Lookbook

Prada had them. Marc Jacobs did too. Then it trickled down to the r etail world and ooh, look what we have here: H&M, le Chateau, Reitmans, Zara, Bedo, Simons all follow suit. Err-body is jumping on the dresses bandwagon! (Can I even use that as a term?). This Spring, I can GAR-RON-TEEEE that you will be bombarded and overwhelmed with dresses. Now whether you get “dressed” or “undressed” is really up to you. Here is a fun times guideline on what to look forward to, what to look out for and what to say “Seriously… no seriously?” to. PART 1 POCKETS We all love pockets right? Well at least I do. I have about a thousand purses (no really, and that’s not counting clutches, which by the way, is the new purse…confused yet?). In any case, you will begin, slowly but surely, to see dresses with pockets. By pockets, I mean slits on the side that you can barely even notice (think Jennifer Hudson at the Oscar's ). According to the magazines (*Gasp* it is IMPERATIVE that we follow what t...

Ok. So everything looks amazing on this woman. But what a sexy way to spin off the basic shirt and pant that EVERY woman has in her closet. Shirt & pants - already in your closet! Belt: from store "RK" (Square One - Mississauga) $168. There is another version in the same store that looks like a skirt (also for $168) for more casual wear.

Ok so Chanel has this bag. It retails for approxima tely $849.00 on Ebay. For this brand, you would think it to be a reasonable price for maybe a small chained purse right? Or maybe a version of what Penelope Cruz has been seen carrying out and about town. Not so much. It’s this plastic bag that looks like the one you were given by your mom when, at age 6, you decided you too wanted a purse, lipstick and shoulder pads…we all had one of those. But Chanel deems it appropriate to make one, and sell one for $849.00 . But then again…this is Chanel. If they could sell designer air, they would…or have they done that already? The bag is part of their Naked Collection and it goes with this Lucite trend that seems to be everywhere in maga zines now, but has yet to hit the retail market. So the big question is: what on earth is this Lucite anyways? Lucite in big grown up words is a transparent thermoplastic acrylic resin ( wordnet. princeton.edu/perl/webwn ). Basically its plastic. In a ti ...

I live in the cold. It is winter here from October to May. I hate the cold. I was born on an island and the very concept of not being able to wear open toe shoes in November makes me slightly uneasy. But there is this one itty bitty asp ect of winter dressing that makes it somewhat bearable: scarves. Love them and can’t get enough of them. Early on, I realized that a) outside in February without a scarf pretty much meant you were spending the rest of the week at home, watching the Price is Right and Days of Our Lives, eating chicken soup and b) scarves looked good. And I don’t mean the same way you try to justify that the big chunky yet warm boots are cool in a rocker chic kind of way. Scarves look fly even when you’ve taken your coat off. They look effortless. Leaving a scarf on with your regular outfit punches it up. In any case, I have them in all shapes, sizes and color. I am thrilled to see this year, an emergence in the trend. Granted the forever stylish Hermes scarf will… um…fo...

Sherlock Holmes was one cool guy. He would walk around the dim streets of London with his sid ekick, Watson, and his magnifying glass and find clues. The clues led him to solve some crazy mysteries. But you know what made him cooler than his wit and intelligence? His trench coat . Oh yes, the young chap looked mighty sharp in the beig e rendition of what I call Spring 2007’s “You Need It More Than It Needs You” jacket. Do you realize how crucial a trench coat is to your coolness this season? :P Do you really? It is the jean jacket of 1998 . Yes, the one we wore with the matching jeans to look like Madonna in Ray of Light . That one. Ok, now that you have grasped the necessity of the t rench, here is where you can get it. GET YOUR TRENCH AT: WEAR IT WITH JEANS (OBVIOUSLY...):

They call me mellow yellow…tad da da da. It is impossible to get that song out of your head once you start singing it. In the late 90’s, Gap had the “Everybody in Cords” ad campaign which included this song . Little did they know they would be starting a trend. Saffron, who would have thunk it, is everywhere on the shelves, walls and hangers of most retail stors in Canada (Bedo, Costa Blanca, Le Chateau, Reitman’s, H&M, Old Navy, Simons, Zara’s, you name it). It is refreshing to see amidst the markdown racks of grey, navy and black from Fall ‘06. So basically yellow is the new navy? Or is it the new heather grey? In any case, there is a slight downside: it’s a tad tricky to match the right shade of yellow with your skin tone. If your yellow is too beige, you may look like you partied the night before, drank one White Russian too m any (eeek) and had way too little water before going to sleep. On the floor. Of your bathroom. If too bright, you may look like you just stepped out o...

So apparently when Cameron Diaz has something, we all want it. And I am not just referring to Justin. Granted they did break up, but that’s a whole other blog . What I am referring to are stripes. I have alw ays found Cameron to be some sort of a pioneer when it came to trend setting (almost like Kate Moss in skinny jeans circa 2003). Cameron was wearing stripes back in the day when we were still rocking Boho chic (whatever happened to all those prairie skirts anyways?) The emergence of the nautical trend began in stores last year and has come back like a wave (no pun intended). Roberto Cavalli and Zac Posen had stripes in their spring 2006 runway shows. Giorgio Armani was ahead of the times, when his models sashayed down the runway for his Spring 2004 RTW show in nautical stripes. The good news is that this is a very doable and wearable trend. And the cherry on top: most bargain stores are offering stripes in various shapes and sizes. You have the white, navy and red prerequisites in...

Outfit 1: (left to right) tank top- $7.90 shop.hm.com Purple feather print halter top $20.00 debenhams.com Empire Cut Tank Top $22.80 forever21.com Silver belt $7.80 Urban Behavior Wide Leg Jeans $48.00 Jacob Grey Ankle Boots $40.00 Payless Shoe Source Suede Gold trim Clutch $45.00 Fashiondig.com Grey Pumps $80.00 Aldoshoes.com Outfit 2: Pendant $9.80 forever21.com Embellished Top $22.00 Suzy Shier Leggings $14.90 H&M Sunglasses $15.80 forever21.com Scarf $15.95 Le Chateau Pumps $59.99 Transit Shoes Outfit 3: Pumps $115.00 Nine West Blouse $38.00 Jacob Skirt $45.00 Modcloth.com Bangles $195.00 Vivre.com Opaque Tights $7.90 H&M

The models at Michael Kors’s Spring 2007 runway show emerged as if from a ballet class . The hair was pulled back in a bun, held back with a simple black headband. The clothes were flowy, reminiscent of Degas and his ballerinas , minus the frilly tutus. The colors were neutral (white, black and beige) and the shapes with simple and elegant. So now let’s take a step back from the runway show and into reality. We are not front row, watching beautiful models parade down the runway as we rub on some Crème de la Mer moisturizer on our perfectly manicured hands and place it carefully back into our Hermes Birkin bag . Chances are, we don’t make as much as we would like, spend too much on what we don’t need and the closest we will get to front row at a fashion show is on Etalk . But we like the pretty pretty fabrics oh so very much. We love the look, but $1,600 for a Michael Kors dress, are you kidding me?!? What I like about this trend is that it is simple and easy. It is all about comfor...

Heather Graham Top: Floral print with satin & deep V neck. Costa Blanca (100% poly) $25. Comes in various colors - green, black, burgandy. Jeans: Abercrombie Low rise"Erin skinny" jeams 98% cotton 2% spandex $89. Boots: Aldo "Herzelie" $64.97 . Leather with rubber sole (low heel 0 to 1.5in). Purse: Slouchy Tote with woven should strap "Edmonton" Aldo $19.95 (comes in dark brown/ red / purple) Total outfit: $

Dress: Solid V-neck dress light weight cotton- Spoof (Queen Street West) $25. Comes in various colors (ie. gray, lilac, forest green etc). Shoes: Mix it up a little and get Zebra print shoes- Aldo $89

Where can I begin with this? There is so much out there this season, I don’t even know where to start. It is one thing to read the Vogues and Glamours of the world or to view the futuristic collection of Balenciaga and Spanish ladies of Alexander McQeen , but it is another to try and find it at our nearest H&M, adapt it and make it our own. There are many trends that get displayed on the runways that should not be worn on the streets. However, when it is good, it is gooo'oood! Here are a few of my favorites for Spring 2007 1) Trench coat (could you be more Audrey?) 2) Shirtdresses (notice the plural) 3) Silver ballet flats 4) Striped ¾ sleeve cotton shirt 5) High waisted jeans/ trousers 6) City shorts 7) Heather Grey, Crayola Green, Cobalt Blue, Mellow Yellow and Oh So Very White 8) Puffy Sleeve crisp white shirt 9) Wedges 10) Graphic print knit top 11) Lightweight knit scarves 12) Big rings 13) Layering 14) Lucite Happy shopping!