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.

• The Skyy Wilde Ginger, named for stunning starlet Olivia Wilde (in town for Butter), features lemonade and cranberry juice spiked with Skyy Infusions ginger vodka and a hint of honey. It’s like the cosmo’s spicier, more sophisticated sister.

• After a few sips of The Skyy Lively Temptress, let’s hope things get more exciting than the performance Blake Lively (Hick) turns out on Gossip Girl. Pineapple juice spiked with vodka is punched up with ginger ale and a spring of fresh mint that will have a seductive sipper spotted in no time.

• In years past, Ralph Fiennes (Coriolanus) has been seen at the Park Hyatt Roof Lounge with Harvey Weinstein, and maybe this year we’ll catch them sharing a Skyy Feelin’ Fiennes. The simple and refreshing drink of vodka, sparkling grapefruit juice and fresh cucumber will likely be closest thing to a fruit or vegetable many festival party-goers will consume during TIFF.

(Images: cocktails, Skyy Vodka; Wilde, Gage Skidmore; Lively, Hick; Fiennes, Marie-Lan Nguyen)

In “the most urgent alert the PTC has ever sent to parents,” the American Parents Television Council doesn’t pull any punches:

Skins is filled with graphic content involving high-school children, including depictions of teens drinking, smoking marijuana, and using massive quantities of drugs, engaging in violent acts, and having irresponsible sex with each other, with their schoolteachers, and with other adults.

Hmm, when you put it that way… Though an executive producer of the American version claims it is considerably tamer than its British inspiration, the show has received a rating of TV-MA, which is reserved for the most objectionable television.

MTV’s Skins been getting mixed reviews from the critics, as well, both for its explicit content and its dystopian storyline, but Hank Stuever from the Washington Post found fault with another of the show’s qualities:

You would think a show such as Skins, which brags about its realism, wouldn’t feel so fake and . . . Canadian. Originally set for Baltimore, “Skins” was instead filmed in urban Toronto, using mostly Canadian kids, and the producers seem to think Americans won’t notice. So much of our cheap and limitless programming now, seen everywhere from NBC to MTV to HGTV, has a telltale and even aggravating Canadianness about it; the only way Skins could possibly feel more Ottawan is if Alanis Morissette popped up wearing a Mountie uniform and sang a new song called “Oot ‘n’ Aboot” while helping some “Property Virgins” find a renovated two-bedroom condo.

Wow. We had no idea that “Canadianness” was as deeply offensive as rampant teenage sex and drug use. In the future, we’ll try to tone it down with our talented film industry, our favourable economic policies and our infamously lovely manners. Yeesh.

Skins premieres tonight at 10 p.m. on the Movie Network.

• Under the Skins, it’s Toronto [Toronto Star]
• In ‘Skins,’ teens’ good times are a grown-up’s nightmare [Washington Post]
• Kids Inc.: Degrassi’s Raymond Ablack and Skins’ Camille Cresencia-Mills discuss post-millennial TV teenagedom [Toronto Life]

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.

RA: Most teens don’t live in lavish beach condos. Our viewers relate to kids from middle-class Canada or America. My character’s a regular kid. He deals with strict parents, and he’s struggling to keep his girlfriend. Everyday problems.

CCM: And for teens, those everyday problems really are huge. In high school, breaking up with your boyfriend can feel like the end of the world.

Drugs like MDMA are big right now. It’s funny, because I showed my parents an episode of Skins in which the kids are doing some. They didn’t know what it was.

RA: Statistics say that the number of sexually active kids under the age of 18 is going down. I would guess that drug use is going up. At least it feels that way.

Everybody loves my character, Sav. He’s kind of like Ferris Bueller. Next season is probably my last. It would be cool to see him get killed off. Not so cool for the character, but it would be fun for me.

CCM: Yeah. Getting killed off is definitely the ultimate way to go. I’m hoping that Daisy goes over to the dark side a little bit. She’s so responsible.

TV
Skins
Premiering Jan. 17
The Movie Network

TV
Degrassi
Fridays
MuchMusic

(Photos: Derek Shapton)

(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 »

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.

This is one Hollywood heartthrob who hasn’t forgotten where he came from (though to be fair, as home to Canada’s largest rib festival, Burlington is no slouch in the stomping grounds department). A fan spotted Gosling visiting the local Best Buy on Boxing Day, which means—sigh—he’s frugal and into electronics (or interminable lines and underinformed staffers). Then, just this week, the actor was spotted at Pearson airport.

Oh, to be a fitted black baseball hat.

• New Year at home [Lainey Gossip]

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]

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

It’s major exposure for labels that are in their infancy; Kee, for example, just graduated from Ryerson in the spring. It also means that hipster girls in the making and Gossip Girl fans (Jessica Szohr is on the cover) are watching some of Canada’s rising fashion stars. We knew they would catch on.

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.”

Wearing a loose untucked shirt and baggy black pants, with wavy blond hair and a cherub face, Fast looks more like a surfer than someone working in fashion. He’s sitting on a low bench trying to make himself heard over the music blasting throughout the restaurant as media and industry types mingle in the bar area. Flashes occasionally go off, though the photographers are disappointed that Canadian model Coco Rocha couldn’t make it due to a late flight. In the back, bloggers congratulate Shinan Govani on his book, and Fashion Television’s Glen Baxter chats with models dressed in Fast’s creations. It’s a peculiar scene for someone who was living in a small town outside Winnipeg a little more than a decade ago.

“There was a subculture of ravers and Goths,” Fast recalls of the local teen fashions. “We had our own sense of style—buffalo chic, or rather bohemian.” He says he has always wanted to be involved in the fashion industry in some way, though he wasn’t a kid who made his own clothes; his mother was the resident seamstress and a source of inspiration for Fast, who would watch her sew at home.

The budding designer moved to Toronto to study patterns and garment making at Seneca College’s Newnham Campus for a year before moving across the Atlantic to get a BA and MA at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design (he graduated last February). Fast’s name is now among the school’s famous alumni: Stella McCartney, Paul Smith, John Galliano and Zac Posen.

As for his signature knitwear, he began experimenting with the medium at the suggestion of a tutor at Saint Martins. “All you have to do is inject contemporary yarn into traditional stitching,” he says of his clothes. “I could take the usual sweater and inject a Lycra yarn into it to completely change it.” Fast says he also gets his ideas from old photographs and movies by such unconventional filmmakers as Tim Burton and Terry Gilliam.

“I could say a bunch of worlds like ‘strong’ and ‘brave,’” he says when asked to describe the woman he designs for. “But I design for just about anyone who appreciates good quality and craftsmanship.” His ideal celebrity model? Tilda Swinton.

With that, he gets up to talk to the dozens of other people hoping for a moment of Fast face time before he flies back to London the next day. But this won’t be the last time Canadians will be hearing of him; he has a few (unannounced) local projects lined up and sees the sartorial sparkle in Hogtown. “You can always find pockets and subcultures of great fashion here. Sometimes Toronto can be more fashionable than London.”

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).

As a finale, Mercer and McKenzie stomped down the aisle together. After his turn at the end of the catwalk, Mercer removed his blazer and flung it over the shoulder. The room squealed, and designers Shawn Hewson and Ruth Promislow received a standing ovation—and believe us, it wasn’t for the clothes.

See photos of the entire collection below.

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.

Across the street, the Avenue at the Four Seasons was equally packed, but the ever-so-cool George Clooney was still comfortably chit-chatting in the lobby. Perhaps caught off guard by the menacing crowd of young folk faltering on furniture while busting it to Black Eyed Peas, a befuddled Richard Kind—who stars in the Coen Brothers’ A Serious Man—took one step onto the balcony and with tired eyes mumbled in our ear, “I think I’m going to go to bed now.”

Can’t say we blame him.

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.

The room was rammed with media getting their faces spritzed with Acai Damage-Protecting Toning Mist and being educated on a three-minute updo from Goody that will have you looking like a messy-on-purpose Gossip Girl in a flash. Poor Goody model, she had been getting her hair brushed all day long and appeared beyond fatigued from the primping. We were most elated with the SoU! Quick Fix line of drinkable vitamins; SoU! Detox and Hangover is what we’ll be sucking back for the next 10 days, and we’ll bumper that with a test tube of stress relief, and energy elixir. Buzz, buzz. Here we go! Tossing a handful of decadent Richart chocolates in our mouth (Paul Haggis also indulged) we made a jump across the hall and beelined to the Skyy Vodka bar. Fill ’er up! Feeling groovy back on Bloor, we balanced things out with some Fiji water. The festival cycle: drink, spritz, hydrate, gorge, protein, garbage, vitamins, booze, acai, smoke, vodka, medicate, water. Repeat.

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.

DELPHIC
The store is offering discounts of up to 60 per cent off duds by such heavy-hitting designers as Fred Perry, Pringle and Henrik Vibskov. Satisfy the inner Gossip Girl with a short black Fred Perry dress for $135 (originally $225). 706 Queen St. W., 416-603-3334.

FREDA’S
The Bathurst fashion stalwart has reduced its entire spring line by up to 60 per cent. Look for flirty dresses from Tadashi and Nicole Miller at half price. To August 1. 86 Bathurst St., 416-703-0304, fredas.com.

HEEL BOY
Snag that perfect summer accessory and laugh at everyone who paid full price. Everything has been reduced by 25 per cent (new arrivals exempted), meaning a fringed leather hobo bag by Kenneth Cole is now $165 (down from $220), and mid-calf Dolce Vita gladiator sandals are $135 (down from $180). 682 Queen St. W., 416-362-4335, heelboy.com.

HOLT RENFREW
Holts lures in the recession weary with up to 60 per cent off men’s and women’s fashions and accessories. Need we say more? To July 16. 50 Bloor St. W., 416-960-2909, holtrenfrew.com, plus two other GTA locations.

OVER THE RAINBOW
Over the moon is more like it, if you’re shopping for jeans by True Religion, Seven and Penguin. This is the store’s second markdown this season, bringing discounts to 50 per cent. 101 Yorkville Ave., 416-967-7448, rainbowjeans.com.

PRELOVED
The annual summer sale bonanza at this vintage-remix institution is over, but much of the spring and summer line is still discounted by 30 to 70 per cent. A mega-volume high-waisted peasant skirt is $49 (down from $149), and a denim mini is $35 (originally $49). 881 Queen St. W., 416-504-8704, preloved.ca.

RESPONSE
The West Queen West boutique is offering 30 per cent off handbags and up to 70 per cent off selected shoe styles, including these au courant lace-up wedges by Bronx ($156). 690 Queen St. W., 416-366-5394, responseclothing.com.

ROBBER
This petite new shop’s end-of-season sale includes spring clothing from Built by Wendy, Dace, Permanent Vacation and others, all marked down 25 to 40 per cent. 863 Queen St. W., 647-351-0724, robberstore.com.

VOCADO
Emily Dobbie, the owner of Liberty Village’s chic new CanCon-heavy clothing store, has marked everything down by 25 per cent. Already discounted items, including Dace shorts ($67), which Dobbie says are a summer must-have, are up to 50 per cent off. 171 East Liberty St., 647-347-7153, vocado.ca.

HOME

BLVD INTERIORS
Floor models are up to half off, and promotional items are marked down by 20 to 55 per cent at this temple to modernism, including the oak-veneer Wave bed, going for $1,297 (down from $2,000). 570 Queen St. W., 416-362-5222, blvdinteriors.com.

DEXTERITY
The fine furnishings store is boasting a slew of deals, including 10 per cent off furniture and 25 per cent off other items. But don’t trust their math: we saw a cognac-hued sofa by the B.C. designer Van Gogh going for $1,195 (down from the original $1,579), and a bamboo-inlay wooden box was slashed to $70 from $140. Until July 19. 773 Queen St. W., 416-703-6185.

ELTE AND GINGER’S
The furnishings and hardware duo is offering mad discounts. Thousands of rugs will be marked down by 20 per cent, and everything from beds to bathtubs to broadloom can be had for 30 per cent to 40 per cent off. From July 11. 80 and 95 Ronald Ave., 416-785-7885, 416-787-1787, elte.com.

ROOMY HOME INTERIORS
In anticipation of its late-August reno, the store has discounted many of its floor models by 25 to 50 per cent. Roomy Home Interiors specializes in space-saving designs for the condo crowd—the kind of customers who appreciate the irony of owning something called the Irony chair ($110, down from $275). They’ve also discounted paintings by the local artist Danielle O’Connor Akiyama. 232 King St. E., 416-203-6813, roomy.ca.

STYLEGARAGE
Score 20 per cent off all Gus*Modern upholstered goods, which includes most of the sofas and chairs in the shop. The sleek virginal-white Trudeau chair is down to $920; better yet, the not-so-virginal black leather incarnation is $1,160 (much more befitting of its namesake). July 16 to August 16. 938 Queen St. W., 416-534-4343, stylegarage.com.

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.

DELPHIC
The store is boasting discounts of up to 60 per cent off duds by heavy-hitting designers like Fred Perry, Pringle and Henrik Vibskov. Satisfy the inner Gossip Girl with a short black Fred Perry dress for $135 (originally $225). 706 Queen Street W., 416-603-3334.

FAIRVIEW MALL
The mall is having its summer clearance event. Show up on Tuesday or Friday and do the grocery shopping too: the new farmer’s market operates from 10 to 6. July 6–12. 1800 Sheppard Ave. E., 416-491-0151, fairviewmall.ca.

FREDA’S
The Bathurst fashion stalwart has reduced its entire spring line by up to 60 per cent. Look for flirty dresses from Tadashi and Nicole Miller at half price. To August 1. 86 Bathurst St., 416-703-0304, fredas.com.

HEEL BOY
Snag that perfect summer accessory and laugh at everyone who paid full price. Everything has been reduced by 25 per cent (new arrivals exempted), meaning a fringed leather hobo bag by Kenneth Cole is now $165 (down from $220), and mid-calf Dolce Vita gladiator sandals are $135 (down from $180). 682 Queen St. W., 416-362-4335, heelboy.com.

HOLT RENFREW
Holts lures in the recession-weary with up to 60 per cent off men’s and women’s fashions and accessories. Need we say more? To July 16. 50 Bloor St. W., plus two other GTA locations., 416-960-2909, holtrenfrew.com.

JESSICA JENSEN
The handbag purveyor is offering 75 per cent off for two days only. July 9 (11–9) and 10 (11–7). 1093 Queen St. W., shopjessicajensen.com.

PRELOVED
The annual summer sale bonanza at this vintage-remix institution is over, but much of their spring and summer line is still discounted by 30 to 70 per cent. A mega-volume, high-waisted peasant skirt is $49 down from $149, and a denim mini is $35 (originally $49). 881 Queen St. W., 416-504-8704, preloved.ca.

RESPONSE
The West Queen West boutique is offering 30 per cent off handbags and up to 70 per cent off selected shoe styles, including these au courant lace-up wedges by Bronx ($156). 690 Queen St. W., 416-366-5394, responseclothing.com.

ROBBER
This adorable, petite-but-selective new shop’s end-of-season sale includes spring clothing from Built by Wendy, Dace, Permanent Vacation and others, all marked down from 25 to 40 per cent. 863 Queen St. W., 647-351-0724, robberstore.com.

VOCADO
Emily Dobbie, owner of Liberty Village’s chic new, CanCon-heavy clothing store, has marked everything down by 25 per cent. Already discounted items, including Dace shorts ($67) Dobbie says are a summer must-have, are up to 50 per cent off. 171 East Liberty St., 647-347-7153, vocado.ca.

HOME

DEXTERITY
The fine furnishings store is boasting a slew of deals, including 10 per cent off furniture and 25 per cent many other items. But don’t trust their math: we saw one particular cognac-hued sofa by the homegrown BC designer Van Gogh going for $1,195 (down from the original $1,579), and a bamboo inlay wooden box was slashed to $70 from $140. Until July 13. 773 Queen St. W., 416-703-6185.

ELTE AND GINGER’S
The swank furnishings and hardware duo are offering a pre-sale—get there before the masses descend on July 11. Thousands of rugs will be marked down by 20 per cent, while everything from beds to bathtubs to broadloom can be had for 30 per cent to 40 per cent off. July 7–10. 80 and 95 Ronald Ave, 416-785-7885 and 416-787-1787, elte.com.

EVENTS

NATHALIE-ROZE & CO.
The Leslieville DIY designer boutique celebrates its third anniversary with a storewide 20 per cent off sale, ice cream, cake and lemonade, and a raffle for three shopping sprees worth $333 each. July 11. 1015 Queen St. E., 416-792-1699, nathalie-roze.com.

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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