BAUBLES AND BUBBLES

On Thursday night we attended a smart cocktailer in Rosedale to celebrate the launch of Uno de 50, a Spanish brand of jewelry and watches which originally created only 50 units of design, hence the name. There are more than 100 Uno de 50 stores in 40 countries, with two newly-opened locations in Toronto at Eaton Centre and Sherway Gardens.

The event was held at The Integral House lodged deep in the long and winding twists and turns of Roxborough Drive. There are about three Roxboroughs so our cabbie got lost. If it weren’t for the valet parking guys lined up outside the venue, we would still be looking for it.

Integral House is huge --17,000 square feet -- and so severe it looks like a library. It was designed by the obligatory starchitects and features French limestone floors, floor-to-ceiling windows and a two storey-atrium perfect for chi-chi parties but not so much for kids. It was owned by math textbook magnate James Stewart and previously on the market for $28 million bucks, just reduced to $21 million.

No matter how I do the math, mere mortals like moi can never afford it and since it only has four smallish bedrooms, it isn’t going to be made into a co-op any time soon.

Breakfast of champions: A bucket of yummy Perrier Jouet champers, courtesy of Perrier’s Kelley Burns-Coady whom I will follow anywhere, as befitting my status as shameless champagne slut.

A natty Rob Salem does face time with the magnificent Mary Symons, luxury goods publicist extraordinaire.

Salem schmoozes with the stylin’ Nolan Bryant, Globe & Mail’s society scribe.

Two blondes in black, whose breed just keeps multiplying faster than Kardashians, rhapsodize over one of the jewelry displays.

Uno de 50’s photogenic brother team of David and Asher Azuly were our genial hosts.

She’s with the band. Montreal-based band Kandle and the Krooks provided background music.

The jewellery line is nothing we haven't seen before -- Pandora meets Thomas Sabo. That said, this necklace, which is called “Fangtastic,” just called out to me. I intend to interview it further. 

HOLLYWOOD SPIN CYCLE

Micheline Wedderburn, owner/founder of Quad Spin, had a surprise celebrity spinner at her King Street location last weekend. Gerard Butler, in town shooting the workplace drama The Headhunter’s Calling, dropped by not exactly anonymously -- he signed in as himself -- to take Wedderburn’s class.

Heads spun as well. He does have a famously hot bod: Check out the muscled-sweaty-men-in-armour-and-short-skirts hit film 300.

Micheline Wedderburn and Gerard Butler bond after class. Wedderburn swears she didn’t recognize him but was blown away by his passion for spinning. Butler not only loved the class – which he rated as tough if not tougher than Soul Cycle -- he liked her playlist, especially song number three, a piece by Ed Sheeran.

I spin because I eat and drink Italian to excess. My fave Italian resto in the city is La Bruschetta on St. Clair W., which is just as authentic as the restaurants in Italy. Their carpaccio is magnifico. Here Silvia Piantoni, chief cook and bottle washer and daughter of founder Benito, poses with our displaced Abu Dhabi pal Mo Gannon, after a memorable reunion dinner.

SHOPPING IN SLOW MO

Herewith: the further rollicking adventures of the Mighty Mo, Super Shopper. My pal Mo Gannon has her Chanel belt in shopping. She is based in Abu Dhabi which is not exactly slim pickings in high-end brand department but is sparse in vintage and one-of-a kind indie shops so Mo suggested we do an Ossington Street reconnaissance. We had a two-hour retail window and then intended to do a class at Quad Spin in the 'hood at King and Brant.

But first she wanted to do a drive-by at Gravity Pope to check out the shoes because her cute-as-hell pointy-toed Miu Miu black patent-leather kitten heel shoes were not made for walking. Oh, oh -- I knew we were in big trouble. Two hours for shoes and vintage? No way. The shoe department at Gravity Pope alone takes two hours to navigate.

I made the "Look of the Day" feature on the Zoomer site. Except it was so last year -- taken during the 2014 Fashion Week. I am wearing a man's cashmere coat with an Italian label I purchased at Goodwill in Oakville for $7. It cost me more to have it dry-cleaned. This is my frugalista version of the gold-standard cashmere camel coat from Max Mara, which rings in at a couple of grand.

This is a busking bagpiper at Queen and University. While we both appreciated the music, we liked the plaid kilt way better.

Upstairs at Gravity Pope I checked out the Marni rack. This linen maxi skirt is half price and looks much better in person. While in Rome recently, I’d intended to while away an afternoon blissfully drooling over the fall merch at the free-standing Marni store but it had moved. I spent five hours following false leads in 38 degree heat. No go. Just as well, I couldn’t afford the Euros anyway.

After Gravity Pope, we made a pit stop at Jonathan & Olivia, one of my fave shopping destinations, along with 290 Ion, Narwhal, Motion and COS and not necessarily in that order. Here is the winter version of the sandals I coveted last spring. They are pretty much for display only and are hideously expensive but if you are a size 7, go for it.

Here is the original summer model, which only came in a couple of small sizes as well so no sale. At Jonathan & Olivia, I bumped into actor/singer Rebecca Jenkins who is also a regular. “I bought these pants here,” she said, pointing to her graphic skinnies. Jenkins is in T.O. visiting. She moved to Vancouver a dozen years ago. Footnote: Jonathan & Olivia is the only local source of the über hot Paris-based Vetements line, which is king-sized but meant for women. I tried on a trench coat that was so oversized, it looked like the love child of Dick Tracy and David Bryne.

We actually did make it to one vintage store, I Miss You, where Mo had a brief flirtation with a gold-chainy Chanel belt but passed on it. She just wasn’t Coco about it.She is wearing a kick-butt pair of R13 jeans she bought at Jonathan & Olivia.

I heart this pair of Moschino heels at I Miss You but there are too vertiginous for me. My back hurt just looking at them. I made a later spin class; Mo didn't. But she did burn a lot of calories shopping.

ONE MO TIME

Our prodigal pal Mo Gannon, who just got a big fat promotion to assistant editor at The National, the English language daily newspaper in Abu Dhabi, returned for a visit to her old stomping grounds, T.O.

On Saturday, we took her for happy hour (buck-a-shuck oysters, $6 wine) at the Museum Tavern, which is in effect Bistro 990 Jr. since it was launched by Kyle and Glen Kristenbrun, offspring of Tom Kristenbrun, founder of Bistro, our regular haunt of yore. During one raucous TIFF night, Rufus Sewell quipped, “This should be called Bistro 666.” And we have the scar tissue to prove it.

It was the old happy gang: me, Rob Salem, Mo, ad man Tim Hughes and behind him, p.r. whiz Grant Ramsay, who arguably has the best head of hair in the city.

 

While we weren’t the lives of the party, we were inadvertently part of a wedding party – two wedding parties had pre- dinner drinks and photo ops at Museum making it two weddings and a bar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dropped by Clementine’s luxury resale shop at 1260 Yonge St. near the Summerhill boozeria just to check out the inventory and live vicariously through the castoffs of the rich ladies of Rosedale. This is a photographic rendition of some of the brands carried by the boutique.

Clementine’s owner Christina McDowell plucked these pants by Simone Rocha out of the back. Note the cool marabou trim on the leg.

 

These Simone Rocha shoes are part of my personal collection and would go perfectly with the aforementioned pants but they are way too matchy-matchy. I’d feel like I could take flight.

This yummy white cocktail dress by Marchesa with marabou trim on the hem was hanging in the dressing room. All I needed to buy it was the body to rock it, the bankroll to afford it and the occasion to wear it.

 

SCARY SAVINGS

I was a V.V. (Value Village) virgin until my pal Jo-ann Dodds walked me through the Queen and Logan location about a decade ago. Jo-ann is the consummate V.V. thrifter who routinely bags goodies like Chanel scarves through sheer instinct. In fact, for a while (while I was the Star's Shopping-section deputy editor) she had a column called "Dodds and Ends," chronicling her weekly V.V. treasures.

In my maiden V.V. foray, I scored a vintage chocolate-brown men’s Balmain jacket that is so Al Pacino in Carlito’s Way. It is the real deal; cost me $40 and I still wear it.

Somehow Jo-ann had missed it. I think I might even have gloated.

Thrifting is no longer considered déclassé. It’s all about the hunt -- just look at the success of Winners and Marshalls. Everybody’s mixing high-end with high street; vintage and new. H&M launched a new 110-piece collaboration with Balmain. Granted the jackets can run to $400 but that’s a fraction of the $4,000-plus runway tab.

And there has been a reissue of Cheap Chic, the 1975 thrift-shop manifesto that according to the New York Times “was a guide to personal style that blew a big raspberry to establishment norms with a pugnacious manifesto.”

The editors “presented the uniforms and flourishes of the new order: jeans, T-shirts, leotards, cowboy boots, Goodwill wares and flea-market couture, Mexican peasant blouses, Peruvian sweaters and painter’s pants . . . ”

Moreover, a used copy of the original Cheap Chic is worth $300 – which represents a sizable shopping spree in a thrift shop.

“I have a copy somewhere,” I gleefully crowed to Rob. “No you don’t,” he replied. “I’m pretty sure you sold it at a lawn sale. For a buck.”

Ouch. My bad.

The welcome sign at the Lansdowne/Bloor location of Value Village. I made an excursion Wednesday to buy new jeans for the incredible shrinking Rob and check out the Halloween costumes.

No, they aren’t The Munsters, they are mannequin greeters at Value Village, all decked out for Halloween.

You can dress up as everything from a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle to a can-can dancer with stuff from V.V. at prices that are ridiculously lower than Malabar’s.

This witchy woman is part of the Halloween set decoration at V.V. and not for sale. Too bad; she would make a great garden gnome.

Even the staffers get into the Halloween spirits. This young woman was a cheeky check-out in ghoulish green hair accessories.

This rug is not available at Value Village. It is rendition of Botticelli’s Birth of Venus as a hand-woven rug designed by Robyn Waffle, a hip young woman at Totem Rug Design. Note the whimsical Halloweenie touch of a black cat at her feet.

WINE AND POSES

Wine and fashion are pretty much two of my favourite things. In that order.

When they occur simultaneously, it is bliss. Years ago in sunny Yelapa, Mexico, I recall sitting in a beach bar sipping a margarita (Mexican wine is a no no) while shopping for silver bracelets. It doesn’t get much better than that.

On Monday, I started off with a tasting of Portuguese port and Douro wines at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, followed by the Preloved fashion show across the street at the tents at David Pecaut Square, one of the events at World MasterCard Fashion Week.

There was more black in the tents than at a Sicilian funeral -- and not just on the backs of fashion flock in the audience. On the nails of the fan boys in the crowd.

Here I am before the start of the Preloved show, decked out in a vintage jacket by Gino Charles  (an American line established in 1966 by Teal Gino Traina and Malcolm Charles Starr), which I scored at the Ian Drummond booth at the CAFTCAD sale on Saturday.

These two girls are not en route to Fashion Week but could very well be. They are street fashionistas, two students walking along King Street after a pit stop at Tim Hortons. The girl at left could always use her Timbits box as a purse.

This is the booth featuring Portal Douro Grande Reserva 2009, my favourite wine at the tasting. It is yummy, with a "toasty character,” and available in Vintages at LCBO. I could get pretty toasted on this baby.

A fun couple milling around in the tents at World MasterCard Fashion Week. They are both stylists/models and not afraid of colour and pattern. Their leggings and tees hail from Nuvango on Queen West and are not for the timid.

The models take a finale walk on the runway at the end of the Preloved show. Preloved must be doing something right because it is celebrating its 20^th anniversary making pieces out of recycled materials. The show was a ton of fun though some of the outfits looked like pieces of schmata tacked together. But that’s just me.

COSTUME CAPERS

On Saturday, we made tracks to Pinewood Studios for the bi-annual CAFTCAD (Canadian Alliance of Film & Television Arts & Design) sale, where costumers and wardrobers for films and series shooting in the Toronto area get to shed some of the extraneous inventory they have amassed on the job. (There is also vintage, stuff from retailers, stylists and industry rental houses.)

Bargoons are to be had, but the real thrill is poking through the goodies. Where else would you find everything from leather chaps to Japanese robes to fake-blood-stained clothing from The Strain?

Rob and I scored big-time (his fave item is a brand-new Danier leather jacket for one-third of retail; mine is a vintage brocade jacket that is very Lee Radziwill meets Jaqueline Susann) and we ran into a lot of buddies, except for legendary costume designer Juul Haalmeyer, of SCTV fame, who is usually a fixture at the event acting as unofficial greeter.

We missed you, “Costume Juul.”

The signage for the sale, which included black-and-white balloons. It is essential because Commissioner St. is not exactly a major retail go-to.

Bumped into the irrepressible Sheila McCarthy, who found these awesome vintage purses, one of which will be a gift for a friend. 

Ian Drummond’s stall is inevitably our first destination. I pounced on this Union Jack T-shit, which goes with Rob’s tank, purchased in South Beach. Britannia rules!!!

The reincarnation of Groucho Marx , hamming it up with a vendor, is actually  Jonathan Hagey, owner of Kingpin’s Hideaway, destination for “gentlemenswear with balls.” It’s on his business card. I didn’t make it up. Hagey would be officiating at a wedding that night in his Groucho garb.

Super stylist/writer Loretta Chin was there as a civilian; she wasn’t doing much shopping. She’s been a vendor herself many times so it’s not like she needs any more stuff – but then again, neither do we.

I was obsessed with this hombre’s blue ombré hair when I kept running into him. Then I noticed his über cool leather ensemble. Turns out he is a designer at Raw Finery Studio, a fashion lab and studio for young and hungry up-and-comers. Then again, struggling Canadian designers are always hungry. They make even less money than struggling Canadian actors.

OMG! PARKER POSING

On Thursday, Indigo Books at Manulife Centre launched actor/comic/producer/writer Monica Parker’s latest book OMG!, How Children See God, complete with guest appearances by tiny talents, some of the children who contributed drawings to the book.

The last time Parker had a book launch, I was en route when I tripped in my killer boots and broke my wrist and blew out my knee. This time I wore flats and arrived unscathed.

The tome is perfect for Christmas stocking stuffers so get it while it’s hot.

Monica Parker holds up her latest book, OMG! How Children See God, taking a break from signing copies and herding children.

Here I am at the launch bookended by actor Wendy Crewson (left) and TV/film writer Katie Ford. Crewson will be awarded a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame next month. What took them so long? When I asked if she was going to keep it pristine, fluffed and maintained; she said she planned to plant a garden.

Jazz man Elan Trotman added sax appeal to the preview/celebration of the upcoming Barbados Food & Wine and Rum Festival held on Thursday at Campagnolo resto on Dundas West. Campagnolo’s executive chef/co-owner Craig Harding will be the Canuck among the star cooks at the four-day fest running Nov. 19 through Nov. 22 in various locations on the island. Book your flight and elasticized-waist pants now.

Among the yummy nosh at Campagnolo, were jerk lamp chops (we inhaled them) and jungle bird cocktails made of rum, Campari, pineapple juice lime juice and simple syrup. The drinks were simply delish, and I am not a rum girl.

I am addicted to the hand-painted dinnerware at Anthropologie and this cat dish is my latest obsession. I need to find space for it. Hmmmm, I feel a kitchen renovation coming on.

CIBO CIAO CHOW

Wednesday night Cibo Wine Bar opened its third Toronto location at 133 Yorkville Ave. with a tasting-menu dinner where the Italian food was washed down with yummy Ripasso. The sautéed mushrooms were especially rhapsodic. OMG! The food just kept coming and we just kept eating. I have a food hangover.

Our genial server was a ringer for a mini Greta Gerwig. And how much did we love the red Chuckies on the wait staff? Rob wore his black ones, just to be more formal.

Major kudos to Nadia Di Donato, creative director of Liberty Entertainment Group, who designed this resto and all of Liberty’s venues since Rosewater Supper Club. The décor is fabulous -- from the industrial light boxes on the banquettes to the cool curtain of wine bottles. Imagine the hours of fun with a curtain of wine bottles!!!

It’s a Traci Melchor sandwich at Cibo. Or should I say a Traci panini? Cibo is Italian after all.  I suck face with Traci while legendary event planner “Party” Barbara Hershenhorn manages to restrain herself.

Here I am toasting Cibo owner Nick Di Donato, president and CEO of Liberty Entertainment Group. Why is this man smiling? Because he gets to go south in winter. He is opening a third Florida Cibo location next month.

Mr. Cibo, Nick Di Donato, catches up with fashionista Suzanne Boyd, editor of Zoomer mag, for whom black is always the new black. 

Patrick Di Donato, executive vice president of Liberty Entertainment Group, talks Blue Jays with elated fans (fresh from the winning game) Tanya and Steve Anthony.

With apologies to Dean Martin, here’s pizza pie in your eye. A Cibo chef flips pizza dough in the kitchen. Ever tried to shoot a pie in the sky? Not easy (as pie.) Sorry, I’ll stop now.

Here I am trying not to look dowdy beside celebrity stylist Cristina Ehrlich whose red-carpet clientele includes Penelope Cruz and Greta Gerwig (see intro above). Ehrlich was in town to deliver styling tips for fall/winter dressing keyed to items available at Marshalls. Her five top trends: pussy- bowed blouses, over-the-knee boots, oversized boyfriend coats, culottes and fringe. Sorry, but I just can’t do the pussy-bowed thing (my cats won't let me).

These are two cool dudes we encountered on the subway en route home from Cibo. They could have been Straight Out of Compton. TTC can be very interesting at night. Getting off the Main Street bus, a passenger who looked somewhat hippie-dippyish, asked the driver to give him extra time to exit because his backpack weighed 200 pounds. I just had to ask him why it weighed 200 pounds. He responded, “Because it is full of lead.” Before I could ask him why he was carrying 200 pounds of lead, he heaved the backpack on his shoulders and scurried away as fast as one can with 200 pounds of lead can scurry.