Here are three stores that that I found to have a large selection with photos so bareboned that they remind me of sexless Terrie Richardson photos (is that even possible?). I’m planning on visiting Oak this fall on my Labor Day trip, I’m setting my expectations high.

Reborn – Montreal

Though this store has probably been covered to death in local Canadian magazines and newspaper, it’s only with good reason. This tiny Old Port boutique has an eclectic and very black selection, selling equally black and gunmetal gray accessories such as laptop cases, handcrocheted bracelets, and leather bags. Among the brands are a couple of homegrown designers like Rad Hourani and Complex Geometries, and man-of-the-moment Alexander Wang. Expect to pay an ultra shiny penny for these pieces though.

Oak- New York

I found this store online while perusing for Alexander Wang outside my usual Net-a-porter playground, and discovered some pretty rockin’ accessories with equally amazing shoes (too bad they’re all sizes 6 and up). Even better was their impressive list of 50+ designers in the same genre. And what about those amazing editorial shoots? Très chic mes amis.

Dover Street Market – London

Ok, so their best arsenal isn’t quite available online, but it’s worth a mention since Helene from TheLuxeChronicles had told me about it a couple of months ago on my trip to London. It is perhaps the mother of all avant-garde stores, curated by none other than the Queen of Avant-garde fashion, Rei Kawakubo from Comme Des Garçons. Here you’ll find coveted pieces you probably won’t find anywhere else and find bewitching pieces by the likes of Azzadine Alaïa, Hussein Chalayan, and Gareth Pugh. Spread across 5 floors, you’ll be swimming in heaven from top to bottom. A must-see for anyone traveling to London.

Image credits: Oaknyc, Reborn, Dover street market

It’s a beautiful smoggy morning in sunny California

Yes, smog is a huge problem in the state of California. An hour away from LA I could already see the smog hazily hanging over the rolling golden California mountains. The traffic is incredible, I’ve never seen so many cars in one area. However, spending much time here can easily make you forget that there’s smog in the air since you have to really be on the outskirts of the city to see it.

The state lives up to its “California Casual” looks with beach sandals, flowing white shirts, floral prints, and sundresses. Beachwear is a must in Santa Monica, especially since you’re so close by the ocean. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to sift through the local boutiques to check out the fashion.

San Francisco was a different story and climate altogether. It was pretty windy and chilly in San Francisco. With such cold weather, fashion statements here were fleece sweaters, and zipped up hoodies galore if you’re hanging out near Fisherman’s Wharf. However if you wind up downtown near Union Square, the atmosphere is totally different. During the day, the sun is hot and temperatures rise to 25C-30C, while throngs of people hustle and bustle the fashionable streets. Surrounding Union Square are loads of brand stores including Macy’s, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, and the usual luxury stores like Prada.

Being that Holt Renfrew can’t quite compare to Neiman’s or Saks, I took a spin in both store looking for my one purchase for my trip. In San Francisco, I noticed the styles were geared towards a slightly more younger crowd at Neiman’s than the one I went in Houston. Neiman Marcus had a huge selection, but I deemed it too old and the layout too cold for me to sift through the clothes. I ran over to Saks Fifth Avenue afterwards and enjoyed their store way more. At Saks, they put brands together side by side giving you a continuous round of clothe sifting instead of seeing each brand separated by a wall.

Don’t Mess With The Zoran

Having heard of Zoran in “The End of Fashion” by Teri Agins, this elusive designer has no website to speak of but commands a loyal following. Certainly a website can’t do much justice to garments in general since you can’t touch them or zoom in on the details. So when I came across his collection at Saks, I immediately examined and pawed my way through his clothes. What impresses me most about Zoran isn’t his designs (that in itself is quite unique, they’re one size fit all) but the fabrics he used to make them. Incredible fabric! I’ve never touched anything so special in my life, one of them was a vest or coat with shiny, shiny fur pieces  (so shiny I’m debating whether it’s real fur or a type of fine synthetic thread) overlapping in sections. It’s hard to describe, but the fact that these pieces were sewn or glued on to sheer fabric made it all the more impressive. So it’s no wonder his shawls and coats were over $3000 a piece, but I need something with a bit more pizazz.

Alaia

After making rounds on the floor, that pizazz settled on Alaia, which I’m assuming is the brand that belongs to Azzedine Alaia. Now honestly, I don’t know much about Azzedine Alaia, neither of his shoes or his designs, I have no idea who this man is or what his design concepts are about. This is unimportant (in this case) as I don’t buy into brands anymore and don’t have loyalty to any particular one. The dress and skirt that I had found at Saks in San Francisco at Alaia is nothing short but breathtaking.

I didn’t check the name while I was browsing, I was simply attracted to that pure white colored dress, the fabric was out of this world. I personally like stiff fabrics, it demonstrates to me that it’s durable, has structure and won’t wrinkle very easily. I can’t even describe very well how this fabric felt- it was like it was tightly embroidered in flowery patterns (all in white, so you can’t really tell unless you’re upclose to it) and lined beautifully. The dress was sleeveless, and the skirt was a little bell-shaped, and the back of the dress had dozens of small metal hooks and a seamless zipper. What I would have given to have the chance to try it on, but knowing at a price tag of $3200, there was no point in putting it on. There was a waist skirt made of the same material and priced slightly lower at $2600. *sigh* Here I am touching the cream of the crop of fabrics and I can’t afford these incredible pieces unless I wanted to forgo a few month’s worth of salary.

Dejected, I went upstairs to the bridge collections, and after pawing through the best of fabrics a level below, going to the more affordable bridge collections felt like a jip. Though I have to say that bridge collections are more youth oriented, hence why they’re more affordable, but the quality in many of these pieces just isn’t the same. I pawed through several pieces by Phillip Lim, D&G, Alice + Olivia, but no good…that Alaia dress had me mesmerized to the core.

Theory

This brand had the office look going on that I liked a lot, and pawing through the fabrics made me realized that this brand had not too shabby fabric for some pieces. I tried on 2 dresses, one was a white and silver stripped shirt dress and the other was a little black dress that tied in the back. I loved the shirt dress a lot, it really did look like it was just a really long shirt and forgot to put a skirt on, I felt sexy in it even if it I was covered up to my knees. The black dress was nice too except I was battling the zipper and it was very difficult to get into the dress itself (not to mentioned that it was dirty with makeup and other stains I couldn’t identify). I refuse to buy clothes that I have to fight my way in, so I bought the shirt dress and to my delight, it was on sale. Originally priced at $315, it cost me $210 (and made in the USA).

So this wraps up my trip to the US and now I’m back in Montreal surfing the waves of the internet. By the way, you won’t be able to find Alaia and Zoran on Saks Fifth Avenue’s website, I’m assuming these are very prestigious collections that will probably never go on sale, so their pieces aren’t available for purchase online.

Image credits: Alaia dress from arts of fashion, saks fifth avenue