Toronto's World MasterCard Fashion Week F/W 2013 - Street styling

With Toronto Fashion Week comes the inevitable hoard of fashion bloggers and street style photographers, all of whom scour the tents and front steps of David Pecaut Square for interesting outfits, people and celebrities. As annoying as Toronto's fashion people want to pretend these bloggers/photographers are, the reality is we all secretly love them and are almost never actually annoyed when they want to take our photograph. Pfff saying no to free press? I don't think so. Possible new readers/followers? Come on now. That's just stupid. So here are some photos of me taken by some of Canada's fashion blogs and magazines such as shedoesthecity.com, Indecent Xposure, MTV Flora, FASHION, FAJO, and FLARE Magazine.

Here's a shot from style and fashion blog shedoesthecity.com taken at the Holt Renfrew after party on Day 1 of WMCFW.  Just hanging with some of my big-time Toronto fashion media friends. You know, just chillin. The party was great! Wanna read more about it? Click here.

long-sleeved leopard print tail dress from Forever 21,
black faux-fur shrug and black leather Western belt from H&M
Photo: shedoesthecity

Day 2 was a blur... I think I was working on the Laura Siegel behind-the-scenes feature I wrote for the National Post that day so I didn't spend much time at the tents. The feature turned out really well (after all my bloody hard work....) and I got a chance to hang out backstage and catch all the last minute, heat-of-the-moment runway action. I even snagged a little video of our girl Laura when it was all over. Check it out here!

Day 3 was a fun day of live blogging for the National Post. I basically had to run around from show to show speed tweeting and posting ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING. It was mad. But I quickly got the hang of things and started posting some pretty witty stuff. (I'm not a Twitter person.. like AT ALL... so I was pretty proud of myself when I got email props from my editors back at the Post) Anyway, while running around like a frantic fashion chicken sans tête I posed for FAJO Magazine and once again for shedoesthecity.com.

yellow Chanel-inspired jacket from Zara, white American Apparel fitted crop top
orange satchel clutch from Aldo, patterned high-low skirt (tail skirt) from H&M
black leather and wood boots from Urban Outfitters
photo: shedoesthecity.com  

photo: FAJO Magazine

On Day 4 I caught the attention of several street style photographers with my "Bitch don't kill my vibe" tank from Brandy Melville. Thanks to Montreal's Indecent Xposure and FASHION magazine for the free press!

Levy's leather jacket, Brandy Melville tank over white and black striped H&M blouse
paired with vintage velvet bellbottom pants
photo: Indecent Xposure

photo: Indecent Xposure

photo: FASHION Magazine

hehe a little shout-out to my statement tee ;)

Look MOM! My name is in a FASHION Magazine article!!
screenshot: fashionmagazine.com

Day 5 was a blessing (YES IT WAS OVER! I COULD BREATHE AGAIN!) and a curse (NOOOO IT'S OVER WAHHHH! I HATE REAL LIFE). It was the last day of Toronto's World MasterCard Fashion week F/W 2013 and my entire wardrobe was sprawled out on the floor of my apartment. Sorry, but when your job is to get your Fash'On and strut around Fashion Week trying to look important, there is NO TIME for cleaning or putting away clothes. On Day 5 I was running out of outfit options... so I went with this one. MTV thought it was cute and grabbed a photo of me on my way to the Travis Taddeo show. They also asked me to be a part of their "Favourite Street-styler's mixtape". Pretty cool stuff.

looking a little fat faced in my leather-sleeved Zara cropped navy military jacket,
vintage blouse in navy silk, black disco pants from American Apparel
and my trusty black suede Lita boots by Jeffery Campbell
photo: MTV FLORA

Check out the playlist! It's actually really cool.
screenshot: MTV FLORA

Toronto Fashion Week - Fall runway trend report F/W 2013

Can't remember all the great fall trends from the Toronto Fashion Week F/W 2013 runways? Have no fear! I have them all noted down for you in the Fall Trend report I wrote for the National Post last season.

After the fashion packed week of Toronto's World MasterCard Fashion Week, after all the runway reviews, makeup reviews, hair reviews, designer profiles, trend profile, bla bla bla, no sleep no sleep, I was asked to put it all together to create this ULTIMATE FALL TREND LOW DOWN!

Here are the trends!

(check out the full article on the National Post website.)

Winter Whites

Furs

Dark Lips

Biker Jackets

Floral Patterns

Leather Panelling

Capes and Burgundy

Photos: National Post

Backstage with Laura Siegel and a little bit of Sid

Yes, I know. I suck at pumping out blog posts. And yes, I realize that blogging about Fashion Week almost two months after the fact takes away from the newsiness of it all but come on people, I'm a busy girl. With the constant running around and hours and hours of fashion writing for the Post, I just haven't had the chance to pay attention to my lovely little blog. Fear not! I now have some free time and I will use it to bring my readers up-to-date on all my fashion adventures! Yaaayyyy I'M EXCITED!

First things first, remember that National Post feature I wrote about the behind-the-scenes of the Laura Siegel runway show? Well if you don't, scroll down a bit.. it's all there. During the commotion and last minute fixes backstage I managed to record a little video of all the fun. Check it out! (Please excuse the terrible quality.. I have zero knowledge of techie things like how to upload a video...pffffff I'm an idiot I guess)

Isn't backstage stressful? Who knew, right? And ISN'T LAURA ADORABLE THOUGH! Congratulations girl! Everything worked out in the end and all was amazing.

Day 2 of Fashion Week was definitely super fun. Not only did I get to run around backstage with the Laura Siegel crew, I had a pretty amazing view of the Sid Neigum show from my front seat. I wrote a review of Sid's crazy Matrix-meets-Samurai fall collection for the National Post. If interested, give it a read.

Greta Constantine S/S2013 and my lifetime supply of gum

During Toronto Fashion Week, I was asked by Dress to KILL magazine to interview the two creative minds behind Greta Constantine. The designer-duo didn't actually show their Spring/Summer 2013 line during the designated World Mastercard week of fashion wonders. Instead, they opted to hold off till November and do their own thing in Toronto's cobblestoned Distillery District. I wrote a little something about their line for DTK so take a look here if you're interested in sexy form-fitted dresses for spring 2013. Also, their wonderful PR people put together a fun behind-the-scenes video for us, which is also up on the DTK website.

Stephen Wong and Kirk Pickersgill of Greta Constantine
Photo: Toronto Life

The PR team also took the time to personally send me a box of goodies as a thank you for the interview. Receiving packages full of cute stuff is always super exciting, especially when all the cute stuff is FREE (mouhahhahah!). The Greta team collaborated with 5Gum so now I'm basically swimming in the stuff. Good thing I'm a gum person. I also got a great lipstick. It's bright pink - perfect for spring. Thanks guys!

The mystery box 

Gum fest!

Freebies: Greta Constantine scarf for 5Gum, metallic silver IPhone case, nail files, blue and black nail polish, Maybelline lipstick, and every flavour of 5Gum

Pink Maybelline lipstick - Gonna be a favourite this summer.

Toronto Fashion Week S/S 2013 - street styling

Because I'm a big loser procrastinator and still haven't gotten my Toronto Fashion Week S/S 2013 reviews up (three month late...and still counting) I thought it would be nice to get these photos out there for those who care to see what I wore. This season, I was photographed by a few big name magazines for my fashion week outfits. So flattered. Take a look!

To see what I wore on Day 1 of the Collections click here

Pre-Fashion Week at The Collections - Day 2

Once the streetstyle photographers caught wind of the secret runway shows going on at The Burroughs Building on Queen West, they were all over that shit. Day 2 at The Collections was just like Toronto Fashion Week - street photographers everywhere. Here's a not-so-flattering photo of me courtesy of FASHION magazine. I'm the "and a Nirvana t-shirt" part of the headline (lol).

Zara jacket, homemade rope chocker, Nirvana tank from Brandy Melville, black cord circle skirt from American Apparel, black leather backpack with studs Bershka Portugal
photo: FASHION magazine

A few selfies because I had to..

Rouge Cream lipstick in Classic Bright Red from the Sephora collection

Front Row at Sid Neigum

Mikayla Mifsud and me after Cara Cheung show

Toronto World MasterCard Fashion Week begins - Day 1

I missed most of the first day due to boring stuff like school, seminars and lecture (pff education..) so I don't have any nice photographs of my full outfit. I did find this one of my fuzz clutch on thebrunettesfashion website.

black fur and leather clutch from Aldo

Toronto Fashion Week - Day 2

My outfit was pretty popular with the press on Day 2. I guess the trick is to go big (big hat, big fuzz) or go home. Here are some photos featured on fashion blogs such as Thekit.com, etmoijejoue, psalms911, and the others were taken by photographers from FLARE magazine and Toronto Life.

wide brim hat from Aldo, white knit sweater from Forever 21 (I know, right?), black shag vest from Zara, red geo-pattern pants from H&M, black fur and leather clutch
photo: FLARE magazine

My trusty black suede Lita Boots from Jeffrey Campbell
photo: Theknit.com

Screenshot from ELLE Canada's website.
Photo: ELLE Canada

looking lost with coffee in hand - as per usual
photo: et moi je joue.blogspot

HI!
photo: Toronto Life

Toronto Fashion Week - Day 3

Day 3 was another one of those I-have-to-sprint-over-after-class days so I only made it in time for the last two shows of the night. I did find a photo of my last-minute outfit on shedoesthecity.com. Thanks guys!

dirty, old, hipster hat, homemade rope chocker, black and white colour-block shirt from Zara, metal spike chain necklace from Top Shop NY, black Levi's leather jacket
photo: shedoesthecity.com

Toronto Fashion Week - Day 4

On Day 4 I boho-ed out in a super micro-mini lace dress from Urban Outfitters. It was so short I had to tape it to my thighs so I could walk around without mooning the entirety of the Canadian fashion population. Good times though. Here's a photo of me courtesy of FLARE magazine

beige and cream lace dress from Urban Outfitters, chunky vintage collar necklace, oversized forest green blazer from Zara, brown leather saddle bag from All Saints, brown suede fringe boots by Jeffery Campbell
photo FLARE magazine 

Toronto Fashion Week - Day 5

By the time Day 5 came around I was fashion dead. My appartement was a mess - clothes, makeup and accessories EVERYWHERE and I was totally out of outfit ideas. I was exhausted and done with trying to look cute. So, I went for the dress. The dress is always an easy out. It's one article, it's fast, and it always looks good. Here are a few shots of me from BlogTO. and ELLE Canada's instagram.

Photo: BlogTO
note --"my style"...pfff that isn't a style but okay

black fedora from H&M, neon yellow dress also from H&M, black leather western belt from Urban Outfitters, black suede Lita boots by J Campbell, and the fuzz clutch from Aldo
Photo: BlogTO

photo: ELLE Canada

The Collections Day 1: Laura Siegal, Chloe comme Parris

Day 1 of The Collections was amazing. I got to see the three best lines of last season all in one day. It was a great intro to what ended up being almost a full month of fashion. The hard-hitting lines were sent down the runway first and all I could think was : dessert before dinner? Amazing.

Laura Siegel
First to hit that hardwood runway of the gorgeous loft space, were the models of Laura Siegel, all of whom were Bohemianed-out in drapey earthy fabrics and large beaded statement jewelry. The S/S2013 line kept its LS pattern-loving, flowy-fabric, layering-love flare and there was not one piece that I didn't want to immediately have in my possession. The desert-inspired pallet of neutrals and greens was paired with overzied straw hats, beautiful wood beaded jewelry and some super cute backpacks. This collection is for anyone who loves layering, crochet pieces, and flowy maxi skirts and dresses. My very favourite piece of the Siegel collection is the pair of drop-crotch crochet pants. So perfect for the beach. (What a terrible thing to say...It's currently 5 degrees outside... Damn you Toronto.)

Photos: Elayne

Chloe comme Parris

The Gordon sisters kill me. I sat front row with my mouth open the entire time and if you were in my position you would have had the same loser expression. The line was just as gorgeous as ALWAYS. The girls kept the CCP edge with long flowy silky maki pieces and badass jewelry and accessories. There were also a few mansuit-inspired pieces that were fierce beyond words and accessorized with chains to give them that extra little grungy detail. The collection highlights were most definitely the print pieces (the patterns at CCP are always next level. Think dark, Victorian-meets-kaleidoscope tapestry) and the use of blush pink leather. A show-stopper : the pink biker jacket. As soon as that thing came down the runway, phones went flying up and Instagram, Twitter and Facebook suffered from a major seizures

Here's a little runway video clip I snagged from the front row. (yay IPhone!)

Parris and Chloe Gordon of Chloe comme Parris
Photos: Elayne