Material Archive

J.Crew opens in Toronto: leaves all the interesting merch in the US

The recent pricing controversy didn't keep my curiosity at bay and so I went shopping with list in hand (after doing a pre-shop online) and ventured out to the burbs to see the new outpost of American retailer J.Crew at Yorkdale mall.

Someone must have sent Jenna a memo outlining Canadians' supposed predilection for boring basics because I wasn't able to find one thing on my list in stock. The most interesting shoes, blazers and dresses were left south of the border for their more "fashion forward" customers. Deep sigh.

Canadians love J.Crew because of it's sunny and distinctly American outlook. Having Canadian buyers curate the collection (the sales staff confirmed this) removes what makes the brand interesting to us to begin with. So thanks for your efforts Mr. Drexler but I'll stick to my online / catalog shopping for now.

Photo from the Grid

416 Snack Bar

 

 

WHERE: 416 Snack Bar: 181 Bathurst just north of Queen on the East side

MOOD: Hip, Casual

PRICE: Cheap & Cheerful  $ / $$$

WHEN: A Wednesday night after work

WHAT: Highlighted items on the menu above

TRY: Everything. It's a small, inexpensive menu of tapas sized servings – get one of each.

SKIP: I live for corn dogs but the meat sort of just fell apart.

SERVICE: Decent, pleasant, relatively attentive

REPEAT?: Yes. Super cute place and the gimmicky comfort food is really fun.

MOST NOTABLE: The Ribwich. I ordered two (see above). YUM.

 

 

My Stay at The Ace Hotel, NYC

 

There is definitely a reason Wallpaper presented The Ace Hotel with a design award – it is very considered. Every detail has been worked over and it shows – it's a singular vision of hipster chic and a welcome change to an expected and pervasive (W/Hudson) hotel aesthetic that has become so ubiquitous, that urban travellers may forget where they are at times.

The darkly lit main foyer (you'd sware it was 11pm at night all the time) and seating area were packed no matter what time of day with a steady stream of intriguing, artisitc types all bathed in the glow of their digi-devices with friendly ACE staff milling about.

I enjoyed several very competant meals at the hotel's restaurant, The Breslin, and happily geeked out at No. 8a, the totally awesome and quirky gift shop – where I bought a bunch of cool Kaweco fountain pens.

The room was fun – it made me feel like a 18 year old boy with it's very heavy handed masculine vibe and hip, street accents crossed with vintage Americana. The massive King bed was very comfy but, again, the lighting was so dark, I could barely find anything in my luggage or see my face while putting on my make-up in the morning. The fully loaded, not to mention full-sized Smeg fridge screamed: "Party!!!" , which obviously reinfored the whole super cool dorm room mood.

Overall, I liked it. I'd recommend trying it for a night or two at least – it has it's charm.

All images courtesy of Wallpaper except for the first Hipstamtic – that one's mine ;)

P.S. Their website doesn't do the rooms or the hotel justice. Google other images to get a real sense of the space.

Celebrating 25 years of Fashion Television tonight!

If you had asked the average person on the street 25 years ago about fashion, they may have been able to ramble off a few classic names like Coco, Valentino, Yves. But it wasn't until Jeanne brought the likes of Armani, Marc and Karl into our livingrooms every Sunday at 6:30pm on CityTV, that the public embraced these figures as artists and celebrities in their own right and ultimately, runway presentations, as a form of entertainment. By taking us backstage and into the ateliers of designers, she celebrated and demystified an industry and culture that previously was only accessible to the people working within it and the wealthy elite buying it. All of a sudden, in 1985, people like yours truly, at the tender age of 10, were discussing the merits of Calvin's minimalism and Lacroix's opulence at the dinner table with the whole family – – and I haven't stopped since! ;)

Tonight I had the pleasure of attending the show's 25th anniversary party.

 

 

Barbie, meet Don Draper

Oh, looks like Joan went on a diet...hmmm.

I realize that Mattel was working off of their stock molds when creating these dolls but perhaps they should have considered one important point before deciding to default to their standard sizes – the allure of Joan in particular to their audience. I'm willing to bet that her character is one of the most beloved on the show not only for her amazingly strong character but also for her beautiful and realistic hourglass shape. She represents me and most women I know the most faithfully and is without a doubt the Barbie I would have been most inclined to buy. But, because the doll so clearly doesn't do her justice – it sort of ruins the whole effort a bit. A shame really considering how fun they are. Slated for release in July. Read more here.

Barcelona Diaries: San Nicasio Crisps

Potato chips are one of those snacks that everyone loves, but, generally would never dare eat directly from the bag in public. For example, you could walk down the street drinking a trendy Starbucks Mocha Chip Frapuccino, which packs a whopping 590 calories and 22 grams of fat per 24 ounce serving, and no one would necessarily judge you as being low-classy or sloth-like. But, if you did the same with a bag of chips, you would likely be on the receiving end of a series of judgmental looks – even though a small bag is less than half of the calories of the aforementioned Starbucks. Because of this unfair stigma, most people reserve chip snacking to the privacy of their own couch or lost in a sea of other snacks on a table at a picnic, where the focus is diluted.

As a fan of all things potato, I believe the approach to chip bag design needs a re-think to remove this frumpy image – this is where the lovely photo above comes in. While dining at Inopia in Barcelona this week, I spied these remarkably charming chip bags on the restaurant's shelves and my instant thought was: "that is so beautiful – I must have it." Usually, that type of enthusiasm is reserved only for brands like Ladurée and Fauchon, not fried food snacks.

Spanish based San Nicasio has elevated the humble chip to a thing of artisanal beauty, touting their use of Himalayan pink salt and extra virgin olive oil. Who doesn't love the idea of pink salt? And don't even get me started on how much better olive oil fried anything tastes. Every time I had patatas bravas during my trip, I nearly lost mind mind wondering why everyone doesn't fry in olive oil all the time.

Anyhow, I digress. Like any other product, packaging is critical in creating desire and instilling pride of purchase and so I say, it's time for chips to have an identity makeover. Wouldn't you feel good about showing up to a party with "beautiful" chips that taste amazing and have pink salt? This design–crazy lady certainly would!

Where has this great insight gone?

I can't stop looking at these Lego ads from 1981 over and over again – I love them so much. Why? Because I feel like I don't see this type of dialogue anymore. It feels like toys today are so rarely this gender neutral. It feels like feminism and girl power have been been distorted and morphed in to something disingenuous and opportunistic that resembles Paris Hilton and the Pussy Cat Dolls.
Walking in to a Toys R Us recently, I was overwhelmed by the oppressive and dominating themes of girls' toys centered around grooming, shopping, cooking, caring for baby and being a provocative Princess. It made me wonder if the deeply sexist world portrayed in Mad Men that I marvel at weekly on HBO is really that distant.
Yes, I too played with Barbies when I was wee and pink certainly played a large role at that impressionable age too, but there were other choices as well. I played with Lego, Star Wars figures, video games, science kits, board games, art supplies, books and had a bicycle and a skate board.  And although I did like the idea of having an invisible jet like Wonder Woman, being a "sexy princess" never factored in to my plans.
This dominating "pinkafication" of all things female feels alarmingly regressive and unapologetically sexual. In addition to little girls like Suri Cruise wearing high-heels, (you can now buy them for your baby too), everything for moms, teens and young girls alike seems geared towards a more mature, sexed-up, celebrity and material obsessed culture. Even Dora, who should be dressed as her name suggests, as an explorer, has recently veered into Bratz territory. Tween Dora is now a sexy version of her former self, with longer hair, slender legs, short dress, jewels and ballet slippers – not exactly all-terrain wear.

Review: The September Issue

The September Issue was a fun way to spend an hour plus, but ultimately I was underwhelmed. It simply didn't give a huge amount of insight into Anna Wintour, or the enormous amount of work behind putting a magazine to press. After the umpteenth shot of Grace Cottington looking forlorn, staring off in to the distance, or marching up and down a hallway lined with clothing racks, I started to feel that the documentary's director missed an opportunity to make a real statement about the industry at large. Instead, the result was something that never moved beyond a portrait of how Grace works so hard and Anna just ruthlessly edits her work down.

There's obviously so much more to the equation and the film just barely scratches the surface, never showing the thinking behind what inspires the various editorials or how changes in the economy or societal values influence how cultures dress themselves. As someone who has art directed and produced many fashion shoots, I can attest to the amount of thought, inspiration and crazy logistical details that go in to each and every photograph in a story, and sadly so little of that behind-the-scenes magic was really touched upon.

As for Wintour, who is widely regarded as the most important and powerful person in the entire fashion industry, she surprised me by failing to give any real insight into why fashion is important to her or valuable to life in general. Her main point in the film was that many people feel intimidated by fashion because they don't feel like part of the cool group. Be that as it may, was that really the key idea I was meant to leave with? Surely we already know that Vogue doesn't exist simply to exclude people? I mean, come on, give us something to chew on Anna! You've had a whole career of defending your vocation to your disapproving family, society, and the fickle media. Surely you have something to say about how we live in the most accessible time in history, where anyone can look great at any budget and how good design has never been more democratized and available. Or what about how fashion is about beauty, individuality and the creative process, and is as noble an art form as any –  inspired by so many factors that reflect what's happening in culture and our collective value system? You could have gone on to talk about how it's about personal expression and pleasure, tribalism, belonging and can bring as much happiness to our lives as any other interest.

I know I'm getting a little heavy here but it's a subject close to my heart that I have obviously had to defend many times in my career. People that judge a love of fashion as being merely frivolous and snobby really miss the point. They deny themselves the power of using clothing as a communication medium and most importantly, as means of creative expression and pleasure. I'm disappointed that the queen bee of fashion didn't use this rare look into her world as an opportunity to say something more profound. But who knows, maybe there isn't a deeper layer for her or perhaps the elusive media persona she has cultivated over the years has rendered her mum.

Retailers take note

People that know me have heard me wax on about how annoyed I become when I see women dragging around their significant others shopping. You see the scenario play out over and over – woman is attempting to engage her man in the sport of her trying on 47 pairs of jeans and he, is slowly suffering a painful death, never knowing if his feedback is what she wants to hear. I am so tempted in this situations to say something to these ladies because they really shouldn't bother trying to turn their lovers into their girlfriends. After years of working in retail, I can safely say that most straight men simply don't find shopping fun and no one wins – it's not a bonding exercise for couples! And yes, I'm referring mostly to clothes and the like – not important major purchases like a car.

Well, while hitting some boutiques on Queen West this weekend, I encountered a store that had this awesome Gun N' Roses pin ball machine which was free to all patrons to use. Genius idea! Obviously, I still don't advocate couples shopping together – but sometimes it's unavoidable. In that case, having some amusing distraction for men other than a chair might work in everyone's favour. Maybe Barneys, Saks and Neiman's should consider a waiting area with game consoles, internet access and drinks in their women's denim and shoe departments? Sort of like an elegant airport lounge for men. Who knows, they might even look forward to going there. Just a thought. ;-)