RESERVOIR CATS

Okay so I did slack off. But I am baaaaccck.

Nothing like a good party to get me out of my slacker-mode doldrums and test drive that new Denis Gagnon frock I bought in Montreal months ago. 

Reservoir Lounge was celebrating its 20^th anniversary last Tuesday night with an open bar and yummy munchies. Twenty years in the bar/swing club business is a remarkable achievement, especially considering the number of landmark Toronto venues closing down. 

The Rez has hosted everyone from Michael Bublé, once the club's regular Friday-night crooner, to a visiting Prince, back when he was living on the Bridle Path. Preceded by his lackeys, His Royal Purpleness came in, sat in a back booth and drank his merlot through a straw. He asked for fries, which were not on the menu, so a staffer was dispatched to nearby McDonald’s for an order.

Now that is customer service. The bands are hot, the martinis cold and dry and the ambiance unbeatable. What more do you want for a watering hole? Happy 20^th Rez.

 

Me with Reservoir Lounge owner Hae-Soon Chung. I know,  I know -- the photo is fuzzy. And that was BEFORE we started drinking.

Rob Salem and JazzFM broadcaster Jaymz Bee, amiable and smartly-attired co-hosts of the evening. Had Rob not gotten a haircut and his Grizzly-Adams-meets-Gabby-Hayes beard trimmed, they would have looked like the same person.

A couple of old regulars at the Rez, swinging on the dance floor. The bands are so infectious, even I danced. The bubbly helped.

Me and the legendary Iris Apfel at Jonathan + Olivia, one of my fave boutiques in the city. Apfel was in town last Thursday for an Atelier Swarovski trunk show and reception at J+O. The iconic 95-year-old, who has branded with a number of designers including Kate Spade, is collaborating with Swarovski on a jewelry line. She is my spirit animal. Not only do we share a penchant for oversized eyewear, she is wearing a camo jacket trimmed in fake fur. I’d cobbled together a reasonable facsimile and was planning to wear it but felt it might have been too fromage. Good thing. That would have been way too Bobbsey Twins.

 

This is my camo jacket, trimmed with marabou feathers. I was inspired by a Miu Miu jacket. My jacket was from a CAFCAD (Canadian Alliance of Film & Television Costume Arts & Design) costume sale and I bought the feather trim at a shop on Queen and Spadina for $20. My tailor sewed it on and the whole thing cost me about $50 as opposed to the thousands Mrs. Prada was charging.

An awesome camo jacket from the label Obey I spotted on the subway last night. He was cool with my shooting his photo but I noticed he took the jacket off immediately thereafter. He must have figured I was this weirdo riding the subway late at night snapping young dudes.

An Iris Apfel resin cuff studded with Swarovski crystals. It is amazing and mouth-watering but I couldn’t get it over my hand, which is just as well because I couldn’t afford the $2,000 tariff anyway.

Me and Rob doing the obligatory selfie at the Extraordinary Italian Taste party at Cibo in Yorkville Thursday evening. Hey – spectacular Italian food and drink for free. We are so there.

Mid-way through the buffet at Cibo, with a centerpiece of pasta, which looks not out of place in a hair salon. The cheese was so scrumptious --  I am such a fool for pecorino – that I am still carrying around the calories.

Rob toasting the evening with an ensemble colour-coded with the red wine.

Cibo owner Nick Di Donato, left, gracious and generous host of the evening, with the Consul General of Italy.

A mannequin in the window of Dolce & Gabbana on Bloor St. that looks just like Paul Shaffer. Love the D&G windows and their clothes don’t suck either.

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.

HALLOWEEN HIJINKS

I schlepped to Lakefield for the annual Halloween (or as we call it, Hallowine) party held by irrepressible Gail Grant in a space adjacent to her house, which is essentially a community hall. There is the requisite deejay, lots of tunes, BYOB, pot luck, ghoulish decorations and a dance floor. You can come only if you promise to boogie. We danced our faces off – or at least my pal Wendy Zelsman did. Wendy went as a Day of the Dead-head and her gummy face stickers kept peeling off -- which was just as well because it took much abrasion to get those suckers off. Then again, she got a cheap acid peel.

My lip print on napkin under glass. When the red wine drained, it made for a cool coaster.

Spotted this dude with two bananas in his pants pocket, the quintessential visual for the old saw “Are they bananas in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?” When I suggested he had six-shooters in his pants, he ignored me. He must have been gun shy.

Wendy Zelsman’s hubby Howard trying to twirl his eyebrow-penciled-in fake moustache in his guise as a Day of the Dead gigolo.

An equestrienne complete with her horse, one of the best costumes of the night. She had to keep dancing because she couldn’t sit one out.

Gail, moi and Wendy in costume. Gail went as Venus Flytrap, complete with fly stuck on her chin. Wendy was aforementioned Day of the Dead-head and I was a military person in official jump suit, free with purchase at a Lakefield flea market. I bought the cap, an official Mussolini issue, at a flea market in Arezzo, Italy. My gun, purchased at a T.O. Dollar Store, kept falling out of my belt loop.

A fishing lure and hot mermaid suitable for framing at Dwellissimo shop in Port Hope. This unassuming one-of-a-kind décor and home accessories shop is a must pit stop.

A selection of awesome and affordable Moroccan bags featuring hand-tooled coins at Primitive Designs near Port Hope. They are way more high fashion than hippie-dippy. Don’t let the cheesy robots and dinosaurs outside the sprawling shop deter you.