Fast Fashion – Suzanne Wexler

When Holiday Gifting, Consider The (Wo)Man Hours

*From Huffington Post Canada

I’m no Scrooge. I love the gift-giving spirit. Yeah, as a teen in the ’90s, I railed against the false pretenses and corniness. But now I think the concept of a “Hallmark holiday” is positively quaint. The prospect of buying a gift from an actual bricks-and-mortar store — as in, not from Amazon.com or www.gilt.com, where I do the vast majority of my shopping — and then attaching an actual handwritten card to it, warms my heart.

That said, overthinking the perfect object to anoint each and every festivity is not an indulgence I am allowing myself this time of year.

Canadian adults are expected to spend about $950 on gifts and holiday décor combined. Jaw-dropping as that dollar amount may be, there is another factor to consider: The (wo)man-hours involved in all this decision-making.

Because for some of us, trying to figure out whether or not to gift that spiffy Disney-themed LED light is a process that can take upwards of 20 minutes — and I haven’t even including the wrapping part, since in my current world, I’ve eliminated this problem altogether by insisting on only using re-usable totes. My no-wrapping policy eases my conscience about waste, though I acknowledge there’s more to be done.

I’m currently juggling Hanukkah, birthdays, kids parties, Christmas get-togethers, holiday mixers, baby showers, new houses and a whole bulk of charity gift-giving occasions. My brain is as spent as my wallet.

As such, I’ve come up with helpful strategies to curb my holiday shopping hemming and hawing.

First, I’ve implemented the “five-minute rule” when choosing a gift. I set the timer on my phone. Usually, I ignore it when it goes off, but it’s a start.

Second, when possible, I’ll repeat presents I give. If it’s appropriate, I’ll buy Champagne, or reasonably priced “pink bubbly,” usually Mumm Napa or Louis Bouillot. I have a variety of fun, original items from the MoMA store stored in my gift closet at home, along with boxes of Zingo and a bonanza of Fingerling monkeys.

Third, when buying a custom gift for someone, I now encourage him or her to exchange it. Self-imposed time constraints may result in me giving less-optimal gifts, and so I’ve decided to adopt a realistic attitude about returns.

In the spirit of my new “less time, less waste” holiday policy, I have jotted up an open letter to all my gifts recipients, expressing the sentiment above and how they might play out. I encourage others to use these letters as templates for their special someone, too, though I’ll warn you — they are a wee tongue in cheek (insert: winky face).

To my close friend, Miss Fantastic:

They say it’s the thought that counts, but I’m spare on thinking nowadays. Please return or exchange this gift I bought you, no offence taken. Actually, I’d be thrilled that you chimed in on the matter. I bought you those silky pajamas in black with the white trim since they were more practical. Personally, I preferred the pristine, less functional white ones with the black trim. If you happen to agree — and we often do — please use the gift receipt provided.

To my son, Pookie-Angelface:

I know you’re obsessed with fire trucks, dump trucks, and all kinds of oversized vehicles. But standing at the store, I couldn’t bring myself to buy another one. So I grabbed the cream-coloured vintage car since I thought it was cute and slightly different from your other toys. More to the point, decisions needed to be made — I had to get home to relieve your sitter. If you hate the car, I’ll exchange it for you. This was a gamble I had to make at the time.

To my friend’s four-year-old daughter:

I wanted to buy you Barbie for your birthday, but I understood that she’s controversial. Also, is Barbie appropriate for a girl your age? Hard to know. Therefore, I plucked an eco-chic design-your-own tutu kit from my storage gift closet at home instead. I’m petrified of global warming, so giving you this earthy-inspired gift made me feel (slightly) better about myself, even if I might be the victim of green-washing. Most importantly, it settled that whole Barbie issue. If you’re more into dolls than crafty tutus, it’s cool with me if you re-gift it to one of your young pals, or even put it in a donation box.

To my darling husband:

You are the one exception that shall prove my “please return or exchange or re-gift this gift” rule. Because whatever you do, DO NOT RETURN, NOR LOOK UP THE PRICE of those John Varvatos sneakers I bought you on Black Friday weekend. I swear I got them on sale, just slightly more than the price I might have shared with you. Also, you cannot return or exchange them anyhow, so why bother getting into a tizzy over it? They look fantastic. Keep them. I beg.

Finally, to others who might not adore what I give you at this present-happy time of year: Please understand that I’m back-logged on wedding gifts from last summer, and while I’m confessing, I have two outstanding presents that I still haven’t delivered from the summer before that.

So this holiday season, when I arrive at your function, please accept my digestible, perishable or pulled-from-the-shelf gift in the handsome tote provided. And if you feel the need to re-use, recycle or return its contents, be my guest. I’d be especially pleased if you re-gifted that Champagne back to me.

HOW I TRIED TO REJECT KIM KARDASHIAN-STYLE MATERNITY DRESSING AND FAILED

*Story appeared in Huffington Post Canada.

Fancy-dancy baby bumps are all the rage, especially among the celeb set. And when I first got pregnant, it felt like Kate, Kim et al. were staring me down from the grocery aisles. Goading me into joining the fun.

But nay, I thought in protest. Maternity fashion was vanity gone haywire. Yeah, yeah, I loved dressing-up more than pretty much everyone I knew, but suction tight maternity dresses and bikini-clad #babybump selfies seemed to be crossing a line. The message: Women should (should! Bwa-haw-haw!) look their best always–before and after their water broke.

So I had a revelation, “I am going to let myself go!”–for those nine months. I would allow my body to roar au naturel. Also, to help combat wasteful capitalism–which I myself was often guilty of–I refused to buy a whole new maternity wardrobe. I was bringing a new life into the world, after all. It was time to be practical, ethical. Maybe I’d purchase some elastic-waist jeans, leggings, a few tops, but that was it.

For a few months, I lived on as this low-maintenance person. I wore whatever fit in my closet. I felt, um, good. Relaxed. “No nausea,” I reported to anyone who’d listen, as if this reflected my even keeled psychological state.

But by month five even my husband’s button downs were splitting on me like sausage casings. Still, half-imagining myself to be practical, I decided to buy large sized normal pieces (read: non-maternity) that I could re-wear postpartum, say with a belt.

Sweats weren’t exactly versatile. Rather, I needed just a few key outfits that could work from day to night–especially night. A pink A-line dress, a white kaftan, and a silky maxi soon followed. I brought them to my tailor, since roomy regular clothes don’t quite fit the way proper maternity ones might. A slit here and a plunging neckline there guided the eye just so–as in, away from my swollen hips and legs, and the grim-reaper veins on my ankles and hands.

True, it was all a tad indulgent, but overall, my plan still erred on sensibility. Or so I told myself.
I wore my new white kaftan for my stroll to the coffee shop. Compliments ensued, from baristas, from people on the street. “Hey hot mama,” a passenger hooted out a car window.

Did you say “hot mama?” Far from offended, the praise went down better than my vanilla Frappuccino–a wild declaration for this pregnant chick to make. And though the tiny growing baby inside couldn’t hear their words, I imagined he or she was feeding off my buzz. And that was when it occurred to me: My low-maintenance days were probably over.

“Wow, you look lovely,” my husband nuzzled into my neck. I had on the kaftan again, since I only had three outfits. But this time I wore it with wedges. And I got a blow out. Because it was near-impossible to flip over for my hair dryer with my gut.

Oh, yeah! Full of hormones, and knowing that the numbers on my scale were dashing up the ranks, the flattery made me feel like I was a star of some kind–even if just the star of my own life. Finally. After nearly two decades of agonizing dating, all that studying and working and weighing my talents against a tanking market–then to at last to find my love, get married, I finally, finally became pregnant!

And I was fancy!

I stormed back to my genius tailor, Hussein Padar, with a new python maxi, a khaki tunic, two navy print dresses, another kaftan, and a red spaghetti strap number. I bought them mostly on sale, mostly online. A few were donated from friends. Et voila. After his strategic sewing, I had a made-to-measure maternity wardrobe. Here I come! I mean, here we come.

Yet with each decadent step forward, my guilt followed. It wasn’t so much about spending money, because I knew I’d re-wear most things post-partum. Rather, I felt like I was endorsing the position that expecting women couldn’t take a frump day–that regardless of their health, wealth, or state of mind, women had to be attractive at all times.

But did I need to be a sex object 24/7 to the horrors of my internalized Gloria Steinem (pre-Sanders women-bashing Steinem, that is)?

Um, apparently.

Because I loved the praise–especially since every other person seemed to wonder if I was carrying twins, which I wasn’t (“are you sure?”). And I wasn’t covering up my stomach with a muumuu as pregnant women did decades ago. Instead, I was felt like shining at 150-plus-plus-pounds and with a 40-plus-plus-inch waist. At age 30-something, yet. I was a soon-to-be mom, not a teeny twenty-something we’re led to believe is the pinnacle of beauty, and I felt terrific. Curvy.

Most importantly, I had this telekinetic belief that adorning my bump was introducing my growing baby to the splendors of life, like flowers and artwork.

A second thought settled in: Maybe maternity fashion wasn’t the devil incarnate after all; maybe there was something glorious about all these proud mommies grooming themselves and their young to be — and trying to attract their mates, despite having already mated. And if this amounted to celebs flaunting bandage dresses and crop tops with their blossoming midriffs, so be it. All this excess could be evidence of a good thing. The best thing.

It was now obvious to me: #babybump signaled that a new rounder, more maternal beauty standard was finally en-vogue. I had to raise my half-filled champagne glass to that.

So, during my recent second pregnancy, it was time for my sequel performance. My costumes were pressed and ready to go. As I waddled about with my beach ball stomach that held my 10-lb baby.

“You’re HUMONGOUS!” they cried.

Oh yeah! Bring it on. I took plenty of pics this time.

–SUZANNE WEXLER

Canadiana Craze

Across Canada, many Bay department stores have been outfitted with sections inspired by the striped red, green, gold and dark indigo point blanket. Cashmere robes, cosy knit pillows and giant bins filled with popcorn kernels remind us that, then and now, Canada is about keeping warm.

“Basically, if you think about it, that blanket is to us what the saddle is to Hermès. It’s an iconic piece of our company, and of Canada,” said Suzanne Timmins, fashion director at HBC.

The Bay has attempted similar strategies in the past, but the latest efforts, which also include prints made from historic company archive letters and different blanket colour schemes, have been much more organized, Timmins said.

An old-time Canadiana esthetic happens to be a very popular look nowadays, at home and overseas, which has likely helped The Bay’s branding efforts surge over the last two years.

The famously cool boutique Colette in Paris now carries The Bay’s striped pieces, including a flask and a snowman kit. And Pippa Middleton was spotted strutting to work in London wearing a much-discussed red and black hunting shirt with black pumps, revealing that the heritage look has international legs.

Adding substance to our style was recent news that Canada was declared No. 1 on the Country Brand Index, for the second year in a row, in a study by international consulting group FutureBrand.

Our image of openness, diversity and warmth has made us the most trustworthy nation, brand-wise, in the world, it says.

“We never try to overdo and over-commercialize, but this came right at us,” said Roots owner Michael Budman of the heritage trend, which fits perfectly with the company’s long established strengths. Founded in 1973 by Budman and his friend Don Green after spending many summers at camp in Algonquin Park, Roots has made beaver-stamped sweatshirts part of our national consciousness.

Like The Bay, Roots is riding a trend that it helped kick-start in some way, interweaving stylized nostalgia goodies like soy candles in maple syrup tins and wooden peg games into its inventory of woolly knits and sturdy leathers. But Budman insists its not all fad. “We are totally against disposable fashion,” he said.

The Canadiana craze has actually been building for some time now, notes Andrew Potter, the Citizen’s managing editor and internationally bestselling co-author of the book The Rebel Sell (Harper, $19.95). Potter’s most recent book, The Authenticity Hoax (McClelland & Stewart, $32.99), deals with aligning today’s earthy, 100-mile diet, yoga bending movement with the status-seeking hippie movements that came before it.

He believes Canadiana shoppers are distinct from most organic-only and localista buyers, even though the posh plaid flannels might overlap on occasion. “Canadians have an identification with shared consumerism,” he noted, much like our national obsession with hockey or Tim Hortons. Potter recalled an example in Douglas Coupland’s 2002 nostalgic picture book Souvenir of Canada (Douglas & Mcintyre, $29.95) in which Coupland remembers reading “Captaine Crounche” on a cereal box in Vancouver. The French made him feel connected to “parallel universe country” Quebec.

“It’s patriotism as brand loyalty,” Potter said. “Like cheering for a sport’s team.”

Also building on Canada’s brand, stores like Red Canoe in Toronto opened in 2002, selling RCAF heritage jackets and CBC Radio bags. In 2004, heritage men’s line Wings + Horn was introduced in Vancouver. When The Bay CEO Bonnie Brooks decided to promote the company’s famous point blanket in 2009, she sent the movement fashion forward by seeking top-tier Canadian designers, like Mariouche Gagné of Harricana, Jeremy Laing and Smythe, to redesign the iconic red, black, yellow and green striped warmer.

The fact that many of The Bay’s heritage pieces are not made in Canada does not seem to ruffle Canadian feathers. Nor does the fact that Hudson’s Bay Company is now owned by American Richard Baker.

“What’s ultimately being consumed is the symbolism. As long as there are no sweatshops involved, it’s nothing (shoppers) will get super-fussed about,” Potter predicts.

Indeed, aside from the Cowichan sweater incident prior to the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, when authentic, First Nations sweaters were knocked off to suit the demands of The Bay’s Olympic Collection, resulting in some serious controversy, Canadian shoppers seem to have sobered up to the idea that many goods that look Canadian might not be come from here at all. Quite the opposite, actually.

“It’s like a signature from Canada,” marvels shopper Constance Lafontaine, while touching a striped woolly blanket on display at the downtown Bay in Montreal. Lafontaine had come to the new company-themed section of the store to buy a gift for her friend in Turkey.

Those blankets were never made in Canada, I point out, but in England since being traded for furs in 1670. “That’s perfect. I prefer U.K. quality over made-in-China quality,” she said smiling, pointing to her Black Havana glasses, also made in England. Lafontaine was toting a Louis Vuitton purse.

The attitude at Roots was much the same. Shoppers were generally unfazed about Canadiana items not being made in Canada, even though the company’s new label features a potentially deceiving Canadian flag and old-time writing. (Items made in Canada and not made in Canada may feature similar looking tags).

Marika Julien, who recently moved to Canada from France, was shopping for hats at Roots with her dad, who was in town for a visit. “I wanted to take him to see this brand because I think it’s beautiful and it’s from Canada,” she said.

“It’s OK,’’ Julien said of the provenance of the hat. “Most items today are made in China, like this hat.’’

Both The Bay and Roots have carefully assembled heritage collections to suit diverse clientele: Those with an eye for quality, those devoted to buying local, and then, of course, budget-conscious shoppers who look at the price tag first and foremost.

Michelle Vrana, a college student from Montreal’s West Island, was shopping for a gift for her father. “He loves sweaters and I love Roots, so I thought, why not?” she said.

That the items are not made in Canada is a bit of a disappointment to Vrana: “But it’s OK, because I’m proud to wear Canadian stuff — as in, when stuff says ‘Canada.’ It’s patriotic and I like it.’’

See-Thru and Sheer, Yet Still Very Proper

A fashion and culture story about how sexy young things are revealing/concealing themselves this summer. *This story appeared in the Montreal Gazette and the Calgary Herald.

I once had a friend meet me for breakfast wearing skyhigh wooden platforms, micro hot pants and a knit bra top. It was her waitressing outfit from the night before. I escorted her back to her apartment, swatting away all the fellas who jumped in front of her. At one point we dived into a cab, but the driver’s eyes were examining her every curve in the rear-view mirror. So we got out.

“I’ve finally gone too far,” she said, fastening my cardigan around her hips. It concealed one cheek of her derrière. I’ve worn jean-shorts that were too short and a dress that hiked up so high I had to yank it down with every step. But her outfit was, indeed, way too much for daytime. Mind you, if I had her knockout figure, there’s no telling what I would have – or wouldn’t have – worn.

Itsy-bitsy streetwear is about as new as the bikini. And with summer in full smoulder, ladies of all ages are once again taking it off. But this season, young darlings are only mildly blush-worthy compared to eras of yore.

Rather, expect to see ladylike conservatism with whiffs of prairie-girl charm on the streets and rooftop terrasses. Think blousy button-ups snapped to the neck, paired with shorts or skirts nipped at the waist.

Funny thing is, many ladies who flaunt their underwear insist the peekaboo look is rather demure.

At a recent party at the Crystal Hotel in honour of the coming Festival Mode & Design, transparent looks were on full display.

“Every time I see a girl in see-through, I think it’s really sexy, ” said Eliane Sauvé, a communications student at Concordia University and a fashion and music blogger. “It’s a way to show femininity without being vulgar.”

Sauvé wore a tight lace bodice to the event, with a very visible black strapless bralette underneath. She also had on smart-looking highwaisted shorts, bold-framed nerdy-girl glasses and flat sandals. The overall effect was sort of sexy, sort of serious.

“In French, there’s an expression: We prefer to suggest than show,” Sauvé said, leaning forward.

“I’m not the type of girl to wear low-cut with cleavage,” she pointed out.

Young women in seethrough clothing often believe it conceals more than it reveals. In fact, Sauvé and her two roommates, who were sporting transparent tops at the party, defined their style as conservative.

“I was told my outfit was (ideal) for a picnic,” said Sara Barrière, one of Sauvé’s roommates. Barrière was wearing a white blouse with a visible pink bra underneath, paired with short shorts. She had been at work all day as an assistant at Chatelaine magazine, she said, explaining why her shirt was slightly less transparent than her roommate’s. But she does think that even moderately sheer tops like hers are inappropriate for most offices, unless it is a fashion-forward environment similar to that of Chatelaine.

There are boundaries that come with nearly naked dressing, after all.

“I think it’s a young look, and you need to have a certain body type,” Barrière said. “I feel like if you don’t have big boobs, you can really make it work.”

She also believes the transparent look needs to be subtle.

“I wouldn’t wear a very flashy bra with it. This one is pink and kind of like skin colour – I wouldn’t wear it with a fuchsia bra,” she said. (Her bra was punch coloured.)

Friend and roommate Cindy Boyce, a photographer, had on a very transparent black chiffon top buttoned to the neck. She paired it with a black bra underneath. “It adds a bit of fun in your look,” she explained.

Boyce wasn’t always so confident with the peekaboo factor, though. When she first put on the outfit, her roommates had to give her a pep talk before leaving the house.

“I’ve had this shirt since (high) school and I used to wear it with a little tank top under it. But now I just wear a bra,” she said, laughing.

What happened? “I think it’s a change of mentality,” Boyce said, adding the bra is difficult to see except when light hits the shirt from the sides.

The three girls said the transparent look is “very à la mode” for summer, with sheer T-shirts, blouses and dresses now available at stores like American Apparel, Zara and H&M.

Would they wear a sheer skirt or dress without a slip underneath? “Maybe at the beach!” they shouted in unison, agreeing that wearing visible panties would be pushing the limit. It would also be counter to their fashion politic.

“I just hate those girls that are not respectful to themselves, like when you can see their G-string. I prefer things that are hidden,” Sauvé said. She noted that in the winter she usually wears a lot of black silky and soft items, which have a similar sensual appeal.

A young girl’s charm is rarely without its ironies, of course, along with ample doses of denial.

In the high-stakes game of young courtship, a lady must distinguish herself, after all. For these girls, it all hinges on not looking too suggestive.

“I think all my guy friends prefer things that are not obvious,” Sauvé said. “Like when you’re speaking to the girl and you just want to look at her décolleté …”

Barrière cut in, agreeing: “She (should be) sexy but not obvious.”

The girls ushered over a fellow to endorse their theory on the male perspective. Angelo Cadet, artist, actor and TV host, was happy to oblige.

“Mystery is desire,” Cadet noted when the girls asked him to comment on the seethrough look. “The poet Jean-Pierre Ferland says that when you whisper words to a woman, she glows. But with women it’s words, and with men it’s form. So when you whisper to us your form, we’re in love.”

His charms appeared to be working, so he continued. “See-through, in my mind, makes my heart beat like a tsunami.”

How does Cadet feel when he sees a woman in a corset and a tight skirt? “Hey, that’s for my room, baby,” he beamed. “When my mother’s away.”

Some parting words of wisdom for the scantily clad: When dressed in less than usual for the summer heat, it’s best to travel in packs and bring your girlfriends along. And for the sake of your own sanity, don’t forget to bring along a cardigan (a long one). It doesn’t take much to attract more rubberneckers than anticipated. The blush of denial is adorable, but shame quickly paralyzes. If you wouldn’t wear your outfit to dinner at the house of your boyfriend or girlfriend’s parents, that’s a good litmus test for whether you might suddenly get uncomfortable wearing such getup on the street.

****BRALETTES

A bralette, you ask? It’s simply a bra without underwires, and is flimsier and more dressedup than a sports bra. To nail the subtle look of transparent dressing, bra lettes are far better options than underwire or push-up bras. Pricier options include those made by Cosabella, which sells them in strapless, bikini and large bandsupport styles in a variety of colours. (There are many at Lola & Emily.) Bralettes can also be found at American Apparel, Urban Outfitters and many other young adult-themed stores for less than $30.

Yoga Pants for all occasions? Some say bring it on, many left horrified

A piece from spring all about yoga pants, which includes the most fun-loving Lululemon lover ever, along with an equally fun-loving yoga pant hater. Also featured is Andy The-Anh, who now designs for activewear company Lole. *This article appeared in full or in part in the Montreal Gazette, the Vancouver Sun, the Ottawa Citizen, and the Windsor Star.

I will never forget her. I was inside the Java U when a crunchy-haired brunette with oversized sunglasses waltzed up and ordered herself a café concoction. The silver reflective logo on her Lululemon yoga pants caught my eye, and then I noticed she was wearing high heels. High heels! With boot-cut sweats!

This woman was obviously not heading to the gym. Nay, she was wearing yoga pants as real pants, complete with a blouse and heels.

It was a fashion faux pas that’s becoming all too common these days. The yoga-pant revolution has created mass confusion about where or where not to don casual dress -let alone how to wear it. And the bar of what’s acceptable is threatening to get lower and lower.

As we peel off our parkas this spring, “pyjama dressing” is rolling in as the latest casual-dressing craze. As in, floral motif PJ-style pants and onesies for the teens. For a more mature look, there’s boudoirinspired Hugh Hefner silks, which capture a vacationingin-Bali sort of glamour.

We’ve seen the look for evening, but during the day the look can appear, well, very breakfast styles.

“Don’t say you’ve become a mother and then have to conform to this Lululemon mantra,” says Valerie Grove, a new mother who has witnessed many of her friends quickly convert from fashion vixens into leisure-suit loyalists. “Just because you want to feel comfortable, and are shlepping around a kid doesn’t mean you have to look like you’re wearing your PJs.”

Grove holds a weekly playgroup at her house. Of the 10 moms who attend, about half are in yoga pants (Lululemons specifically). The rest are in jeans and possibly leggings with stylish sweaters.

Turns out, Grove does not consider leggings a fashion faux pas like yoga pants. In fact, she considers them an ideal way to be comfortable and look fashionable, especially when paired with boots or a long sweater. “They could be velvet, denim or even nicer fabrics,” she says. But she hesitates to say leggings look appropriate for a night out on the town.

As for wearing yoga pants anywhere beyond the house, the gym or out for a power walk, Grove believes that “it’s like telling the world you haven’t showered. ‘Hello, I haven’t showered’. That’s what it is.”

Tina Fargnoli is a yogatrained, certified Pilates instructor who moved from Montreal to Toronto a few months ago. She reports having at least 25 pairs of yoga pants, again, specifically Lululemons. Other pairs seem cheap to her, and the fabric all wrong. When I asked her to name the styles, her reply was: “Oh gosh. Well, there’s the crop, the regular long ones with a flare, the regular straight-leg ones, which are not flared, the hip-hugger ones. “Some are more formal ones that are three-quarter-length culottes.” Fargnoli says lately she’s more into the company’s running pants, which look a lot like conventional leggings. She wears them with leg warmers.

Fargnoli has Lululemons that she considers “too nice” for yoga, which she proudly wears out to dinner and for a night on the town. These include pinstripe yoga pants with built-in belts, which she wears with blazers, and a number of the company’s sundresses. She says she wears the skorts out a lot, too, pairing them with nice tops. Many of these items have similar fabrics to the company’s yoga pants.

Would she wear yoga pants -or sweats as she calls them -with heels? “Funny. Just yesterday I saw someone in really high heels with cropped Lululemons,” she said. “And I can now say that I would absolutely never.” Fargnoli has worn her yoga pants with wedge sandals, but typically she wears them with her Pajar boots in the winter and her Etinies sneakers or flip-flops.

BUSINESS OF LEISURE

Thanks to active moms and yoga babes like Fargnoli, not to mention those Sunday strollers, the leisure wear business is booming. According to a recent New York Times article, sales at Lululemon increased 56 per cent in the third quarter last year. The Times’ story also went on to report how women in New York City are donning elastic waistband pants to work -at offices, not just yoga studios.

Will Canadians be joining the elastic waistband officegear trend?

“Our reality as Canadians is not there,” says Lindy Omassi, director of fashion and sourcing at Smart Set, a division of Reitmans. “I work with all fashion people, and nobody wears yoga pants to work.”

Though, Omassi does believe the look can appear very cool on some people, particularly those “with a body from heaven.” And ultimately, people should wear what suits them. “The reality is to dress to please yourself,” she said. But as far as the office or out to dinner, she would not recommend yoga pants. Like Grove, she believes active or leisure wear is for brunch, around the house and for the gym.

Smart Set’s MUV activewear line features yoga pants and leggings at about $30-35 apiece. Omassi and her colleagues have endlessly debated where these clothes would be worn, and how. They concluded that what Smart Set customers really care about is looking polished in their leisure suits.

in their leisure suits.

“I see the most fashionable pant nowadays as the pyjama pants,” says designer Andy The-Anh, who has started to design for local activewear company Lole.

“With the draw string, and big wide leg.” He says fashion needs to go to extremes to work -as in go skinny with leggings or go wide with pyjama pants, but stay home in your boot-cut pants.

However, The-Anh says he won’t be designing pyjamastyle yoga pants for Lole, and probably will stick to legging types. The company has a “studio to the streets” product mantra, which features a strong activewear component. “All the (aerobics) instructors prefer a more tapered legging look, so you can see the lines of your body,” he said. As such, for his Lole designs, The-Anh is working with new colours, such as orange, to spice things up.

Bodysuits Are Back!

*The article below appeared in the Montreal Gazette and then in-print or online at the Vancouver Sun, the Calgary Herald, The Province, The Times Colonist and others.

_______________________________________________________________

“Oh jeez, please no!” is likely what most women think when hearing the word “bodysuit.”

But it’s time to, er, suck it up: The form-fitting, snap-crotch bodysuit is gaining some major retail momentum. By summer, expect to see the look at more stores than just American Apparel.

This season, a navy blue bodysuit sold out across Canada at Club Monaco in less than a month. “Some things just fly off the racks,” said a baffled sales clerk, pulling out a purple bodysuit instead. The purple version with jersey swooping around varies from the bestselling blue, which had long sleeves and was in silk.

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Social Photography 101 and the SELFIE; Becoming Master of your iPhoto Domain is all about Planned Casualness

How to pose for the oh-so-casual selfie?

Hair up with whispers of a come-hither look?…. OR

… Hair down and a pearly white, off-kilter smile?

As you can see from my webpage photo, I tend to prefer the sultry look. Regardless, since it took me a zillion tries to even get those semi-decent photos, I think I should practice my casual pic pose a little more!

*The article below appeared, in full or in part, in The Montreal Gazette, The Vancouver Sun, Edmonton Journal, and The Province.

Social Photography 101

The camera doesn’t love me. It doesn’t quite loathe me, either. Occasionally, it warms up to my crooked nose and zigzag smile. But based on the law of averages, I can safely predict that I’d rather see most shots taken of me disappear into the vast digital universe where they came from.

Unfortunately, they often pop up on someone else’s Flickr photo montage or Facebook page. But I’m trying to get over it. Online photo albums and social networking sites are flourishing, and embedded cameras on cellphones, iPhones and computers give millions of new photo diarists endless opportunities to showcase their skill.

And true, the skill can get ugly. Much like most new art forms, social photography — photographs intended to be shared with a large network of people — is one that beats to the most unusual sensibility. Formalities like posing or centring the shot become extraneous. Rather, it’s all about documenting your own real-time narrative, and you don’t even need a third party to help you do it.

According to a recent article in the New York Times, all you need to do is to reach out your arm, aim somewhere around your nose and snap, flash or click! You’ve got a perfectly acceptable self-portrait, aka “Selfie”, to post online. An instructional online slide show running with the piece explained that these shots should look fun and slightly off-kilter. And, like the self-portrait artist Cindy Sherman, funny costumes are welcome, too.

Whether it’s a wonky selfie, or you posting a few action shots of your pals, photography this millennium is certainly not what it used to be. But, like everything else that looks effortlessly cool, major preparation is often involved.

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Flash sales blow up

Thanks to a tip from a friend, the outnet.com is one of my favorite new flash sale websites. Even though the labels are exclusive, the site doesn’t insist upon that “members only” policy. The above patterned dresses by Pucci, Matthew Williamson, and Erdem (respectively), were all available for a very limited time on the website at over 60% to 70% off.

*This article appeared orignally in the Montreal Gazette and on the Canada.com network.

At a large warehouse in St. Laurent, in a newly crafted photo studio, Alisa Pysaryeva, a model from Folio agency, strikes a pose in a Whitney Eve dress. A few doors down in another studio, a mint green Balenciaga handbag is being puffed and positioned for its photo op. Luxury handbags are lined up, awaiting their turns.

Photo shoots like these happen daily at Beyond the Rack, a Montreal company that sells discount Gucci, Juicy Couture and lesser-known brand-name items at online “flash sales.” A flash sale means that bargain items -typically last season’s overstock and sample pieces reduced in price by 40 to 70 per cent -are available only for a brief, limited time.

For Beyond the Rack’s shoppers, that’s a mere 36 hours after the sale opens at 11 a.m., when a mass emailing alerts customers to the latest deals -like the Balenciaga bag going for $1,599 instead of the original $2,095. Buyers then act fast. Not only will the company’s million-plus customers be vying for the same discount items, but when the time’s up, the “flash sale” is extinguished.

Far beyond Beyond the Rack -indeed, over the border and across the sea -similar flash sale websites are scorching through the Internet. Popular sites, all ending with a . com, include Gilt Groupe, Haute-Look, Vente Privee, RueLaLa, Enviius, Ideeli and Fashion Vault (eBay’s latest attempt get into the game). Each has its own photo studios, models and designer labels, and each insists that its customers are really “private members”-that is, to get daily emails about these flash sales, shoppers must be invited to join the website by a friend, or request a membership online.

Even if practically everyone who signs up for most of these sites is accepted, it’s a tactic that helps turn potential waste into a desirable commodity.

“Like a bouncer with velvet ropes, you’ve got to create a fence, a barrier around these clearance items,” says Beyond the Rack CEO Yona Shtern.

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It’s a Hi/Lo Holiday

Basic Balenciaga Arena City purse from Holt Renfrew, over $1500 ( *This article was featured in The Montreal Gazette.)

Some shoppers prefer to buy generic. They’ll take discount clothing and no-name groceries over fancy logos on cars, bikes, furniture, and even ibuprofen (a.k.a. Advil): To them, brand names mean nothing.

Equally devout are those who’ve got sparkling insignias on their Prada sunglasses, Lexus cars and Apple computers. They believe top quality is something you can see and touch – and it’s always worth the extra splurge. Somewhere in between the two camps are the dreamers: the gal who lusts after a $28 Chanel nail polish (while a Personelle polish costs $3.99), and the man who wishes a brand new flat-screen TV for $2,099 would appear under the tree even though an older model costs $299.

So, what products are worth the splurge? Which ones make better steals?

Here’s a breakdown of popular gift items that can come with generic or luxury price tags.

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