Joe Freshest

Last night was LOU LOU's Shop 'til you drop Toronto event, which invited the most serious of shoppers to visit the participating Yorkville stores such as Jacob and BCBGMAXAZRIA for gift bags, photobooths and tasty treats among other surprises. While each location was filled to the brim with happy shoppers, there is no denying that Joe Fresh was the star of the night. The pop-up store at 151 Bloor St West had shoppers waiting patiently in a line that rivaled those found at Canada's Wonderland - we women will do quite a bit for gorgeous clothes at jaw-dropping price points...

Once inside, shoppers were greeted with drinks, appetizers and fantastic Canadian fashion. A mix that was certainly worth the wait. 

 

Blog Struggles

Dear Readers, 

I am sorry for the lack of posts lately, but something funky and technical is happening with my computer/blogspot and it is making posting very difficult. To quote lolcats: *mope*. But fingers crossed I will figure out a solution soon and things will go back to normal. 

So this post may not be as exciting as others, but hopefully it will do the trick. I know everyone loves themselves a good spring clean, but when you have been hoarding your things for years (like any good university student would), your spring whizzed by due to exams and summer travels, and all of a sudden you find yourself coming to terms with the fact that sweats and bar tops do NOT a wardrobe make, well, honey, you need to get your fall clean on. 

So when I noticed my closet looked like this:

I had to react accordingly. The great closet clean-out has begun and not only have I realized that I was holding onto a lot of ill-fitting and no-longer-nice stuff, I have also had to come to terms with just how many things I, ahem, NEED. 

The list is as follows:
Silk blouse (I am personally coveting the ones by Vince and Equipment)
Luxe loafers (ideally the patent pair by Prada) 
Navy Blazer (oh hey Smythe)
Grey fall jacket (That one by Stella would be my ultimate)
Equestrian-style boot (Tory Burch has made some fabulous options)
Ladylike skirt (I'm feeling kind of over the 'hot for teacher/secretary/librarian' pencil skirt thing....although that doesn't mean I'm getting rid of mine)
Statement jewelery (yes, I'm still searching.....accessorizing really IS that hard for me!)
Aaaaand that's all I can think of right now, although I am sure it will grow.

Do you think I missed something? What's on your list?

Trends for fall? Welcome back boobies, butter and basics

For me, fall is always the best and most interesting fashion season. The magazines are bigger, the clothing is more luxurious, and the trends are better. But this fall is extra special. No longer is fashion inclined toward extremes such as neon, shoulders and skin-tight. Instead, designers appear to have finally taken a step back, observed what the female body actually looks like (this just in: tits!), and instead of forcing it into a myriad of silly albeit very aesthetically interesting garments, they have decided to celebrate it. 

So what sparked this sudden onslaught of deliciously ladylike looks after years of loving on designs meant to fit the bodies of 16 year old girls instead of 36-106 year old women? Here is what I think can be called the recipe for great clothing:

Start with 1 big, bag of the recession: A lot of people lost a lot of money, which means design houses realized they could not just slap on a $5000 price-tag without explanation. We now want to know why we are paying that price or we want to pay less. Oh, and also? We want to wear it for longer than a season.

5 teaspoons of learning how to eat again: I think a lot of people woke up to just how exhausting a constant diet is on both the mind and body. So instead of fighting our curves with non-fat everything we are starting to pay attention to how we eat in a much healthier way. Eat local, eat organic and eat some butter, because baby, it is sooo not the enemy. Our diet books have gone from Skinny Bitch to Eat Clean and our exercise routines have gone from forcing our bodies into endless spin class and weight lifting to listening to what our bodies want to do, whether it's a run a marathon or a half hour of yoga. 

3 cups of model management: After nourishing our brains a bit, the ladies of the world also had a moment of 'Wait, so why exactly is a prepubescent girl modeling this clothing? If I am expected to buy it, I want to see someone who looks like me wearing it!' Isn't it interesting what a little butter can do? All of a sudden Crystal Renn is walking for Chanel, Lara Stone is hitting supermodel status with body measurements and an age way outside the norm (size 4, 32-D and 26 years old), and aging models who formerly would have been done due to a normal twenty-something weight gain have instead simply flourished (oh hey Coco Rocha and Daria Werbowy).

2 pinches of nostalgia: Call it the Mad Men effect, but we women are really starting to get excited over the little things. Jeans that allow you to bend over without fear, skirts that accentuate the waist, shoes we can walk in (which does not necessarily mean without a heel) and the comeback of everything classic. Trench coats, loafers and blouses never looked so good. Refinement is back and even the rocker chic girls are learning the value of great fit. 

So here's to hoping the three B's are not simply trends too good to be true. That maybe fashion got served with a healthy dose of female empowerment and feminism. That instead of plus-size models being an exciting anomaly, they become runway regulars. And that maybe, just maybe, the body has made a full-on comeback.

My white shirt

Is perfect. Perfect. Perfect. Serve it up with a popped collar, hot heels, and bring everything else back to basics. Shirt: MICHAEL Michael Kors, Shoes: Berny Demore (remember?!), Jeans: Abercrombie and Fitch

Game changer

Food is something I really, really, really love. Growing up in a bit of a hippie home (organics only! no sugars in the first five ingredients!) taught me to adore healthy, delicious, homemade foods such as roast chicken and spaghetti, as well as appreciate just how good a salad can be when you take the ingredients beyond a few raw vegetables. Yet the same rules also made this girl lust after processed goodies, and while I have learned to turn away from my one bag of chips a day (not lying) habit that I practiced throughout most of elementary school, I still love a good nachos and beer session. 

Yesterday, I had two very interesting culinary experiences. After a summer mostly spent in the land of croissants and frites rather than Wonderbread and french fries, I was beyond excited when my boyfriend informed me that we would be eating the 'BEST wings you have EVER tried.' When they showed up at our table, hot and sauced to perfection, it was all I could do to stop myself from drooling. But three hours later my body was more or less screaming, 'YOU ARE SUCH AN IDIOT' as I was forced to curl up in the fetal position, only lifting my head to sip on my green tea and praying that I wouldn't have to be put through the misery of a night sitting beside the toilet. Food poisoning? No. Not that. Unfortunately, after four months away from the deep fryer, this belly just wasn't interested in those saucy little devils, and it wasn't about to digest them without a fight. Ladies and gentlemen, I think I may finally know why most Europeans are skinny.....


But yesterday wasn't all hot sauce and burning bellies; I also came upon a cookbook I have been wanting to buy since the beginning of this blog. Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights by Sophie Dahl is quite the read. Not only am I drooling over recipes (most of which are portioned to serve two, which I love), but the pages also play host to a few of her personal stories. Which means in between deciding whether or not I should cook poached eggs on portobello mushrooms with goat's cheese, grilled figs with ricotta and thyme honey, or the shrimp, avocado, grapefruit, watercress and pecan salad, I get to read about how Sophie Dahl's modeling career began and her first lunch with Karl Lagerfeld. Who says fashion and food don't mix?


So while it may seem that I have to turn my back on chicken wings, this cookbook has opened up a whole new world of tastiness for me to try. Although I may miss what comes out of the deep fryer, I certainly don't think I got the short end of the stick.