Must-haves

Sometimes when I'm at work I dream about things I really want. Call me materialistic, whathaveyou, but let's face it: Work can get boring sometimes and it's fun to daydream about stuff you want. Like today for instance, my friend Chris and I were talking about what we would do if we each won millions of dollars. Both of us immediately thought about moving to Paris and shopping along the Champs Elysees. Our other dream is to own a modelling agency heh.


But I was also dreaming about less-expensive things to get.

For example, Scott Schuman aka The Sartorialist, is publishing a book of his photographs, which comes out in August. Scott was in Toronto last week at Holt Renfrew to promote the book. Holt Renfrew by the way made window displays inspired by fashion bloggers such as Sartorialist, Sea of Shoes and Garance Doré.



Scott also told a Globe and Mail reporter that he wants everyone to know that he's good in the sack. A stallion with style.

Next on my fantasy list are The September Issue ringtones!


I can't decide whether I want to get Andre Leon Talley's "It's a famine for beauty honey" or a mignon saying "Anna's Wintour's office."

Third on the list is a pair of those ubiquitous Ray Bans I am seeing on every celeb.
Check them out on Rob Pattinson:


The beauty about them is that they look good on any face, no matter what the shape. I think they're called the Wayfarer Square. I saw a guy wear them today and he looked hot. That's a good enough sales pitch for me.


In non-fashion news, I'm going up to my cottage tomorrow for a week where I'll be lazying about in the sun, swimming, boating and getting into trouble with my cousins.

Ta ta!

Victoria: 1, Anna: 0?

Rumour has it that Victoria Beckham, that wily, Birkin-obsessed alien woman, will be on the cover of a major U.S. fashion magazine in the next few months. Could it be that Anna Wintour decided to be kind and let Vicky be on the cover of her dreams? Will Vogue become a reality for Posh Spice?

Hello! magazine is reporting:

"It's all been kept very hush-hush, but she's going to be a cover star in the autumn. To say it's a huge coup is an understatement. For Victoria to have achieved that, for her own business successes, means she's considered a superstar in her own merits. She is beyond thrilled."

If this is true my friend Elaine will be screaming with glee and will make me raise a toast in Posh's honour. It's been a long time coming.

But I'm not sure whether to believe the reports. The Wintour is known to dislike the WAGness of Posh. I think a combination of her concrete balloon boobs, the tight face, the constant frowning and the always perfectly styled style turns the Wintour off Posh. But then again, she did put Blake fucking Lively on the cover. And Posh deserves Vogue more than Serena Van Der Woodsen. Right?

Anyway, I still like to believe that maybe Wintour is lying to Posh; she gets her to do a photoshoot, promising the cover, and ends up shitting on the polaroids. I love Anna Wintour so much.

And in case you need a reminder of how awesome Anna is, please watch the trailer for The September Issue which opens in October for Canada. So far away!




And here are the shots of stiff Posh, posing her tits off on a swing. It looks like the least fun swing ride that ever happened in the history of swing rides.

Love for Emma

If anyone has seen the Harry Potter movies than I'm sure you know who Emma Watson/Hermione Granger is.

Lately I've been noticing her more, not just because of all the press she's being doing for the Half-Blood Prince, but because of what she's wearing. When she went on the Late Show with David Letterman, I fell in love with the Christopher Kane dress she was wearing.

Here it is:


After that, I poured through photos of Emma to check out what she's been wearing. And I discovered that she's a fashion girl through and through. Her style is very British and all about individuality. It's no wonder that Karl Lagerfeld and Christopher Bailey love her.

She's the cover girl of the August issue of Teen Vogue and the photographs are beautiful. Check them out:







One of the reasons I love Emma's style is that she's not afraid to take chances but (and this is very important) she dresses her age!

Unlike some teen stars who dress as if they are in their 20s and try to show as much skin as possible; Emma always looks classy and stylish but age-appropriate and young (she's 19.)

You will never see her force feeding us her cleavage and you will never have to worry about seeing her panties (except for that hilarious incident at the Half-Blood premiere where she accidentally revealed nude granny panties.)

I can't wait to see how her style will change as she gets older.

Here are some of my favourite Emma Watson looks:

Summer with Daria

French Vogue is my favourite fashion magazine of the moment. Not only does it give me an excuse to read French aloud (by myself of course) but the mag has what I consider one of the best Fashion editorials every issue.

The August 2009 issue is no exception.

Featuring one of my favourite models, Canadian Daria Werbowy, the editorial shows Daria channeling different eras of fashion from the 90s Gap look to 70s disco (and do I spy Brooke Shields?)

But really all August issues are just lead-ups for September. I cannot wait for the September issues!

Speaking of Canadian models, did anyone watch Canada's Next Top Model? What do you think about Meaghan winning? I think she was the best of the final three but I was secretly hoping that Maryam would win.





(Photos: The Fashion Spot)

Most successful male models

Lately I've been in a real male model mood. What does this mean? Well, for the past month or two, I've been obsessing over them. Most of my blog has been taken up by all the women models and I never really gave much thought to the males because they aren't as visible as their female counterparts. But lately the men have been bombarding my mind.

It started with the luscious Boyd Holbrook, who's long, blond hair and Brad-Bitt eyes ensnared me. And then along came Jamie Dornan, who I first noticed in the movie Marie Antoinette. And then...and then...the daddy of my obsession, Taylor Kitsch. As of right now, he is number one, and will forever hold a place in my heart as long as I keep watching Friday Night Lights.

So I was very excited when Forbes released their list of the most successful male models today.

Forget Kate, give some love to the guys! Girls, you can thank me after you've cleaned up your drool.

No. 10: Cole Mohr

No. 9: Taylor Fuchs

No. 8: Jon Kortajarena

No. 7: Tyler Riggs

No. 6: Ollie Edwards

No. 5: Garrett Neff

No. 4: Danny Schwartz

No. 3: David Gandy

No. 2: Matt Gordon

No. 1: Sean O'Pry

So what go you guys think? Are they hot or not? Do you like the really skinny models or the beefcakes?

Should Vogue be budget-consicous?

Last week the New York Times ran a piece on how American Vogue has lately been featuring "mid-range" products in the magazine. They called the new trend "budget-conscious."

They quote fashion director Sally Singer: “We’ve always shown a wide range of price points and lower-priced items,” she said. “As long as Anna Wintour’s been at Vogue, from her first issue, she had jeans on her cover with a Christian Lacroix top. She’s always had a high-low sensibility.”

But lately Singer says the magazine has been deliberately featuring more cheaper items because of the economy. “In the past year, I feel a greater need to signpost certain elements we’ve had in the magazine. Maybe we need to make sure the reader can find them more easily.”

But if readers were looking for cheaper items, why would they go to Vogue in the first place?

Vogue has never pretended to be anything but a snooty, high-society magazine that puts emphasis on living the high life no matter what the cost. People read Vogue so they can take a peek at that luxurious fantasy life. The magazine has never been apologetic for featuring items like a Fendi 24k gold mink coat because readers expect to see ridiculous items like that.

I expect to see outrageously expensive but fabulous clothes, shoes, bags and jewels in the magazine even though I know I can't afford them. But when I start to see items from the Gap or J.Crew I get a bit scared. Where is the fantasy? If I want to see clothes from the Gap, I'll pick up Lucky magazine or walk down Yonge Street.

I do understand the value of the point that during these tough economic times a magazine shouldn't be flaunting inaccessible wealth to the credit-card debt ridden people. But that's the lure of the magazine; it's inaccessibility.

Vogue has weathered two World Wars and several recessions and still come out on top. Why should this time be any different?

So Vogue, you can throw in a few lower-range products to make it seem like you care about the rest of us, but don't throw away your soul aka those gold mink coats. It's just not you.

Coco Avant Chanel

The summer blockbuster season is almost over (anxious to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on Monday) but there are two non-blockbuster films that I am very excited to see. One of them is the documentary The September Issue, about the making of Vogue's very popular September issue, and the second is the french film Coco Avant Chanel, starring the lovely Audrey Tautou as Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel.

Vogue UK released a few images from the film and talked to the costumer designer, Catherine Leterrier. This is what she had to say:

"The relationship with the House of Chanel was excellent," Leterrier told VOGUE.COM of the filming. "I was completely free designing exactly what I wanted for our film which takes place before Chanel created her 'maison de couture'. She started as a milliner. She became successful creating hats."

"The research process was the same as for any other period film," Leterrier explained. "We did research from real garments - in museums, flea markets, vintage shops or private collections - and research from painting and photos. For the show of the end we used authentic outfits from the Chanel Conservatory and Audrey Tautou wore a Chanel suit inspired by 'Mademoiselle' in the Sixties."

My first impression of Chanel's costumes was a bit underwhelming; the colour scheme is very dark (grey, black, navy) and monochromatic but the tailoring, the details and the fit are exquisite. They perfectly capture Chanel's free-spirit and her transformation as a designer.

The photos show her in the popular Chanel suit, complete with pearls and a wonderful dark loose suit with a wide white collar and brooch.

Although the photos don't show whether we will see any more flamboyant costumes à la Lagerfeld (to see if Karl approves the wardrobe click here,) I am looking forward to seeing these subtle, beautiful clothes.

Click here to watch the trailer.

A work in progress

Two weeks ago I moved to Toronto and am living on my own in my first condo. It's been a lot of fun; meeting new people, hanging out with old friends and staying up past the last GO train back to the suburbs.

I've also been having a great time decorating my place. I'm trying to make my home more personal by adding family photographs to walls and on tables. But I am also letting the fashion obsession come out in the decoration; stacks of fashion magazines against the walls and under the coffee table; fashion drawings on the walls, random bags strewn about and coffee table books lying around.

Like I said in the post title, it's a work in progress but I'm excited at my start. My current project is getting a bunch of Vogue covers and my favourite fashion photographs and putting them on my wall like a collage.

What do you guys do in your home that shows your fashion side?