very popular and well respected high fashion magazine, this cover does not necessarily reflect the contents of the magazine. But that was all.

This month's Vogue cover features Lebron James, an NBA superstar of the Cleveland Cavaliers (who is the first black man to ever grace the cover of Vogue) and Gisele Bunchen, the famous Brazilian and ex-Victoria Secret model. Lebron is photographed in a hunched over pose, with one hand dribbling the ball, his mouth open, with, if anyone watches basketball, his game face on, and holding Gisele's waist with his other hand. Gisele is photographed looking beautiful, graceful, and with a big smile on her face.

This is indeed a rather different and an unusual cover choice for Vogue, but their is no way that this cover should spark the type of controversy re racial stereotyping that it has. Some of the public seem to think that James is photographed ironically similar to a King Kong like pose, looking fierce with his mouth open, and grabbing Bunchen's tiny waist with his other hand. They believe that this cover alludes James (a black man) to a gorilla (King Kong) and Bunchen to the unattainable white woman (Fay Wray).

I think it is absurd that anyone would assume King Kong to represent a black man and a black furious man at that. King Kong is merely an animal with black fur. How is that a representation of a human being? Just because James is crouched in a dribble position with his arms out on either side he resembles King Kong? That's ridiculous. As many have also pointed out Fay Wray looks petrified when being held by King Kong, and Bunchen in the case of this cover, beams a big smile and looks far from terrified.

There is no denial that James is a big, black, muscular, and very masculine athlete and Bunchen is a sexy, gorgeous, and feminine model. They are both polar opposites of each other, career wise and physically, but there is no racist under pinning in this photograph. Unless you are digging for racist implications, really, they are both a representation of two very successful individuals in their respective careers, which was the intended purpose of this cover and Vogue.

This is the 21st century, this is also the first time in Vogue history that a black man, in this case, James, has graced the cover. People should embrace this and not use it as an opportunity to back track society. Granted this may not be the best choice for the cover of a high fashion magazine, as it is not very "Vogue-ish" , but it definitely isn't a product with the purpose of racist remarks.

Take a look at some other shots that were options for the cover.

Lululemon gets technical - The heart rate monitoring work out tank

Made with nylon and lycra fabric, Lululemon and NuMetrex joined forces to create the Heartbeat Tank. This work out tank has the aesthetics of your typical work out tops (the built in bra) but with the added feature of being able to give the wearer direct feedback of the time spent exercising, calories burned and the heart rate.

These high tech tanks are available in 3 colors (peacock blue, anise and black) and retails for $74.00 USD in lululemon athletica stores.

Accessorize for next fall - Hot of the runways...

I want, I want, I want!!! I'm already ready for next fall and it's still winter...

Paris Fashion Week festivities - Winehouse does Fendi

Winehouse's performance at the Fendi store re-opening party during Paris Fashion Week was probably the first piece of positive press i've read about her in forever. According to style.com, Karl Lagerfeld introduced her as "terrific and a modern icon". Who knew? Certainly not I... I mean half the time she's photographed cracked out and in a mess.

Winehouse was also said to be funny, entertaining, and accredited with a wonderful voice. I guess this is the potential of her career had she began to take it seriously. I do wonder though - what convinced Fendi to book Winehouse of all singers for their store re-opening. Perhaps it was the beehive hair do, thick elongated eyeliner, and tattoos that are creeping in on the fashion horizon. Either way according to many of the celebs present (Kanye West, Mary-Kate Olsen, Rihanna, and Sophia Coppola), they loved every bit of her performance.

I think she may have turned a new leaf... she's breaking into the fashion industry with acceptance from fashion royalty, Lagerfeld himself, and finally taking her singing career seriously.

But hey, kudos to her for landing the Fendi gig!!

Random thought - Girls nights are just a four way call away

With change being a constant factor in our lives, keeping in touch with our close girl friends can be difficult. Be it a new job in another city or country, moving over seas with your husband or boyfriend because of their job, or just going away to complete your education. Life can steer us physically farther and farther away from our family and more so, our friends.

Actually, forget the moving away part... even in the same city, our hectic schedules and different commitments can make it difficult for my friends and I to get together.

In an article I read recently published in the Toronto Star, Jeanne Marie Laskas from the Washington Post introduced a high tech option as a means for keeping your girl friends up to date with your life happenings.

... the virtual girls night out via conference calling.

Yup, our wonderful world of technology and it's notion of "being connected" at it's most literal sense... the telephone.

This could work...

I could be updating my friends on my life, be updated on my friend's lives, and get live feedback courtesy of all my friends together over a conference call. This could serve as a mediocre and temporary substitute to our monthly get togethers which have grown far and few between.

Virtual girls nights out have never really occurred to me up until this article. But this idea if not already a trend, gives me a bit of comfort to the lack of time which only seems to decrease as life goes on.

Victoria's Secret - Is it too sexy for you?

It wouldn't be far fetched for me to say that every girl would like to own or does own some sort of Victoria's Secret under garment. Victoria's Secret is pretty popular in terms of bra's, panties, pajama's, and hand creams. Talk to any girl in Canada and they would tell you that going on a shopping trip to the states would hands down, include a pit stop at a Victoria's Secret.

Yesterday, Victoria's Secret shared with the public that chains have not been doing so well. The fourth quarter results showed that sales have fallen 8%. Of course with the decline in the economy and the lowered foot traffic in the malls, this can be said true for any retailer right now.

Interestingly enough though, CEO Sharen Turney has not blamed this issue on the outrageous gas prices or the plummeting economy. Instead she claims that the Victoria's Secret brand has lost touch with it's sophistication and femininity by being "too young" and "too sexy".

Hmm... too young and too sexy?? Could it be that for once, sex and sex appeal is not selling? In a lingerie store???

Who am I kidding.

I think it's time for a revamp in the Victoria's Secret marketing department.