Videographer and stylist Bryanna Brown watched backstage as the jury-selected most stylish Torontonians got ready for their close-ups at our Stylebook photo shoot. Models need to be versatile, even when they aren’t professional models, so what we saw was Tony Pham jumping, Jano Badovinac eating an apple and dancing, and lots of big smiles from pregnant duo Ashleigh Dempster and Amanda Blakley. There were many outfits, too, but that kind of goes without saying.
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The city’s definitive best-dressed list: Toronto’s 12 most stylish people
This year’s inductees, as chosen by Toronto Life’s jury of experts: Fashion editor-in-chief Bernadette Morra, The Bay’s Christopher Sherman, style blogger Anita Clarke and torontolife.com’s Kevin Naulls
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THE SCENE: Greta Constantine’s splashy poolside Primer party at an Annex mansion
It was a very relaxed party. There was a lot of vodka. (Image: Erin Simkin)
We wish every fashion party took place at an Annex mansion. Greta Constantine went back to the opulent estate of Michael Cooper and Krystal Koo for the sneak peek of the second instalment of their basics line, Primer. Longtime Greta fans Amanda Blakley and Ashleigh Dempster accessorized with enormous baby bumps that had even the iciest socialites cooing (overheard: “I’d love to look half as good as she does nine months pregnant”). Daniel Johnson of the band Stereos held court by the pool (which, thankfully sadly, no one tumbled into, although there were a few close calls due to some of the deathly high heels being sported), while Jay Levine of Fashion Television and PR maven Natasha Koifman chatted like old high school chums by the vodka bar. The CBC’s Kirstine Stewart and Maple Leaf GM honey Jennifer Burke also made cameos, along with INK honcho Charles Khabouth. Suzanne Timmins—looking fierce in animal print—made a fashionably late entrance with white tux–jacketed Ports ad campaign creative director Tu Ly in tow before navigating her way delicately across the pool to get a personal tour of the collection from co-designer Kirk Pickersgill (the unofficial star of the night was his tiny godson, who was dancing like a maniac and fending off media requests). Check out the scene and read more about the collection after the jump.
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Spotted! Belinda Stronach partying with a shirtless young man at Maison
Stronach at Maison (Image: Fraser Abe)
When the official after-party for last night’s Amfar fundraiser was a bust—after Martha Wash performed, the round room at the Carlu cleared out quickly—the unofficial hot spot for post-partying was Maison on Mercer Street. Ciara Hunt, erstwhile editor of Hello! Canada, piled into the back seat of a BMW convertible and tore off to Maison, as did Society gal Ashleigh Dempster and hubby Matt George (owner of new bar Goodnight).
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Absolut’s parking lot shindig was totally the party of the night
Callum Keith Rennie parties on the roof (Image: Fraser Abe)
When someone says “party in the parking lot,” it doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. That’s why we were so pleasantly surprised to pull up to the thumping garage at York and Adelaide for the Absolut party last night. The minute we saw the stretch golf carts that ferried guests to the ninth-floor rooftop, we knew it was going to be a pretty good night. Live music by Scratch Scratch Scratch, Shaun Boothe and Shad, mostly of the hip-hop variety, got partiers in the right mood (especially one older gentleman who could do the running man like nobody’s business), though we also overheard complaints: “I feel like nothing kills the mood of a party faster than live music.”
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Shinanigans ensue at Holts Café book bash
Shinan Govani at the launch party for his new book, Boldface Names (Photo by Jen McNeely)
Amid TIFF hoopla, the National Post’s society and celebrity ink slinger, Shinan Govani, held a launch for his book Boldface Names at the Holts Café—an event that seemed to procure more boldface names than Vanity Fair’s tiresome TIFF party the night prior. The event condensed every big schmoozer-boozer in the city, culminating in champagne-induced strategic chit-chat, name-dropping and back-handed gossip.
Few parties in Toronto could hope to pull in so many prominent figures. Here’s a run-down of the crowd: Jeff Stober owner of the Drake Hotel, Amber’s Toufik Tarwa, ever-so-tanned club king Michael King, Zoomer’s Suzanne Boyd, Society dolls Ashleigh Dempster and Amanda Blakley, Ben Mulroney of eTalk, Roots founder Michael Budman, Fashion Television’s Glen Baxter, Hello! Canada’s Ciara Hunt, brash book agent Sam Hiyate, Bustle’s design man Shawn Hewson, PR powerwomen Debra Goldblatt and Natasha Koiffman, actor Kristin Booth, singer Jill Barber, the Globe’s Leah McLaren (who rode her bike into Holt Renfrew) and a sprinkle of hot-to-trot 20-somethings that brought just the right amount of sexiness to mill about the lingerie section.
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