Shopping, it’s a competitive sport where only the strong and well experienced survive. I for one can spend hours on end visiting my favourite online stores and explore pages and pages of products. Online shopping is easy, convenient and doesn’t require you to fight or pay for a parking spot at your local shopping centre.

Just in time for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Visa Canada released a recent survey conducted by Ipsos Reid that found approximately six in ten (57 per cent) Canadians have shopped online at a Canadian or American website within the past year. Visa Canada also hosted an intimate dinner at Terroni and invited me and a handful of local bloggers to discuss social media and shopping.

Conversation topics ranged from our careers to cooking, there were lots of shared experiences and laughs. The VISA Canada team were eager to expand their knowledge of social media and were interested in learning why we blog. They told us about their Borderlinx program which allows Canadian online shoppers to make purchases from U.S. shopping sites by assigning you U.S. addresses. Secondly, they have a Visa Debit card in the pipeline for 2010 which will allow people to shop and buy online directly from their bank accounts. Let the spending begin!

I thought about our dinner conversation all night and into the following morning reflecting about our individual insights, experiences and opinions. Bringing us together was a great idea and I hope we do it again soon.

Thank you Visa Canada for the lovely meal, thoughtful and engaging dinner conversation.

Bloggers present:

Ali de Bold of Chick Advisor

Anita Clarke of I Want – I Got

Caroline Fernandez of Parent Club

Eden Spodek of Bargainista

Merlene Paynter

Pegah Aarabi of Scarlett Red Flag Deals

And me.

Information provided by Visa Canada

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“Would you like some champagne or a bottle or Perrier?” This was the greeting I received when I stepped into BALISI Thursday evening. Happily, I decided to sip on a bottle of Perrier and then proceeded to begin my Halloween shopping experience.

Rehlee Balisi and Cory Kierstead (the owners of BALISI), Toronto’s hottest shoe store to appear on the scene within the last few years, held a private VIP event at their Queen Street West location to celebrate Halloween and say thank you to their loyal customers – yours truly was invited to attend.

BALISI has three locations strategically placed throughout Toronto’s trendiest neighbourhoods; Queen Street West, College Street and Danforth Ave. Having shopped at all three stores I can tell you there are two things setting them apart from other retailers.

The first is product. I’ve discovered many new brands while perusing the shelves of BALISI, such as United Nude or Eject. I’m always impressed at the variety of footwear, clothing and accessories they carry for both men and women. Balisi and Kierstead address important questions when choosing products for their store. Do other retailers in the Toronto area carry these brands and will they stand out on the shelves and get our customers’ attention?

It’s always a treat to enter the store and discover something new and exciting upon each visit. From experience, seeing footwear that makes my eyes light up and heart rate increase is always a good sign, and BALISI has a knack for making me feel this way every time indicating that pieces are chosen with great care and consideration.

Secondly, BALISI has great customer service. Having worked in retail and being a shopaholic (shopping is a competitive sport by the way), I know what consists of good and bad customer service. The staff at BALISI is very personable, knowledgeable and passionate about their love of fashion and sharing it with their customers.

The Halloween party on Thursday proved to me that it’s a family affair at BALISI. Everyone is treated warmly bringing the theme song from the television show Cheers to mind, it’s a place where everyone knows your name and they’re always glad you came.

P.S.: check The Souls of My Shoes this Friday to see my newest find for this week’s Shoe of the Moment from BALISI.

Pictures taken by Kimberly Lyn

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For all of you treasure hunters, lovers of vintage clothing and bargain shoppers, the CAFTCAD Movie Wardrobe Sale is a hidden gem of fabulous finds.

CAFTCAD is a non-profit and non-partisan organization that provides its members (costume designers and artisans) with discussion forums, education and professional networking opportunities. The Movie Wardrobe Sale is held twice a year (fall and summer) allowing shoppers the opportunity to purchase high quality and unique fashion items used in Toronto-based film and television shoots.

I spent a good two hours at the Movie Wardrobe Sale last Saturday wandering the aisles, snapping pictures, sorting through clothing racks and trying on vintage garments; some for fun because Halloween was several days away, and some for making serious additions to my closet.

There were over 30 vendors at the Movie Wardrobe Sale, all were very friendly and the prices for their clothing negotiable.

The one that got away: a dark brown, bolero style, mink jacket found at Eve English’s Vintage booth. I didn’t buy it. Yes, I can hear the fashion gods chastising me from above and I’m sure for punishment another more expensive fur jacket will present itself (le sigh).

Pictures taken by Kimberly Lyn

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A friend sent over this invite to attend the Canadian Alliance of Film & Television Costume Arts & Design (CAFTCAD) Movie Wardrobe Sale. I always wanted to attend an event like this, but never know when or where it takes place. Therefore, when this invite landed in my inbox I immediately inked it into my calendar – there must be some divine intervention with this sale timed with LG Fashion Week.

Event description: the CAFTCAD is giving shoppers the opportunity to purchase a wide range of high quality and unique fashion items used in several Toronto-based film and television shoots. This biannual sale will give shoppers the chance to buy items made by costume designers for several productions, including Resident Evil: Afterlife, Survival of the Dead, Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town and Ginger Snaps III: The Beginning.

Last year more than 1,400 people flocked to the CAFTCAD’s Movie Wardrobe Sales during both the summer and fall events. It’s highly advised shoppers line up early, as eager bargain hunters work quickly to grab the most sought after treasures this event has to offer.

Date: Saturday, October 24, 2009

Time: 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Fee: $3.00 entry fee to support CAFTCAD initiatives (members, children and seniors enter free)

Location: Pinewood Toronto Studios, 225 Commisioners Street, Toronto

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Never judge a shoe until you’ve put it on your foot especially if it’s made of rubber.

Continuing my fascination with the use of unconventional material for creating footwear, I came across the Melissa Ashanti boot by Melissa Plastics while shopping with several friends at Balisi’s flagship shoe store on Queen Street West.

Shoe specifications:

• Material, rubber
• Available colours - black, blue, brown and red
• Interior scented
• Sweat factor, minimal
• Heel height, 7.6 cm (3 inches)

Why I chose this shoe: the boot instantly moulds to its wearer’s foot and it is very comfortable. The deep V in the front gives it a fashion forward look for this year’s fall/winter season and it is waterproof!

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I have some good news – I’ve been very fortunate to be working with the Toronto International Film Festival’s (TIFF) communications team this year and I love every minute of it. With TIFF only four days away the excitement, focus and intense group effort to have everything ready by September 10^th can be felt in the air and seen on the faces of the staff. Some of my responsibilities entail assisting with events which means a new outfit is required. Naturally, I did what any sensible fashionista would do and went shopping.

I tried on several little black dresses (LBD) at French Connection (FCUK) and was pleasantly surprised at FCUK’s well designed fall/winter 2009 collection. Many dresses were short, sequined or heavily beaded with fleur de lis designs coming in a variety of cuts and styles. Trés chic!

However, there were two dresses that instantly won me over and made me feel giddy like a 13 year-old school girl; they are the Carnation Rose dress and the Delicious Danask with sleeves.

You must be wondering – What dress did Kimberly choose? Did she buy one dress or two? Not one to disappoint I purchased both dresses. Yikes the Visa bill!

Included are pictures of the winning dresses as well as a few others which almost made the final cut.

N.B.: The Souls of My Shoes is now in TIFF mode; therefore, blog posts will be a little sporadic however I will try my best to keep you up-to-date on my activities throughout the Festival.

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I spontaneously ended up at Pilaros’s Taste of the Danforth this past Friday to have dinner with my good friend Corrinne, who writes a great blog which you should check out called Changing My Tune. 

While waiting for a 45 minute dinner reservation to kick in, we decided to pass the time by checking out a new shoe store across the street called BALISI that instantly blew our minds. Corrinne and I hadn’t even taken five steps into the store when our eyes lit up and a shoe fest for the feet cometh before us.

The footwear on display were carefully chosen to appeal to hip and young crowd the Danforth is increasingly attracting to the neighbourhood. What really caught my eyes were a pair of red, peep toe, sling back Vivienne Westwood heels named Lady Dragon made out of PVC. Yes, you heard me. The shoes are made of PVC which is now becoming the latest trend taking over the world of footwear, breaking the traditional norms of shoe construction. Surprisingly the Lady Dragons were comfortable and when I inquired about breathability of the material the sales associate showed me the insoles were lined, apparently with some kind of substance (don’t ask because I have no idea what it was).

Don’t know how Corrinne and I made it out of BALISI without purchasing a pair of shoes, especially when their summer stock was discounted up to 50 per cent – I tell you it took the strength of steel. However, to satisfy your curiosity about our little adventure into the various stores on the Danforth I’ve included a few pictures with this post… PVC shoes included.

N.B.: to read more about the emergence of plastic shoes Toronto Star Stylist, Derick Chetty wrote a recent article called Pretty in Plastic.

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I just received an e-mail from Gap Inc Canada who is running a four day promotion called Give & Get. From July 30 to August 2, 2009 they will give five per cent of the amount you spend at their stores (Banana Republic, Gap, Old Navy, etc) to their non-profit partners: Boys and Girls Club of Canada, CARE Canada and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada. I can’t think of a better reason to go shopping.

Download the coupon by clicking on the image above or by going here.

Enjoy and let me know what you end up buying.

N.B.: this promotion is only available in Canada.

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