Given that I don’t go to New York City too often, this particular trip had me lured to Soho. I’ve never been in the popular places of NY for lack of information since there’s just so much about New York that it’s difficult to cover in short trips. But like all bloggers, I went on Google Maps’ Street View to get an idea of what Soho looked like. Honestly, it was even better than I had imagined it to be!

It’s like being on Montreal’s Plateau except with 1000 times the number of stores to shop from. I was in shopping heaven.The streets aren’t too wide, there’s stylish people at every corner it’s ridiculous. I can see why Scott Schuman finds so many people to photograph around these corners. Soho is definitely the most fashionable district I’ve encountered so far. 5^th Avenue? That’s just for show. Nobody shops there. They’re all in Soho, talking with friends, stopping by at a café for a healthy (affordable) sandwich and boutiques that are inviting, not daunting.

I had passed by the Chanel store and they had already set up a huge screen that take up the length of a large terrasse. And there’s a surprise, keep reading!

It didn’t take long for me to find the store I hadn’t expected to come across: Reiss. My first brush with this UK brand was in Washington D.C. a couple of years ago and fell in love with a  strapless plaid dress with built in corset. So I had to into Reiss and see what they had. Of course, so many choices, I could only buy one thing. I reached out for this light lilac wool coat and the sales person, a tall, sleek, black man with an English accent said to me “That’s our best selling coat in the store”. How nice. But I live in Canada, our winters are nothing to be trifled with, that coat wasn’t going to get me through the season. I saw these nice front end leather pants (apparently also a best seller accord to Black Brit) but alas, did not have my size. However, there was another person who brought me a couple of selections.

I tried on 3 pairs of pants: one of a thick wool/viscose material, another of viscose/cotton, and one pair with an elastic waistband (I didn’t pick that one).

The elastic waistband was said to be a UK 4 size or size 0, and normally I fit into those sizes, but this had to be much smaller because the pant legs would not fit over my calves! How skinny do I have to be?? Anyway, I didn’t bother trying that one on since I was too big for it, and tried the others. The thick pants were ok, but a little too snug on the tummy. The viscose/cotton pair had some nice textured details on the sides with a paneling on the knees with seamless front zip pockets. The effect kind of made me look like I had leggings on, but not quite tight enough to be leggings. I preened in the mirror. When I preen, it means a must buy.

Reiss pants: Made in Turkey, Dry Clean Only.

Note that Reiss has also a lot of clothes made in China, some better built than others. There were only 2 structured dresses that I thought were up to snuff for quality, but the rest was sort of left to be desired. So be forwarned!

While I was trying on my pants, I overhead a conversation between Reiss employees gushing that Karl Lagerfeld would make an appearance at the Chanel store in Soho for Fashion’s Night Out. Had I not heard this conversation, I wouldn’t have changed my plans for tonight, but I will definitely make a trip back to Soho to see the Kaiser in the flesh. He’s like the Pope of Fashion.

I’ll probably be hanging out more in Soho than going to the department stores. I’d still make an efford to go to the Ace Hotel to see Open Ceremony’s flea market.

I stopped in the hip Kid Robot store, a store that specializes in vinyl toys known as Dunny (rabbit-like) and Munny (human-like). I couldn’t help but buy myself a cute little pull zipper character ($3.95).

I also stopped by A Bathing Ape pop up shop, with special collaboration with Hello Kitty right around the corner. Unfortunately, we’re not allowed to take photos of the shop at all. True to Bape culture, you had to ring a doorbell in order to be let in. It was much smaller than I had anticipated and wasn’t quite sure if the store would make any sales considering the few items they sold. However, I’m still amazed by the quality of their t-shirts and hoodies, I’ve never touched anything like them. They’re like premium quality t-shirts and hoodies, and I’m not talking about designs on the clothes, it’s the materials themselves that really shine for me. I was tempted for a split second, but I think I should save my money for my real trip to Japan in the Spring.

And now dear readers, I must get ready for Fashion’s Night Out!

I had recently gone to New York city over Labor Day weekend, and it was hard to miss Fashion’s Night out as there were buses and monstrous billboard ads splashed across the urban landscape. For the occasion, over 700 stores will be open from 6pm to 11pm in New York, sprinkled with celebrities, musical performances and of course, shopping galore.

The event isn’t limited to New York only, it will simultaneously spread across Europe all the way to Japan. So if you’re lucky to find yourself into some of those fashion capitals tomorrow night, take advantage of it!

And what about Canada?

The Hudson Bay will also be partaking in Fashion’s Night Out tomorrow through their 7 The Bay flagship store across the country, according to CNW Group. The Bay’s CEO, Bonnie Brooks, states that the department store will be the only store in the country participating in the event. Montreal’s downtown flagship store is included in the list, although details of what each store will do isn’t really given except for a vague description: “…a variety of in-store events and exclusive vendor activities including makeovers and workshops, expert consultations, fashion shows, special gifts with purchase, prize raffles, music, food and drink, and an opportunity to meet designers and celebrity stylists.”

This is also to reiterate the fact that The Bay is really trying to lure shoppers back to its aisles by introducing new products and designers to the Fall lineup, and valiantly trying to put itself back onto the fashion map as it once did. For some reason, I’m also secretly rooting for them to be brought back into prominence, and give some real value to all that square footage of retail space.

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

Fall is just coming around the corner everyone, and you know what that means: fashion week madness for a month and a half. Of course as a small time blogger, one can only count to be so lucky to attend a local fashion week at all. Those who are full time fashion journalist get to do the merry-go-round the globe in four (sometimes five) different countries: New York, Milan, London, Paris and Tokyo.

On our Canadian end, we have Montreal, L’Oreal (Toronto), and Vancouver Fashion Weeks – no surprise here. The obvious difference between say NY Fashion Week and one of ours is the scale and size of the shows. NY has approximately over 70 designers last I counted, while as MFW had like – 12 designers to showcase. Also, I’ve noticed that the Canadian designers seem to showcase more so on functionality than full on glamour like the rest of the world. On one hand, this is good for buyers who own small boutiques and want to get past the flashing in fashion and get down to saleability. We’re also in an economically advantageous status as the US economy keeps going down the drain, American buyers are less likely to pick the more expensive European brands and might even give a break to local Canadian talent because – well, they’re cheaper, I’m afraid to say.

Tickets to Attend Fashion Week

This seems to be relatively new to the scene of L’Oreal and MFW for a couple of years. Both websites have posted possibilities to buy tickets to see fashion shows, unprecedented a few years ago as fashion week is usually a very restricted “media and professionals only” circle. My guess is that there are two reasons for it:

1. Because Canadian Fashion Weeks aren’t as popular, media and buyers don’t fill up the entire seating chart of many shows. This I can attest, when there are smaller, unknown brands showcasing, it’s sad to see these seats half filled. Selling tickets will fill those seats and will generate extra income in the process.
2. Fashion is a hot commodity thanks to magazines, reality shows, websites and blogs. The instantaneous 24/7 fashion wire can’t even compare to the “real deal” experience of a real fashion show. Going to one of these things is like going to see a concert of your favorite band, nothing compares to the real thing. Organizers know this, and they will play that card this year.

The big guns over at NY, London, Milan and Paris don’t need to sell tickets because people are just fighting to even have rights to get in in the first place. Everyone is just dying to see these shows, and bless the lucky souls who know others in the business to attend these prestigious fashion shows, they are something else all together.

This blogger is staying home this year

While the chances of bloggers attending fashion shows and events have risen over the last couple of years, fashion week is still a little out of our reach. But this may now slowly change with the likes of Inside The Tents making an initiative in helping bloggers get to these events. I’ve already attended 2 MFWs and quite frankly don’t think I’ll miss it much since I won’t be attending this year. It’s long hours, crowded, expensive (the food), and all too much brouhaha for a 20 minute show. I’ve only enjoyed 2-3 collections but there really isn’t much to say about them except describing their looks. That’s all what fashion week is about – describing a collection. 95% of the time it’s “fabulous” and a season’s “must-have”. We’re not really told why certain designers didn’t showcase this year or last year, most of the time it’s due to money constraints as they can’t afford to show at fashion week. Plus it’s a hassle to drag the numerous (useless) swag they give you, what am I to do with a plastic martini shaker and made-by-crocs shoes that don’t fit?

I suppose it’s another story if I were to go to the bigger venues since the usual suspects usually turn out more interesting pieces for show. I’d be happy to just attend one of each of the big shows just once in my life and I’d be happy enough.

I’ll be watching MFW from the comfort of my own home, in pajamas, lying on my couch with my laptop with pepsi and chips. Now that’s luxe.

Get Ready To Rumble

A word to the wise, if you even think about lining up only an hour before the doors open on Thursday, think again. In the past and around the world, shoppers experienced a shocker when they found a huge lineup outside H&M’s doors as early as 5 in the morning.

In 2005, it was Stella McCartney. Liz Jones from the Evening Standard in London covered her experience at H&M. She arrived 8am, the doors didn’t open until 9am and already there was a monstrous lineup. One nanny had arrived at 6:30am to buy a pair of trousers and a black dress. Most already knew what they were buying, some grabbed whatever they could and by 9:10am, the store was empty.

In 2006, Viktor & Rolf released their collection in New York, Kendall Herbst from New York Magazine described shoppers literally at war with one another. Women grabbing armloads of clothes and they didn’t care what they were getting. Shoppers sprinting, spinning, swapping, hell, it was chaos.

So if you have an eye on that leopard print silk dress, you better know your size and you better arrive early. Take no prisoners!

H&M stores around Montreal

All stores open between 10am and 9pm.

Rockland Centre
Galerie D’Anjou
Fairview Pointe-Claire
Mail Champlain
Carrefour Laval

**Please note that Cavalli’s collection will only be available at the Rockland Centre, sorry about that!