Date: Sunday, May 29, 2011

Location: Waterside Inn, 15 Stavebank Road South, Mississauga, ON, L5G 2T2

Time: 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

“We would like to invite you and your bridesmaids to the ultimate girls day out in preparation for your special day. Toronto and GTA's top wedding vendors have collectively provided over $500 in gift certificates and vouchers, to help create your magical wedding day.”

Features:

• Complimentary drinks, appetizers and desserts
• A goody bag worth over $500!
• Over $1500 in prizes and giveaways
• Live hair and makeup transformations – see how we create stunning brides first hand
• Complimentary hair and makeup touch ups
• Tips on how to lose 5 – 10lbs for your wedding day + a one week menu plan

To purchase tickets visit at http://www.eventbrite.com/event/1469257589/efbnen

For more information visit Dash Weddings at http://www.dashweddings.com

Image provided by Dash Weddings

“Crafternoon Tea is a fabulous crafty/fashion market, how-to den and charity tea party all rolled into one that's been running in the east-end since 2004. This laid back event showcases 25 plus local indie makers, plus a hands-on do-it-yourself zone and a yummy charity tea area – plus a stellar raffle too.”

Event highlights:

•  Jewellery made from watch parts, feathers, buttons and ceramics 
• Sweaters morphed into x-mas stockings and mittens Vinyl LPs reinvented as journals & drink coasters
• Vintage collage art – organic soaps & scrubs – upcycled leather bags & belts 
• Eternity scarves – sewing project kits, PMS cookies 
• Baby bibs made from jeans and men's ties

For more information visit, http://on.fb.me/aHQNqQ

Date/Time: Saturday November 27th, from 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Location: Queen Street East Presbyterian Church, 947 Queen Street East, Toronto, Ontario

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The Bay’s flagship store on Queen Street West, Toronto, recently had the official launch of its newly renovated menswear department, the West End Shop, located on the building’s second level.

To mark the occasion a big event was held and the headliners for the evening was Canadian sports caster, Brian Williams – who was the master of ceremony; Olympic gold medalist, Alexandre Bilodeau; and former NHL player and current Vice President and General Manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Steve Yzerman.

Normally at a fashion event you wouldn’t typically see a lot of men present, but Yzerman’s name was a strong draw and the males in the crowd were giddy with excitement to meet a hockey legend and get their picture taken with him. The ladies on the other hand just stared at Yzerman’s dashing figure as he rocked a beautiful Hugo Boss suit.

The West End Shop currently carries a wealth of fall 2010 menswear designs such as Hugo Boss, Ralph Lauren Polo, Armani Jeans and Vicomte.

On Sunday the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) officially opened the doors of the TIFF Bell Lightbox to the public. The TIFF Bell Lightbox is a five-storey, multi-purpose complex designed by architectural firm KPMB containing: five cinemas, two galleries, three learning studios, office space, a bistro, a restaurant, a lounge and a condominium tower.

The TIFF Bell Lightbox is the first of its kind, being the only film festival in the world to have a permanent year-round home, and I had the pleasure of helping out the TIFF press office with the opening ceremony of the building.

It’s truly a beautiful space, merging the practicality of operating year-round film programs, events and exhibitions in one aesthetically pleasing and inclusive place. The architecture inside and out is clean, spacious and modern.

I was able to capture just a few photos of the momentous day, complete with a chaotic media scrum – my pictures definitely don’t do the building justice, you’ll have to visit the space for yourself to get a real feel. My favourite photo is seeing the media stationed just outside the doors of the TIFF Bell Lightbox prior to the official ribbon cutting.

Art of Fashion Inc., a not-for-profit organization, is accepting applications for its 12th annual Art of Fashion design competition and trunk show. The winner of this year’s competition will receive a cash prize of $1000, a complimentary professional photo shoot and more. 

This year’s theme is La Belle Époque, drawing on “historical parallel with the ‘beautiful era’ before World War I – a time of glamour, opulence and sophistication that blossomed in a period of peace and economic prosperity.”

The design competition and trunk show event will take place during Nuit Blanche on Saturday, October 2nd, 2010 at King West Fitness in Liberty Village.

Some competition details:

•  Trunk show deadline extended to: Monday, September 20, 2010  

• For more information and to apply visit www.artoffashion.org/labelleepoque

Information and image from Art of Fashion Inc

Recently my friend, Juan Carlos, held a cocktail party at his boutique Magnolia to celebrate the addition of BASCH’s fall 2010 collection – a clothing line by Canadian designer Brandon Dwyer – to his store’s shelves.

BASCH is Dwyer’s second label and is described as “sophisticated yet flirty... for a confident woman who wants to get noticed.” Focusing on attainable quality clothing, each piece in the collection is produced to a prearranged number ensuring its uniqueness so you won’t accidently run into a chick wearing your dress at the same party – an incident everyone fears and has experienced in some way, shape or form at one point in their life.  

At the cocktail party, I had the chance to catch up with a few friends and finally meet and chat with Brandon (the designer himself). He’s a really sweet person whose enthusiasm and love for fashion and his work shines through the moment you speak to him.

Below are a few pictures of the event and some of the BASCH pieces housed at Magnolia. Enjoy!

The last few years there has been a change in fashion; affordable clothing is the in-thing and when you pair it with a philosophy that’s stylishly chic you have a winning combination. Retailers such as H&M, Zara and Target are prime examples of this, particularly when they collaborate with designers like Matthew Williamson and Rodarte.

Bonnie Brooks, president and CEO of the Bay, took notice of this increasing demand from shoppers and approached Saul Mimran to commission a new clothing line called, Moon which is sold exclusively at the Bay.

You know the old saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”? Well the Mimran Group has the formula down pact when it comes to designing and producing stylish clothing at moderate prices. Saul and his younger brother, Joseph, entered the retail space back in the 1980s with Club Monaco. Afterward, Joseph moved on to be the Creative Director of Joe Fresh Style at Loblaws Co. and Saul, president of the Mimran Group Inc. whose company already makes home decor products for the Bay and its sister company Zellers.

On Thursday, the Bay and Mimran Group jointly launched Moon, presenting the clothing line to guests as a fashion installation accompanied by a private show by DJs, the Misshapes with special guest Leigh Lezark (model, muse and also a member of the DJ group).

Moon presents itself as a business basics line that career women will get a lot of wear out of with prices ranging from $30 to $99. The fall/winter 2010 collection consists of an array of separates which you can mix and match: black dress pants, a classic white shirt, turtle neck sweaters and suits. The colour scheme is black, grey and white pieces with small injections of colour (purple and silver). Items from the collection which stood out were a silver sequin bolero style jacket and a purple and lace dress.

The clothing  

The event

On Tuesday, I had the opportunity to attend an event called, Beefeater 24 Contemporary Tea Salon which celebrated the official launch of Beefeater 24 (a premium gin) in Canada.

It was a heavily themed event with a string quartet, fire eater, mentalist and mime onsite entertaining the crowd. Lots of people sampled the Beefeater gin and its custom made drinks throughout the evening to positive reviews.

For me, the most intriguing portion of the night was being greeted by this pretty young thing (PYT) on the red carpet (see image above). Upon closer inspection I realized her red dress was the red carpet people were walking on as they entered the venue; it extended approximately four to five metres out in front of her. The dress was a lovely piece but imagine if you had to go to the bathroom while in that thing. No can do!

Image courtesy of Tricia Campbell-Hall