Fall Fashion Flashbacks - Mackage, VAWK and Caitlin Power F/W 2013 shows at Toronto Fashion Week

Guess what tomorrow is everyone!
It's October, which means fall fashion is here! YAY! Layering! Fall colours! Fall fabrics, patterns and actual clothing! Yes, yes, yesssss, don't get me wrong, I love the summer and its trends. I even wrote a fun summer trend report a few months back for the Post. You can check it out here! It's all about the crazy music festival attire we all love to flaunt around in during the hot days of summer.
Actually, it's a good read for right now. Think of it as a checklist of the things you should be putting away to make room for all the fall loveliness! Bye crochet denim mini shorts... see you next festival season :(

Coachella
Photo: National Post

I love the heat and the tans and the shorts and sun dresses, and the lazy relaxation of it all but lets be honest... summer fashion is fine, fun and okay. Fall fashion, however is EXCITING AND WILD AND GIVES YOU SO MUCH MORE TO WORK WITH! (Can you sense my excitement?...I'll try to tone it down not to offend my booty-short and side-boob loving readers. I feel you guys. Don't worry.)

Here are a few articles I wrote on the Mackage, Vawk, and Caitlin Power F/W 2013 shows for the National Post. Flashbacks, if you will, of the trends of last season's Toronto Fashion Week runways to get everyone as excited as I am for all the wonderfulness that is fall fashion.

Fall Flashback: Mackage F/W 2013 (full article)

Designers Elisa Dahan and Eran Elfassy took full advantage of the animal kingdom with a fur-and-leather heavy, street style-inspired line. The biker grunge collection went beyond the usual fur-trimmings we've been seeing so far on the F/W 2013 runways of Toronto Fashion Week.

Photo: National Post

Fall Flashback: VAWK F/W 2013 (full article)

Be it through fur trims and details, leather accents, feathered accessories, or animal graphic sweaters, designer Sonny Fong's collection played tribute to the nature of the north.

Photo: Elayne 

Photo: Elayne

Fall Flashback: Caitlin Power F/W 2013 (full article)

Designer Caitlin Power's muse of fall 2013 was the professional Parisian of the future. the sexy silhouette and high-gloss patent leather detailing in metallic silver, navy, bronze and burgundy makes you feel as though you've time-travelled to Paris and it's the year 2025.

Photos: Elayne
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.

Toronto Fashion Week Day 1 - Chloe comme Parris, Pink Tartan and a few drinks

Now that it's all over, I can finally sit down and write about my Toronto Fashion Week F/W 2013 adventures! Even though I'm still working on runway recaps and so on I've decided to put some time aside for the blog. Yay blogging!

Here goes nothing...

Day 1 of Toronto's World MasterCard Fashion week opened up with yet another amazing collection by Chloe comme Parris. The Gordon sisters sent a 90s-grunge inspired line down their fall 2013 runway and yet again I wanted to own every single piece of it. Every little detail, down to the punk-rock braids in the models' hair, was perfect. If for some reason you have no idea what I'm talking about and you have yet to set your eyes on the beauty that is the Chloe comme Parris fall line, please do so now. KayThanksBye.

The Gordon Sister
Photos: Elayne Millar

After the CCP show, I took to my front row seat and enjoyed Kimberley Newport-Mimran's Pink Tartan collection. Interested in 1950's bombshell housewives? Good! Check out the article I wrote for the Post. Here are some photos I took backstage.

pale nails for Pink Tartan F/W 2013 

Big dark eyebrows. Don't got 'em? Sucks to be you.
(KARMA! the kids who made fun of mine in elementary school can SUCK IT NOW HA!)

When Day 1 came to an end, I headed over to the Holts Opening Night Party on the third floor of the Bloor and Bay Street flagship store. At first, I didn't want to go. I thought I'd be out of place. I was wrong! Hint: if you're ever invited to cocktail party hosted by a billion dollar department store like Holts just GO! Yes, the crowd was slightly older (the Toronto fashion industry's main people..UM HI!) but EVERYTHING WAS FREE.

Being social in a leopard high-low dress
photo: shedoesthecity

Older people have money. Young noobies like myself don't. So? Get in on the free food, drinks and networking opportunities! The Holts Opening Night Party was so fun and I made a ton of new friends while stuffing my face with pastries, oysters, mini grilled cheeses, and free cocktails!

Afterwards, I headed over to yet another fashion party at the Mercer to dance around to A$AP Rocky, the celebrity DJ of the night, and continued to get my drink on with some of the biggest names in fashion press. GREAT NIGHT. (don't be jealous).

Day 2 of The ShOws F/W 2013 - Tanya Taylor, Steven Tai, and Jeremy Laing

It's official! Toronto Fashion Week is back for another F/W season, which means I will be a busy bee all over again. This time though, I'm affiliated with a major newspaper! No more rushing around to make sure I get a good seat by the front row. I AM THE FRONT ROW. I can now casually walk in late and straight to my lovely reserved National Post seat next to whatever major blogger/editor-in-chief/Canadian celebrity. Have I mention that my life is pretty good right now?

This week TFW jumpstarted with The ShOws, the two-day runway event that hosts Canadian-born international designers/design houses like Comrags, Jean-Pierre Braganza, Tanya Taylor, Steven Tai, and Jeremy Laing. I was sent to cover Day 2 of the ShOws (the better of the two-days in my opinion--- Jeremy Laing is so effing cool) for the National Post.

Once I got to the event space at the Andrew Richard Designs studio, I was greeted with a goody bag of complimentary makeup, hair products and candies; all the Vitamin Water I could drink; and an array of cute mini snacks on sticks. Oh and obviously, since we're so bloody Canadian, there were Timbits and Timmy's coffee for all to enjoy.

Obviously I take photos of the food...

After stuffing my face with freebies (as usual) I made my way to the runway room, took my seat  and watched the Tanya Taylor show. While the models marched down the runway in the designer's 1960s schoolgirl-inspired garments, I was fumbling around with my notebook, pen and Iphone. You'd think after three years of doing runway reviews, I would have figured out how to do this with some kind of grace... Nope. As the last model made her way backstage, I had finally gotten myself together. I managed to get some good photos of the line while scribbling in my notebook at the same time.

The next show was that of the young Steven Tai. The self-proclaimed nerd took his line to a crazy level- mixing 60s sportswear with present-day technology. Really great stuff!

And to close off the day was the always amazing Jeremy Laing! If you wanna give my review a read click here!

In between the shows I was running in and out of backstage. Here are a few shots from behind-the-scenes. I also interview the lead hair and makeup stylist about the looks for each of the shows. If I'm not crazy busy in the next few days I'll make sure to get some sort of beauty post up because honestly, those guys have some great hair and makeup tips. 

Model being prepped for Steven Tai show

Backstage makeup madness

Makeup and hair for Tanya Taylor 

Makeup for Jeremy Laing 

Makeup for Jeremy Laing

The Collections S/S 2013 Day 1 - What I wore

On Day 1 I went a little 90s grunge. I had to run home from school, dress myself in 10 minutes (impossibleeeeee) and run out the door to get myself to The Collections' loft on Queen St. in time for the opening show. Since I was a frantic mess when I got home (with greasy wind-blown hair thanks to my lovely bicycle) I just hairsprayed the shit out of it and pulled it into one of those slick-ish messy ponytails. I had never done it before so I was kinda taking a risk but I guess it all turned out okay in the end. Once my face and hair looked kinda presentable I ran over to my closet and pulled the one piece I knew I wanted to wear, my black Zara maxi skirt, and threw it on. Then I was screwed.. I couldn't find a top. EVERYTHING was in the wash. I was totally unprepared. So I put on whatever top was nearest to me on the floor. It happened to be the gray Brandy Melville top I had bought a few days earlier with a cut-out skull back. When I finally threw myself towards the front door, shoes in hand, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I was basically goth-city. Whatevs. It was Fashion Week.

For your enjoyment - my day 1 ensemble.

Bathroom selfy...yeah, I know...

Skull shot
Photo: shedoesthecity.com

Making Tiffany more hardcore

Spotted in the front row at the Label show. Wish I didn't frown so much.
Photo: MTV.ca

Photo: Chloe Wise

Oh, and did I mention, this was birthday. GOOD TIMES! xxxx

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