FROM V.V. TO CHI-CHI

In fashion, there is no room for snobbery. You need to hit the highs and lows, from The Room to Value Village. Even iconic Iris Apfel will bargain with frankly-fake jewelry dealers in market stalls in New York. It’s not just for the sport of it, it makes sense.

Nobody needs to ever pay full price. If you wait for it, it will come. That’s how I scored those $1,000 Alexander Wang man-repeller sandals for $169 last summer. It was vigorous exercise and makes for a great story. I even kept the price sticker on the bottom of the shoes until they peeled off as evidence.

I stupidly left this coat behind at 290 Ion at Queen and Parliament, still a sketchy ‘hood but getting upwardly mobile now the former Marty Millionaire is becoming condo-ized. 290’s owner Sanghun Oh has superlative skill in ferreting out genius pieces at non-bankrupting price points. Like this coat, priced at $400 but so amazing I would want to tear it off the back of someone wearing it. It haunts me still.

Me and Jo-Ann Dodds, a former co-worker at the Toronto Star, foraging for treasures at Value Village. Dodds is such a master at bagging bargains at V.V., where she shops habitually, I had her write a column for the Star’s erstwhile Shopping section called Dodds and Ends, in which she chronicled her finds of the week. It was brilliant.

A fabbo and funky jacket in The Room trimmed in marabou and styled cleverly. There was apparently a pair of pants to match but why would you? You would look like you were moulting.

A glitter girl Christmas window at Saks Fifth Avenue that speaks to me way more than the terminally cute traditional ones featuring cartoony critters around the corner at Hudson’s Bay. But that is just bah-humbuggy me.

A pair of sweet rescue greyhounds outside Ed’s Real Scoop in The Beach. Note how stylish they are in their Hudson’s Bay coats. They need them; they have zero body fat. I will never know how that feels.

Boot maker par excellence Rocco P (as in Pistonesi) and George C (as in Corbo) at the 10^th anniversary cocktailer for George C. boutique on Scollard in Yorkville. Rocco P, carried exclusively at George C, created a stunning assortment of styles for this event. I own a stable full of Rocco P’s addictive cowboy boots.

These boots are not Rocco P’s – they are Fauzian Jeunesse -- but they keep calling my name. I will definitely go back to George C to interview them.

And while I am at it, I will definitely get up close and personal with these Rocco P silverados. How yummy are these?

Lisa Corbo, stylist, jewelry designer and clothing buyer for the boutique, and arguably the chicest woman in Toronto, poses at the party with TV producer Al Magee.

This parka is part rhinestone cowgirl and part bedazzled Canada Goose and all this fabulousness goes for $2,000! It’s all mine if I win a lottery or if it is drastically reduced.

Makeup artist/model/muse Myles Sexton is inevitably the most interesting guy in the room. I bow to his swag.

TRAVELLING COACH

The fashion brand Coach, noted primarily as a starter line for bags for young women before they even begin to aspire to Prada and Gucci, has re-branded with funky oversized collegiate bombers, sweaters and Mr. Rogers cardies with goofy dragon insignias.  There was a party on November 9 to celebrate the launch with a guest appearance by actor/model Dree Hemingway, whom I missed because I was on nursing home duty. 

How white am I, bookended by Traci Melchor and her sister Grace, who was on the hunt for a purse?

Bustle Clothing creative director/designer Shawn Hewson is the coolest dude in the room in his “naked ladies” brogues by Jimmy Choo and purchased in London. That’s London, Eng., not London, Ont.

Samantha Beckerman, half of the hot blonde blogger twin set, rocks a Coach Varsity jacket she’s accessorized with even more pins.

A funky faux-fur chubby jacket by Coach reminiscent of the vintage sheared-beaver I scored at Value Village one hot summer day for $40.  Gotta love V.V. Last week I bagged a chocolate brown suede coat in mint condition made in Europe for $20. Not that I was exactly coat-less – it’s like they breed in my closet -- but how could I resist?

These fine-feathered beauties are part of a collection made by jewelry designer Rita Tesolin. Seriously, how amazing are they? You would upstage everyone in the room wearing one of these. Tesolin is having a sample sale Friday November 18 through Sunday November 20 at her studio at 63 Wingold Ave., Suite 110. Well worth the schlep.