CHRISTMAS SHOPPERS

It has been getting to look a lot like Christmas ever since Halloween. Now get a grip; that is total overkill. Having said that, I confess to dipping my twinkle toes into the early festivities.  Anything with an open bar and I am there.

Oyster bar, beauty boutique, prosecco flowing – and hello, sailor. On November 23^rd, OverCat Communications hosted Shoppers Drug Mart’s beauty boutique holiday party at Malaparte on the sixth floor of TIFF Bell Lightbox. Here I am with OverCat president Audrey Hyams Romoff, one of my all-time fave p.r. mavens.

Romoff is traditionally the chicest chick in the room, and that night was no exception. I lusted after her velvet booties, which she scored at Topshop. Alas, I don’t have a Topshop foot. It’s the reverse little-red-riding-hood curse: too big or too small but never just right.

  

Here are two young glam gals at the beauty party just to make you feel bad about yourself.

The folks at Michael Kors previewed some of their spring 2017 line – and we haven’t even got through winter 2016! Michael Kors makes the best straw totes around and I love these platforms which work if you don’t go anywhere near a spring shower.

A pair of vertiginous floral Mary Janes that are so sweet and serviceable as long as you have an Uber hovering. My back hurts just to look at them.

These bejeweled skinny jeans are way off the cool meter but are not available in Canada. Just as well. How would you launder them anyway?

I was circling this Dries Van Noten sleeveless feather duster coat at Holt Renfrew. It went on half price but I still couldn’t justify buying it. It is such a knock-out show piece that you wear it once and everyone remembers it; wear it twice and the feathers trail behind.

Rob Salem at broadcaster turned entrepreneur Gene Valaitis’s 60^th birthday party at the Spoke Club on November 18^th.

Gene and me at the party, which included happy gang members like Jesse Dylan, Gene’s fellow Morning Zoo keeper starting way back in 1987 on Q107; Lorraine Segato, Gene’s sister in law; Kid Rock; Geoffrey Dawe and Wendy Muller; John Gallagher; Rosie and Michael Levine; and Joanne Smale.

No, it’s not me but a resident at Labdara Lithuanian Nursing Home putting up her feet near the Christmas tree. Give me 20 years and it’s me in fuzzy slippers.

Some members of our unofficial whine club doing a photo op at the Distillery. The gaggle includes gal-around-town/real estate person Val Dooley; journo Rosie Levine; photographer Biserka Livaja; and irrepressible BamBoo-who Patti Habib.

You know it’s a great bash when the shoes come off. These belong to Sheila McCarthy and they were resting comfortably last Saturday in the kitchen of party hosts nonpareil Colin Mochrie and Deb McGrath.

FASHION & ACCESSORIES

Seems like everyone weighs in on accessories. From Carole Pope’s classic “I’m a victim of fashion and accessories” to the philosophical proposition that what separates us from animals is our facility to accessorize to an old T-shirt I had proclaiming “Every day I wake up thankful for my innate ability to accessorize.”  But you gotta love accessories. They don’t shame you on a fat day.

 

SHOE DEPARTMENT

 

Tireless Tom Sandler has been diligently shooting footwear on his rounds covering the social scene. For him, it’s a snap.

 

There were no wings on their feet for the Women in Aviation at the 8^th Annual Elsie MacGill Northern Lights Awards Foundation Gala at Toscana Banquet & Conference Centre but there was this cool pair of black booties with slats detailing. Lattice entertain you.

These beauties are perfect for a black-tie event.

A pair of suede lace-ups that come in grey or black. When in doubt, take both.

My furry feet at home in a pair of Michael Kors sneakers. I am so not a sneaker girl but who can resist burgundy fur? And they are beyond comfy. So far.

Serious socks appeal happening during artist/photographer Ed Burtynsky’s book launch at Nicholas Metivier Gallery.

This pointy-toed pump displays aspirations of Jackson Pollock-ness with its white painterly splatter.

How best to take the emphasis off your walking cast? Wear leopard shoes.

 

A tie me up/tie me down moment during the Stratford Festival gala honouring Gordon Pinsent held at the Four Seasons Hotel.

Actor Joe Matheson rocked these black and white wing-tips.

Meanwhile his wife, actor/singer Louise Pitre, had sparkle aplenty.

Moi toasting the woman with the coolest jacket in the room at the official launch party of H Project’s Uncrate South America at Holt Renfrew’s Bloor Street location last Thursday. I am wearing a Symthe army coat, the long version of the jacket Kate Middleton wore during her visit to British Columbia and the Yukon last week. And what’s not to Symthe? It’s a fabbo line.

The deejay action at the Uncrate event, backed by a South American femme.

The official Uncrate South America logo. The Peruvian earrings generated one of the biggest buzzes of the night.

My reading material – Couture Confessions: Fashion Legends in their Own Words by Pamela Golbin, chief curator of 20^th century fashion and textiles at Paris’s Musée des Arts Décoratifs -- resting unfashionably on my cat-ravaged hassock.

Even the construction hoarding is fashionable in terminally trendy Yorkville.

This dress could have been designed by Warhol, but it's a Wallo, part of the Cabinet Ephemere exhibit of hot Quebec designers at a pop-up shop at 12 Ossington Ave. throughout the weekend.

Lipstick on your collar told the tale on you -- this shirt by Christopher Bates comes with lip-print already applied. Now that's what I call lip service.

 

Rita Elias models a fuzzy pink wrap from her Maison Elama line of furs, designed to bring a pop of colour to your wardrobe. 

Loved this sweatshirt, spotted on a shopper at the accessories level at Nordstrom’s. Who doesn’t want one? Alas, she got it in China.

NORDSTROM, HERE I COME

I was one of the 2,000 guests at the gala grand-opening fundraiser at Nordstrom at the Eaton Centre last night and was blown away. It was 213,000 square feet of fabulousity. Holt Renfrew must be quaking in its stilettos. There were two traffic-stopping fashion shows staged at a tented facility across the street at Dundas Square and it all went off flawlessly. No fashion roadkill; kudos to the planners. The food and booze flowed, the staff was plentiful and attentive without being obsequious, and the entertainment rocked. Who knew a band called Dwayne Gretzky was so cool? And I even bought a pair of sneakers. I am not a sneakers girl but they were black Michael Kors with faux-fur magenta accents. Besides, how could I not? Nordstrom started out selling shoes and morphed into this department store with a Barneys vibe minus the attitude.

A view from the red carpet lineup of real, live mannequins posing in the Nordstrom window.

A greeting from Nordstrom staffer Dale, who I have known since he worked at Holt Renfrew, then at The Room in Hudson’s Bay. He has defected from the Bay to become personal shopper at Nordstrom. There is a lot of that going around.

Another dapper Nordstrom dude, who works in the handbag department.

Maybe he can help me track down this amazing Mongolian fur tote bag, as seen on the runway in the fashion show. I had asked a staffer on the floor, who consulted her boss, who found out that it was a Stella McCartney bag specifically brought in for the show but she would go on-line for me. I didn’t wait around, figuring she would blow me off, and went about my business of checking out the store but she actually searched me out in the bar area (safe guess), took my contact deets and promised to call when and if it came in. Now that is customer service!

Another dramatic runway look. The designers included Alexander Wang, Burberry, Marc Jacobs, Marchesa, Missoni, Lanvin, Loewe, Simone Rocha and Sonia Rykiel.

Fun faux fur on parade on the main-floor accessories department.

A trio of sassy femmes in quirky chapeaux poses for the paps.

The second-floor bar complete with banquettes, is a welcome watering hole but wreaks havoc with sales resistance. It also gives the store a grown-up vibe without being stuffy.

The catering included pizza in what looks like a cigarette box. The smudgy glass (don’t judge me, the pizza was a tad greasy) gives you an idea of the scale.

A tray of devilled eggs, minus the one I scarfed down. Why was I the only one eating them? What is wrong with people?

The biker jacket I so lust after that I stumbled upon on the second floor, which carries labels from Madewell to Marchesa. 

The coolest guy in the place had to be stylist Luis Rajiv, who is wearing an ensemble consisting of hand-cut brown leather trousers on the bottom and Japanese obi at the back, topped by layers of neck pieces.

Moi and Derick Chetty, current fashion director at Zoomer and former Toronto Star colleague, sit one out.

Footnote: This is how it's done. The gold medalist in the shopping Olympics is John Maloney, Oakville transplant to Dallas, where he is a mild-mannered accessory designer. This haul was in London, England, and he claims it's all for research.

WAITING LIST, ETC.

This is the time of great bargoons in summer wear. Remember, I don’t get out of bed for less than 70-per-cent off. But you have to bide your time. If it is still overly pricey – our summer season is so limited and statistically we only wear 20 per cent of our wardrobe – you need to suck it up and wait for the last gasp. I mean, you can’t have everything. Where would you put it?

This fringed skirt has my name all over it. It is a hot Pucci number I found in The Room at Hudson’s Bay downtown. It was originally priced at $1,010 (yeah, I know) and was reduced to $403.99 and it would replace the Michael Kors fringed skirt I stupidly sold years ago. But there will be further reductions in August and if it is still there, I am meant to have it. Seriously, I could easily go through life without a go-go skirt.

I am addicted to all things camo and am pining over this clutch also at The Room. Its original price is $2,895 (why????) marked down to $1,157.99 but unless I get an inheritance from long-lost relatives in Lithuania or the bag is horrifically reduced, it will not be tucked under my arm any time soon. But I can still drool over it.

I am a big fan of distressed wear and of award-winning Canadian designer Evan Biddell, one of the best cutters in the biz. So this shredded tank top with Biddell’s face all over it is doubly delicious.

New York has some serious graffiti. I think they invented the stuff. But this wall in Queen Street West is no slouch. Gotta love the colour.

Utility boxes don’t have to be boring. This dramatic one on Parliament St. in the Distillery district could easily have been living in Stratford. 

Couples regularly pose in this heart-shaped structure in the Distillery district while doing the kissy-face thing. I was recently asked to snap such a couple and was happy to oblige. But I politely declined their offer to take a photo of me solo under the heart. It would have been too sad.

Giving and getting a helping hand and foot on a fence on Portland St.