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The annual list of celeb-inspired TIFF cocktails is out (with nary a Canadian to be seen)

The Skyy Wilde Ginger, Skyy Lively Temptress and Skyy Feelin’ Fiennes

Two weeks away from the start of the Toronto International Film Festival, official sponsor Skyy Vodka kicked things off with its annual pre-festival fête, this year at an appropriately swanky Forest Hill home, to reveal their celebrity-themed cocktails. In previous years, the cocktails have honoured Canadians like Ellen Page and Jay Baruchel but, sadly, this time around north-of-the-49th celebs like Sarah Polley and Ryan Gossling didn’t make the drink list. Here are a few drinks to sip on while scoping out the festival scene or drowning your nationalistic sorrow.

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The Hype

Prime Time

January 17, 2011 | 4:58 pm

10 Comments

MTV’s Skins criticized for racy teen sex and Canadianness

For teens tired of the Prada-sporting, beach house–dwelling Gossip Girl set, MTV’s upcoming Skins—a spinoff of the controversial BBC program of the same name—may offer some much-needed realism and relief. The North American version was shot here in Toronto, and though it debuts tonight, many American parenting groups are already crying foul.

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The Hype

From the Print Edition

January 10, 2011 | 9:01 am

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Kids Inc.: Degrassi’s Raymond Ablack and Skins’ Camille Cresencia-Mills discuss post-millennial TV teenagedom

The place: Sneaky Dee’s. The people: Degrassi’s Raymond Ablack and Skins’ Camille Cresencia-Mills. The subject: post-millennial TV teenagedom By Courtney Shea

Metaphorical miles away from the tony Upper East Side of Gossip Girl and the palatial hills of 90210, two TV shows are giving viewers a realistic, OMFG-free rendering of adolescent angst. Degrassi (the next generation) has been a teen staple since 2001 and was instrumental in launching the stateside careers of Vampire Diaries hottie Nina Dobrev and rap superstar Drake. Skins, the raunchy BBC series about a group of hard-partying, troubled friends in Bristol, England, quickly scored cult status after its 2007 debut. It was only a matter of time before it headed this way: the North American remake premieres this month. Both shows have won critical and popular acclaim by focusing on what’s really up with high schoolers today. And both shows are known for using young writers, and for casting untested, age-appropriate actors (instead of hard-to-believe 25-year-olds). Ryerson undergrad Raymond Ablack has been portraying Degrassi’s steadfast student body president, Sav, for four seasons. Camille Cresencia-Mills, a senior at the Etobicoke School for the Arts, recently snagged the part of the trumpet-playing prodigy Daisy—Skins’ moral conscience—after attending an open casting call. We got the onscreen goodie-goodies together for a plate of Sneaky Dee’s legendary nachos and listened in.

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The Goods

Fast Fashion

January 6, 2011 | 3:49 pm

11 Comments

Sale rack scavenger: Holt Renfrew edition

(Image: Michelangelo Manalang)

The holidays are officially over, but sale season is still in full swing. We stopped by Holt Renfrew to see what the city swank emporium has to offer on the sort of cheap (cheap, of course, being a relative term at Holts). Take a look at what we found in our slide show »

The Hype

Telling Tales

January 5, 2011 | 5:02 pm

3 Comments

Spotted! Ryan Gosling getting his Canuck Christmas on in Burlington

Ryan Gosling: Burlington or bust (Image: friskytuna)

Do we really need more reasons to love Ryan Gosling? Yeah, yeah, we know he’s dating a Gossip Girl, but let’s just put that unfortunate match out of our minds for a minute and swoon over the ukulele scene in Blue Valentine. Then there was the recent interview in which, when asked to sing whatever song came into his head, Gosling broke into the My Little Pony theme (Blake Lively probably doesn’t even know what a My Little Pony is). So we hardly need another reason to crush on Canada’s hunk with a heart, but here it is anyway: the Goz spent the holidays not at Chateau Marmont and not on some Lohanian coke bender but back home with his mom in Burlington, Ontario.

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The Goods

Shop Talk

December 14, 2010 | 3:19 pm

1 Comment

The Bay to carry Madonna’s clothing line, Material Girl

A Material Girl bustier dress

The Bay has signed an agreement to be the exclusive retailer of Material Girl, the new line from Madonna and daughter Lourdes. Already available stateside, the clothes, so far, have been ’80s-inspired and aimed at teens—hence the name and the (other) celebrity face of the line, Gossip Girl’s Taylor Momsen. The Bay will begin carrying Material Girl in the spring (though a $20 sequined tank will be at stores beginning Thursday), and most items are expected to cost around $25 to $30.

• Madonna’s clothing line to launch in Canada [Toronto Star via Fashion]
• The Bay gets Material-istic with Madonna line [Marketing]

The Goods

The Find

November 25, 2010 | 4:07 pm

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A jaunty little hat for the holiday party circuit

The popularity of Blair Waldorf-esque headbands has gone the same direction as Gossip Girl: down. This year, fascinators have made a comeback. And while there are plenty of girlish feather and bowed versions, we prefer a more grown-up look. These chic miniature berets from Toronto designer Danielle Suppa are easily held in place with a couple of bobby pins. Her fall collection comes in creams and soft grey prints that make this accessory far from ostentatious. Find them at one of our favourite new boutiques, Tabula Rasa.

Le Petit Beret fascinator, $50–$60. Tabula Rasa, 745 Broadview Ave., 416-465-4450, tabularasaclothing.com.

The Goods

Required Reading

September 8, 2010 | 8:51 am

1 Comment

Nylon magazine gives shout-out to young Canadian designers

Flip open the September issue of Nylon and you’ll find four Canadian labels featured inside: Evan Biddell, Greta Constantine, Marika Brose and newcomer to watch Amanda Lew Kee. All of them are making their mark in Toronto. The two-page shout-out, titled “Oh, Canada,” naturally, is thanks to Toronto’s 90210 starlet Shenae Grimes, who picked her favourite homegrown designers.

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The Goods

Shop Talk

December 21, 2009 | 2:52 pm

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Life in the Fast lane: Canadian designer Mark Fast returns home after turning heads in London

Mark Fast at Ame, flanked by two models in his designs (Photo by Karon Liu)

With such magazines as Rolling Stone, ID, In Style, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar and nine editions of Vogue (Korean, Japanese, Chinese, American, British, Italian, Russian, Greek and Spanish) featuring his designs, it’s odd that Manitoba-born knitwear designer Mark Fast doesn’t get more mainstream attention in his home and native land. But that could change shortly.

The 29-year-old was fêted at the Rubino brothers’ new restaurant, Ame, in Toronto on Friday night—a splashy homecoming party following recent successes overseas. Fast, who has lived in England for the past eight years, caused a stir during London fashion week when he chose three plus-size models to wear his form-fitting knit dresses; his stylist quit, saying that the models “didn’t have the walk down as well as the more experienced slimmer girls.” His clothes have recently been spotted on pretty young things, including Gossip Girl star Leighton Meester, and he won a coveted sponsorship from the British Fashion Council to show at London fashion week in February. “All of my ideas came from here, and I don’t want to be hidden away in London forever,” Fast told us on Friday. “Someday I’d like to get a place in Vancouver.”

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The Goods

Toronto Fashion Week

October 21, 2009 | 12:10 pm

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Bustle puts on a hopping show with Rick Mercer, Shinan Govani and Stacy McKenzie

Rick Mercer on the catwalk for the Bustle show (Photo by Jenna Marie Wakani)

Who says Canadians don’t appreciate their own celebs? With cameos from Rick Mercer, gossip columnist Shinan Govani and model Stacey McKenzie, last night’s Bustle show was the highlight of the evening.

Set up on the Bustle runway was a large wicker lounge chair, a drink cart, bar and barbecues. Govani tended bar, with Mercer behind the barbecue. What fun, we thought, and then remembered that we were there to look at the clothes.

Though it was an Ontario lake scene projected onto the back wall, the Hamptons was the clear reference. We watched the male models strutting in preppy shorts and blazers but were distracted by a bikini-clad McKenzie wheeling the drink cart down the runway and handing caesars to front-row spectators. At one point, she licked a celery stalk and popped it into the mouth of an unsuspecting man. Funny, yes, but what about the clothes? There were polos and shorts, cardigans and plaid shirts, all in saturated hues of raspberry, purple, red and teal with pops of white. The blazers were oh-so Chuck Bass (in a good way), and the hoodies were very American Apparel (in a boring way).

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Toronto International Film Festival 2009

September 13, 2009 | 4:46 pm

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We don’t care about the young folks: the Park Hyatt is overrun with stargazing 20-somethings

Bored of the dance: many seemed exasperated with the deluge of short-skirted 20-somethings in Yorkville (Photo by Jen McNeely)

Did Gossip Girl put out an APB directing all 19-year-old girls from the GTA to the Park Hyatt roof? The hotel has been so inundated with stargazers that metal fences are required to block the driveway at night and elevators are crammed with intoxicated 20-somethings vying for a lewd stare from any Hollywood hunk. We managed to squeeze through the human wall (thanks to National Post’s Shinan Govani) and bypass the party crashers to get a glimpse of the hoopla at the Hyatt’s Nikki Beach. Drew Barrymore was sitting pretty on the patio, but a somewhat stunned Elijah Wood was seemingly scared off by the masses of miniskirts and lipstick-stained teeth.

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Toronto International Film Festival 2009

September 11, 2009 | 5:45 pm

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The IT Lounge is where media go to swig back hangover juice and chase with vodka

The Please Mum duds that Jennifer Garner will recieve

Please mum, can I have a sweater? The objective of a gifting lounge is to connect George Clooney with a Sharpie marker, Woody Harrelson with some Teva sandals, Demi Moore with…umm…a Penny Protein Plan muffin? And then we, the media, talk about which talent scooped up what. For PRs, it’s kind of like the bonus back massage you get when you book a pedi.

The IT Lounge publicists know how to push product, and that’s why Jennifer Garner received cutesy Please Mum duds for her little Gaffleck girls delivered right to her door. Will they wear them? Not sure, but Olivia Wilde’s nieces will battle the rain with a sweet Please Mum raincoat. While taking a looksy, Wilde also fell for a J. Rox lariat necklace (designed by Toronto’s Jane Apor), which we assume she’ll wear tonight at the Artists for Peace and Justice event at The Windsor Arms.

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The Goods

Good Stuff Cheap

July 14, 2009 | 2:07 pm

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Sales roundup: Designer denim sale, 20 per cent off at Stylegarage, save up to 70 per cent at Preloved

FASHION

BEANSPROUT
Before sending the tykes off to camp, check out this sale at the kiddie outfitter Beansprout. Bathing suits, shoes and socks are marked down by 20 per cent, and seasonal footwear and togs are half price. Sizes available for newborns to 12-year-olds. 565 Mount Pleasant Rd., 416-932-3727, beansprout.ca.

BUCKLER
Men who like their fashions fresh from the NYC meat-packing district should head to Buckler, where almost everything is 30 per cent off. Hyper-trendy dark-denim drop-crotch jeans are $228, down from $325. Bonus feature: a removable zip-off panel allows them to morph into regular-crotch jeans—perfect for when the fad peters out or the wearer starts to feel self-conscious, whichever comes first. 700 Queen St. W., 416-551-8441, bucklershowroom.com.

CARTE BLANCHE
Just when everyone thought Cheap Mondays couldn’t get any cheaper, jeans at this store are now $55 (down from $69). Everything else is 25 to 50 per cent off, including—for all the Lady Gaga wannabes out there—a black, midriff-baring torpedo-bra corset for $135. 758 Queen St. W., 416-532-0347, shopcarteblanche.ca.

COMRAGS
Make like Sarah Slean and snap up a dress or two designed by these Ryerson fashion program alumnae: selected items at the store are discounted from 30 to 50 per cent. From July 11. 654 Queen St. W., 416-360-7249, comrags.com.

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The Goods

Good Stuff Cheap

July 7, 2009 | 11:56 am

1 Comment

Sales roundup: Designer sales at Holt Renfrew, Carte Blanche, Delphic and Buckler

FASHION

889 YONGE
The retail portion of this holistic spa-yoga studio is having a “secret sale”: mention those two words at the checkout counter and receive 25 per cent off James Perse and Beyond Yoga apparel. July 6-11. 889 Yonge St., 416-925-7206, 889yonge.com.

BEANSPROUT
Before sending the tykes off to camp, check out this sale at kiddie outfitter Beansprout. Bathing suits, shoes and socks are marked down by 20 per cent while seasonal footwear and togs are half price. Sizes available for newborns to 12-year-olds. 565 Mount Pleasant Rd., 416-932-3727, beansprout.ca.

BUCKLER
Men who like their fashions fresh from the NYC meatpacking district should head on over to Buckler, where almost everything is 30 per cent off. Hyper trendy dark denim drop-crotch jeans are $228, down from $325. Bonus feature: a removable zip-off panel morphs them into regular-crotch jeans—perfect for when the fad peters out or the wearer starts to feel self-conscious, whichever comes first. 700 Queen St. W., 416-551-8441, bucklershowroom.com.

CARTE BLANCHE
Just when everyone thought Cheap Mondays couldn’t get any cheaper, jeans at this store are now $55 (down from $69). Everything else is 25 to 50 per cent off, including—for all the Lady Gaga wannabes out there—a black, midriff-baring, torpedo-bra corset for $135). 758 Queen St. W., 416-532-0347, shopcarteblanche.ca.

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The Goods

Best Dressed

June 10, 2009 | 1:45 am

23 Comments

Toronto’s Best Dressed: Laya Bail and Hayley French

Pulling off the trends du jour can be a slippery slope (just ask this crazy lady), but long-time BFFs Laya Bail and Hayley French are up to the challenge. Granted, they’re also barely out of their teens and look like they walked off the set of Gossip Girl. (We’re not sure if we want to date them or be them.) This best-dressed duo, spotted at the Power Ball, explain why fashion is forever, but miniskirts have an expiration date.

Laya Bail (left) and Hayley French (Photo by Courtney Shea)

Do you guys always dress alike?
HF: No, but it does happen a lot. In high school, we’d show up at parties in the same dress. It’s because we spend a lot of time together.

You’re obviously both loving this season’s must-have boyfriend blazer. Where are yours from?
HF: Mine’s from Club Monaco.
LB: I found this at Value Village. I think it was the jacket of a little boy’s tuxedo.

Is there a recent mega-trend that you’re not so fond of?
HF: I have to say, I really don’t understand the whole drop-crotch harem pants thing.
LB: Hey, I have harem pants. I like to wear them with a hot corset. I think there are ways to pull off almost anything as long as you mix louder pieces with more basic stuff.
HF: I love people who can do that. Just toss a bunch of different things together and look really unique. I’m not good at it. My style is less daring, more classic.

How old is too old to wear lace leggings and miniskirts?
HF: I don’t know. I think as you get older, the hemlines come down and the necklines should go up. I won’t be wearing this outfit 10 years from now.
LB: I try to be appropriate. Tonight is fun. It’s an art party, so I can wear something a little wild, but you won’t see me wearing lace leggings at dinner with my parents.

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