I've been quoted in an article that's appeared in the Toronto Star's Moneyville.ca section... on shopping of course. Check out my advice on outlet shopping, "Tips for getting most from an outlet-store marathon."
I’m adding a new category to The Souls of My Shoes to better divide up the content and put a little more structure around some of the outfit posts I publish from time to time. This category is called, “In my closet” which documents anything that’s been given to me, purchase out of my own wallet or something I already own.
Recently, I added another Roots handbag to my growing collection, the Village Satchel in denim. I am an unabashed admirer of Roots’ leather handbags. They all have an organic look and feel to them, and the sheer touch of one indicates great quality and care put into its construction.
I chose this satchel because most of the handbags I own are large in size. This is the perfect size handbag for travelling or carrying around my essentials with its multiple interior pockets, the shoulder strap and grab handle. The satchel is made from Roots’ Rustler leather which has the look and feel of suede, and over time it will become softer with use – I could run my hands over it all day long.
On a regular basis, Roots adds new handbag designs to its online store and I’ve just spotted my next purchase... the English Saddle.
Image gallery #2 courtesy of Roots
This is part four, the last of a series of blog entries titled The Sari Experience. My good friend, Sabrina had an Indian wedding ceremony and I wore a sari to the event. I’ve written about my sari experiences; shopping for it, the fitting and finally the wedding. I hope you enjoyed reading these entries and come away with a few pointers should you have to get your own sari.
** Related blog entries:
The final sari look
Ta da! What do you think? I’m quite happy with the entire look. Initially, I was worried that wearing a lot of embellishment – beading on the sari and choli, and jewellery – would be overpowering and I’d be lost in the outfit, but everything turned out really well.
I gave myself a lot of time to get ready for the wedding as I wasn’t quite sure if recreating the one minute sari look would happen in one minute. In actuality it took me 10 minutes to get the sari the way I wanted it; untangling myself once or twice in all the fabric, safety pinning places here and there, wrapping and rewrapping the sari so it would sit just right around my body.
As you look at the pictures, the sari doesn’t appear to consist of five metres of fabric but trust me it does. My mobility was limited and therefore I had to adopt a bit more patience and care than usual getting in and out of a car, walking up and down stairs while holding the sari so you don’t trip and go flying, and making sure the fabric didn’t catch or tear in the entire process.
Sabrina’s wedding was beautiful and I had a culturally enriching experience. It was a Hindu wedding ceremony and many sacred rituals (17 in total) were performed by the bride, groom and their families. The highlight of the night was being asked to participate in the jaimala, a portion of the ceremony where the bride is accompanied by her parents to the altar to meet the groom. Here, a group of Sabrina’s friends (me included) danced behind her and her parents to Indian drumming down the aisle. It was very memorable and a ton of fun, I wish I had my camera with me at that moment. Doh!
Sari preparation tips on the day of the wedding:
This is part three of a series of blog entries titled The Sari Experience. My good friend, Sabrina is having an Indian wedding ceremony and I get to wear a sari to the event. I’ll be writing a series of blog entries about my sari experiences; shopping for it, the fitting and finally the wedding. I hope you enjoy reading these entries and come away with a few pointers should you have to get your own sari.
** Related blog entries:
Tailoring and the one minute sari
GTA Mall is a one stop shopping centre for all things sari. I was lucky enough to purchase all the components for my sari within 45 minutes of walking into the first two stores: petticoat, material for the choli and jewellery. To complete the outfit I had to visit a tailor who could create the choli and sew a one minute sari.
What is a one minute sari? The sari fabric is sewn together with several hook–and-eye closures, is pre-pleated making it one size fits all and lessens the stress of having to pleat all five meters of the fabric by yourself. As a result, you have a ready-to-wear garment where you literally wrap the sari material around your waist, throw the fabric over your shoulder and voila, you’re ready to go.
There are several tailors in the mall so Sabrina and I randomly picked one on the second floor, Crown Tailoring. My seamstress was Chitra who has over 20 years of experience creating saris. It typically takes her 1.5 hours to create a sari and choli, however it would be two weeks before I could pick mine up as it was wedding season and she had a lot of customers waiting for theirs to be made.
Chitra demonstrates how to put on a one minute sari
After two weeks I came back to pick up my choli and sari. Chirta had everything ready and I fit both pieces. I’m definitely a novice when it comes to Indian dress as I put the choli on backwards giving Chitra and I a very good laugh. The bill came up to $48 for both the choli and the one minute sari.
Sari tailoring tips:
Crown Tailoring, GTA Square Mall, 5215 Finch Ave East, Suite 215, Toronto, Ontario M1C 02C
(416) 609-2532
This is part two of a series of blog entries titled The Sari Experience – cheesy title I know, but I couldn’t come up with a better name at the time.
My good friend, Sabrina is having an Indian wedding ceremony and I get to wear a sari to the event. I’ll be writing a series of blog entries about my sari experience; shopping for it, the fitting and finally the wedding. I hope you enjoy reading these entries and come away with a few pointers should you have to get your own sari.
** Related blog entry – The sari experience, part one: the preview
Shopping for and choosing my sari
First, when buying a sari be advised to have a budget; how much you’re willing to spend in total, this includes the sari, jewellery, tailoring, etc. Originally, my budget was approximately $200 for the sari alone but after speaking with a few people realized that was too much money. Good saris could be had for less even as little as $75 depending on what you choose, the type of fabric and how well you haggle the price.
Sabrina accompanied me on my very first sari shopping trip and needless to say I was glad to have her guide me through the process; venturing into unknown fashion territory can be a little intimidating. We met at a shopping mall called, GTA Square Mall.
As luck would have it the first store we went into had a ton of saris to choose from. It was a little daunting at first, because there were so many designs and colours. Not to get overwhelmed I quickly grazed over the stock and picked out saris which instantly caught my eye - mostly by colour. I chose saris in jewel tones and debated between, fuschia and blue for several minutes. Ultimately, I decided on a royal blue sari with white gold sequin and circular designs all over. The process took around 20 to 30 minutes.
To complete the entire sari outfit I bought a petticoat to be worn under the sari and fabric to create the choli (blouse), all from MJS Fashions. We continued the same colour scheme (royal blue) into my jewellery choices purchasing a necklace, earrings, bangles and bindi from Ambiha Silk.
Some sari shopping tips:
Location: GTA Square Mall, 5215 Finch Ave East, Toronto, Ontario M1C 02C
Weddings are a happy time celebrating the union between two people who love each other, but the dirty little secret is weddings are met with mixed emotions; a little fear, joy and frustration. You have to buy multiple gifts, attend multiple events or if you’re a bridesmaid be forced to wear a god awful, butt ugly dress for the ceremony – trust me, I know from firsthand experience.
However, these things get interesting when you attend a non-Western wedding. In a few weeks I’ll be going to my first Indian wedding ceremony, my good friend Sabrina is getting married and I get to wear a sari to the event. I’m extremely excited at the opportunity to go – we went to university together, swapped relationship advice and skipped philosophy lectures for extended lunches at Mr. Greeks.
I’ll be writing a series of blog entries about my sari experience; shopping for it, the fitting and finally the wedding. Now, let it be known I am (by no means) an expert on saris or choosing one, but I hope my blog posts will shed a little light, expand your fashion knowledge and serve as a reference in case you have to shop for a sari in the near future. So to start things off below are a few images previewing what’s to come.
A few weeks ago I got word that Canadian handbag designer, Jessica Jensen, was having a sale on Gilt Groupe. I was excited at having the chance to purchase a piece from her spring/summer 2010 collection only to then remember Gilt doesn’t ship to Canada. I tweeted about my disappointment and within a few minutes, unexpectedly, Jessica personally reached out and offered to help. Less than five days later my envelope clutch arrived at my house enclosed in a white gift box.
The envelop clutch comes in a multitude of colours, such as blush (the one I purchased), earth, grape, storm and seafoam. The design is simple, classic, goes with everything and retails for $198.
I was very touched at the personalized service Jessica gave to me and I’m totally in love with my clutch - thank you Jessica for the thoughtful generosity.
You can purchase Jessica Jensen handbags online or check out the store locations listing on her website.
Envelop clutch product details:
Top: Hoss Istocia from Magnolia
Skirt: Arthur Mendonça, spring/summer 2008 from Magnolia
Shoes: Josita by Sacha London from Balisi
Book: Danielle Meder’s fall 2010 paper doll book
Every now and again I’ll come across clothing finds which seem to be preordained by a higher power – sounds cheesy, but you can’t help wonder when certain things/events just aren’t coincidences anymore.
Recently I was at Magnolia, a boutique owned and operated by my friend Juan Carlos. I was looking for a few pieces of clothing to add to my work wardrobe and knew I could trust and rely on his sense of style to help me out.
Juan Carlos pulled many pieces for me such as black dress pants, dresses and blouses. Going through the pile of clothing everything came to a standstill when I laid my eyes on the most stunning skirt; high waisted, pencil style, draped and slightly gathered in the front with a metal zipper closure in the back. The fabric used for this piece reminds me of liquid metal and when the light hits it, it creates a hypnotizing effect.
I immediately looked at the label and was stupefied to find out it was by Canadian designer, Arthur Mendonça. Mendonça was a highly sought after designer who shot to success in early 2000s and developed a strong following; his creations were frequently worn by celebrities such as singer, Nelly Furtado.
However, due to economic reasons he was forced to close eight years later much to everyone’s surprise and chagrin. Mendonça is a designer I highly admire and upon hearing he was no longer in operation I thought there went my chances to own a piece of his clothing. I never shared these thoughts with anyone, so you can image when Juan Carlos pulled this skirt for me I had to have it.
The skirt was a size bigger than what I normally wear, but having a really good seamstress helped solve that problem. It now fits perfectly and hangs in a special place in my closet – right by my shoes.
As you get older you may find that you can’t do as many things as you would like to. For me, sleep rates high on the list of things to do and I can’t dance until 3 a.m. wearing four inch stilettos as I used to in my twenties.
A few weeks ago, I was celebrating a friend’s birthday and a handful of us ladies wore some very high heeled shoes. We looked great but after the dancing was done we painfully limped back to our cars – it was a sorry sight to see.
I haven’t invested much time or money into purchasing inner soles to ease the pain some shoes can bring, such as soreness on the balls of the feet and blistered heels. However, recently the team at Airplus Footcare sent me several types gel inner soles to try and review: Gel Steppies, Gel Ball-of-Foot Cushion, Gel Hug My Heels, Gel Ultra Arch and the Coolmax® Everyday Performance Insole.
Immediately, I enjoyed that Airplus Footcare’s packaging is easy to get into. The clear gel inner soles allow you to insert it unnoticeably into any style of shoe (casual or formal) and the feel of the product is soft and smooth. I tried the gel inner soles in several pairs of shoes (high heels and flats), wore them out on various occasions and noticed a difference in how my feet felt before and after using the product – my feet and shoes definitely felt more comfortable. Each item has a good thickness which tells of its shock absorbent ability targeting various part of foot for relief.
Airplus Footcare’s products range from $6.99 to $15.99 and can be found nationwide in Shoppers Drug Mart, Zellers Pharmacy and Loblaw DRUGstore Pharmacy; they are well worth the investment.
One of my favourite things to do is take impromptu trips to my local HomeSense store and see what interior furnishings and knick-knacks they have in stock.
This trip I ran into a series of illustrated stiletto shoes reprinted on canvas which cost $14.99 compared to $23.
On the same trip, I ran into the most amazing novelty piece ever seen in HomeSense, a Tiki bar for $249, regular retail price $600. I couldn’t resist taking a picture and sharing this with you. This thing is awesome! Backyard luau anyone?
