Colourful Denim

I love that brightly coloured denim, generally reserved for Spring, is becoming the new "must-have" item for Fall! On a recent trip to the States, while browsing through Barney's, I was overjoyed by all the brightly coloured hues adorning the denim racks.  Fall is generally a time for deep purples, burgundy's, browns and colours that remind us of back to school. Why be boring when you can be vibrant? There's no point in letting the cold weather makes us grumpy. Instead, we should embrace the new season with brightly coloured legs!

My picks from top to bottom include:

* Ksubi - Super Spray On Jean $170

* J Brand - Bright Orange Jean $176

* Rag & Bone - Cobalt $169 (this was the pair I bought at Barney's and absolutely love!)

* The Gap - Island Palm $79.95 

Bicycle Wine Rack

The perfect gift for the eco-conscience oenophile is finally here and just in time for Summer! This handmade leather bicycle rack makes it easy to buy wine on your way home from work without worrying about it breaking in your basket or bag.

Perfect for a romantic ride to the park, followed by a picnic in the grass, watching the sunset with your unscathed bottle of wine. Just make sure that you're not wobbly when you get back on your bike for the journey home!

The Bicycle Wine Rack is made in Montreal from recycled oil-treated vegetable tanned leather that gets better with age; hopefully the same can be said about the wine its holding. Available to puchase on Etsy.com for $30.

French Colours at The French Open

Raphael Nadal (shown in blue) and Roger Federer (shown in red) were both clad in Nike tennis attire during the French Open Finals yesterday. Although red, blue and white are the colours of the French flag, I was surprised that Nike chose to dress Nadal in blue and Federer in red.

Nadal is outgrowing his wild and brutish personality and playing style, but is still not as calm or graceful as his rival, Federer. Thus, I would've have chosen red for Nadal, as red is a colour of aggression, while blue is a cooler colour, suitable for Federer's smooth persona.

Furthermore, Federer wore blue at the Internazionale BNL d'Italia, only three weeks prior. (See picture above). Sure it was a slightly darker hue than Nadal's blue outfit during the French Open, but it's still part of the same family. To confuse fans even more, he wore baby blue at last year's French Open, which was pretty much the same colour as Nadal's shirt this year.

Nike, what is going on with your colour choices? Why not use some consistancy and make it easier for fans to quickly recognize the players. This is especially important when they both happen to be tall, dark and handsome.

Jump into summer with the Jumper

The Jumper, more affectionately known as "The Romper" and commonly called the one-piece or onesie, is a casual summer option that has been gaining popularity over the years. It's a throwback to the '80's, to childhood, floral patterns, cinched waists, buttons, pockets and comfort. Perfect for the beach or a picnic in the park, the Jumper is my favourite summer staple of this season.

From top to bottom my picks include: Juicy Couture (first two), OBEY, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Beatrice Holloway and Levi's.

Button Power

I have an old black Theory blazer that I got on sale, about ten years ago, at Holt Renfrew. It came with the boring looking buttons pictured above. The blazer fits perfectly but I wasn't wearing it that often because the buttons were nothing special. I'm a firm believer that clothing should make you feel awesome and I just felt ordinary wearing my black blazer. At first I couldn't figure out why, thinking that maybe my tastes had changed over the years, until I realized that the greyish/light brown/black buttons were the culprit.

The buttons would have made more of an impact had they been one solid colour instead of three different ones trying to unsuccessfully mesh. Rather, they just looked dirty, as if they had originally been black but had faded overtime or picked up dirt which made their colour lighter in spots. Strange that Theory would use such ugly buttons, but hey, maybe that's why the blazer was on sale.

Regardless, I decided to love my blazer and buy cool buttons to make it pop! Hence, the photo at the top of this posting which shows the polished gold buttons that I picked up to replace the dull ones. It's hard to tell from the photo above, but my blazer looks a thousand times better. Friends and family members think it's a new purchase and I feel like gold when I wear it which just goes to show you the power and potential of buttons.

The Best Jean Shorts for Summer

Like their older sibling Denim, Jean Shorts are cool and stylish. Some people wear them all year round (either they live in warm climates or they wear tights underneath). Others, wait till Coachella, which unofficially marks the beginning of jean short season!

Denim shorties go with everything and can be dressed up or down. Opt for ones with timeless tailoring and classic style. No need for dangling threads unless you're in high school or cut them yourself. Here are my top pics for this season:

1.) J Brand Dita High Rise Shorts - I absolutely love these shorts. The dark colour and high waist offers a flatering option for short legs (like mine!)

2. The Hudson Hampton - the sky blue colour of these shorts really pops and screams "let me outside!"


3. William Rast Scarlett Shorts - I love the big back pockets of these shorts. The contrast colour of the stiching and cuffs really makes them stand out.

Editor's Note: Top photo is courtesy of www.dustfactoryvintage.com and the one beneath (of Coachella) is from http://aviva.buzznet.com

Customizable Golf Shoes

When spending the day at The Golf Club, it's important to look stylish and feel good. FootJoy is a brand that's known as having the #1 shoe and glove in golf so when I heard about MyJoys, their line of customizable golf shoes, I was pretty excited to create my own unique pair.

Golf, as most people know, has a history of being a conservative and preppy sport and most of the golf shoes that I looked at were pretty boring. My customized FootJoy's on the other hand, have bright green & yellow stripes, along with an adorable looking penguin, for those hot and sticky humid days, when you really wish you could take a short trip to the Arctic.

Note: Photo taken using the Instagram App for the iPhone

Top 5 Halloween Costumes

I was particularly impressed by this year's creative costumes and didn't see nearly as many Swine Flu, Balloon Boys, Lady Gaga's and Michael Jackson's as expected. The most creative costume I saw was definitely "The Blue Screen of Death". It was created by a young woman who was wearing a blue bristol board with the frightening white words you see when you own a PC and it's about to crash.

Here are some snapshots of my top 5 favourite costumes that I saw out this year:


"Ghetto Fabulous"





"Wanda", Waldo's photo taking girlfriend. Looks like she's searching for her man.




"Carlos" - the baby found in a hotel room from the movie "The Hangover"





"Trolls!" This was definitely a blast from the past and also a welcome surprise. The girls dressed as trolls used to play hockey with me at McGill and I hadn't seen them in a few years!






"The Last Supper" - Halloween Styles: Half as many attendees including The Invisible Man, a Cowboy, (me - Nat in a Hat) Jesus in the centre, DJ Johnny LaRue, Ghetto Fabulous and a Pinata ready to be smashed so that chocolate and candy can be eaten for dinner!





Photo credit to Julia Schneider for photos 1, 2 and 3.

Tassoni Brasil

I recently attended the Tassoni Brazil fashion show in the Distillery District during alternative fashion week in Toronto (F.A.T.) and was blown away by the sophisticated but edgy styles from the Resort '10 Collection.

Tassoni Brazil is the creative product of fashion forward designers, Joseph Tassoni from Toronto and his Brazilian partner, Andre Chiarelli.



Their look is upscale boho-chic, combined with sexy swimwear influenced by the beaches of Rio.













I absolutely love this Boldly Brazilian Green Bathing Suit!






The black and white stripes on their men's shirts add a nice contrast to the bold colours and whimsical animal like caricatures.









Notice the jewelery and scarves that the models are wearing. Everything is made in Sao Paulo but can be ordered and delivered to North America by emailing sales@tassonibrasil.com


All photos featured in this posting were courtesy of Geoffrey Knott, except for the top one.

Fashion Takes Action

We all know that bottled water is bad for the environment along with other forms of plastic or wasteful material. Aside from items that we consume, did you ever stop to think about how items that we wear can be detrimental to our surroundings?

Fashion Takes Action, ("FTA") is a Toronto based company with a mandate to inform the public about where clothing comes from, how it's made and the environmental cost associated with its production.

To coincide with Earth Day, FTA will be launching tonight with a HUGE party targeting hip, style conscience Torontonians at the legendary Burroughes Building penthouse lofts, known for housing trendy, cultural and often late night parties.

Several of Toronto's most buzzed about DJ's will be providing the soundtrack for the night, including ANDY CAPP, DIRTY DALE, and BRENDAN CANNING.

Andy Capp is the founder of "Bang The Party" one of Toronto's most loved party nights and is also the co-creator of the popular MOTOWN night. Check out one of his mixes here if you want to feel good and dance dance dance!

Dirty Dale is one of Toronto's most eminent DJ's who has been busting out the deep house sound for over 15 years - mmm gotta love good house music! Thanks DD!

Brendan Canning is the co-founder of what is arguably Toronto's most influential indie rock band of the last decade, Broken Social Scene. Aside from being a talented musician, he also has an impeccable record collection and will be sure to play some funky gems tonight!

There will also be a fashion show from Ryerson students featuring clothing made out of recyclable material and an OPEN BAR featuring organic beer from Mill Street and other delicious, good for you and good for the environment beverages.

Tickets are $40 ($30 if you're a student) and can be purchased at the FTA website. Limited $50 tickets will be available at the door.

I'll be wearing GREEN and look forward to seeing you tonight!!

Fashion Week in Toronto

This week is Fashion Week in Toronto where the big names of the Canadian fashion industry get to strut their stuff on the catwalk while locals wearing gloves and mittens skate next door on a giant rink; gotta love Canada!

I was invited to the opening night festivities which featured the fall collection of David Dixon (featured in the photo below) as well as a tribute to the 50th anniversary of the quintessential fashion icon, Barbie.

Dixon's clothes were stylish and sophisticated with a throwback to the 80's power woman. I noticed lots of cinched waists, one shoulder tops, colourful belts, wrist warmers and patterns galore!

Notice the pink stilletos that appear in Dixon's Barbie collection; courtesy of Town Shoes.

I love the hat & wrist warmer combo. It gives some practicality and edginess to this feminine fall outfit.

A special thanks goes out to Cameron McLellan for the fabulous photos which appear in this posting.

It'd be fun to check out more of LG Fashion Week, but I am busy planning a huge art lottery charity party which I'll blog about soon. So stay tuned for that as well as a wrap up of Canadian Music Week!