CLUB (MONACO) SANDWICHES

Dropped by the grand opening of the CM (as in Club Monaco) Market at the flagship shop at 157 Bloor St. at Avenue Road, which will be open seven days a week through September 3. It’s a farmer’s market so you can load up on local coffee, flowers, artisanal baked goods, ice cream and salads -- preferably after you have fondled the clothing and accessories inside so you don’t drip gooey stuff over the white linens.

A selection of the yummy sandwiches courtesy of Delica Kitchen.

Theatre producer/p.r. Grant Ramsay, my plus one, who is as handsome as any model/mannequin and still has a good head on his shoulders.

 As my dermatologist keeps reiterating, the cheapest no-brainer items for great, youthful skin are sunblock and a hat. Here is a wall of chapeau at Club Monaco.

Me and stylist Wendy Natale, who has just returned from a gig in the Yukon. I am decked out in a baseball jacket I bought at Topshop last year that easily passes for vintage. It is all about thrifting for me now. Gone are the halcyon days when I blew hundreds of bucks on a blouse; funny how perceptions and pocketbooks change. In fact, I balked at paying $59 for a new Diane Von Furstenberg T-shirt dress at my local Kind Exchange recently. Call me when it’s $10. Hey, I scored a pair of brand new black leather Gap jeans for $10 – and they were even lined. Gazinga!

Aside from Grant, the person with the best head of hair at the event had to be this lovely young creature with über dreds.

It was a white-out. There were innumerable installations of white apparel including a linen mini dress/tunic priced over $400. Say what? It makes me hyperventilate. In the first place, I cannot drop that kind of money on a white garment. Any red wine in the general vicinity would find its way all down the front of it immediately if not sooner. Imagine what it would look like after laundering – just another wrinkly schmatta. 

The back of a fabulous baseball jacket spotted on the stairs of Club Monaco. I was informed that it was from Zara. The stairs were previously lined with buckets of flowers free for the taking. Alas, I cannot have cut flowers at home. Our intrepid cat Sammy Davis Jr. Jr. snacks on them.

One of the casual onlookers outside the opening-party festivities displaying his own inimitable street style.

SAKS AND THE CITY

I came late to checking out the new Saks Fifth Avenue shop at the corner of Queen and Yonge sharing real estate with Hudson’s Bay. In the entrance, it’s Saks on the left and Bay on the right, the only differentiation to the casual onlooker is the extremely affable doorman at Saks.
 

If only that welcoming vibe extended past the door inside Saks. It is so high-end, I counted two security guards giving prospective shoppers stink eye. There was a Valentino display and expensive bling and pricey candles and I don’t know what else because it was too intimidating to register. They need to rethink the first floor and make it more customer-friendly. It is scaring everyone away. I didn’t see any Saks shopping bags during my brief reconnaissance.

Saks got this display right. It is very Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

 

I wanted every pair of shoes in this Marni grouping. Love love love Marni. It is the anti-Valentino. If I see any more of Valentino’s ubiquitous studded rock-star shoes I will hurl. Okay, I get that they had a huge success with that line but give it a rest already. Everyone has knocked it off including Payless.

I pawed through the sales rack at Topshop and scored a fabbo pinstriped tunic (I am a sucker for pinstripes) marked down to $40 from $110. How could I lose? I lusted after this polka dot coat from their runway line priced at $450. Yes, Topshop has pricey items. I will wait till it is on sale.

This display in the window of a floral shop stopped me in my tracks because the gentleman in the photo reminded me of iconic socialite hairdresser Robert Gage, squirrelled away in his country home.

I should sue for copyright infringement over this graffiti’ed utility box outside the Eaton Centre. Lipstick prints are my signature salutations.