Retail Therapy

Get The Look: Top Street Style Trends from Toronto Fashion Week

World Mastercard Fashion Week (WMCFW) is currently in full swing and there’s no more fashionable a city in Canada right now than Toronto. Whether it’s models strutting their stuff on the catwalk, editors and VIPs sitting front row, or bloggers getting a sneak peek backstage, everywhere we turn it’s a fabulous feast for the eyes.

Being surrounded by many of the most sartorially gifted industry insiders for 5 days in a row is both inspiring and dangerous; our fall/winter wish lists have grown rapidly while we’ve people-watched over the course of the week, not so stealthily ogling the sea of chic ensembles around us. Unable to resist the urge to shop, we snuck a trip to Toronto Eaton Centre (TEC) in between runway shows. Armed with the top street style trends we’ve spotted at the fashion week tents just down the street, we scoured the 3-floor fashion mecca for pieces that would help us – and you! – get the looks.

We loved freelance fashion writer Bianca Teixeira’s cobalt blue, double-breasted pea coat, which she donned over a similarly-hued frock for a monochromatic look on opening night of WMCFW. Want a vibrant pop of colour in your fall/winter outerwear rotation too? Stop by Toronto Eaton Centre for a teal lapelless option at H&M ($129), an oxblood wool biker coat with leather sleeves at Zara ($269) or a raspberry wool blazer with contrast piping at Juicy Couture ($361). These are sure to cheer you up on a rainy fall day.

Whether it’s zebra, cheetah, or snake, the animal print trend is going nowhere fast. While it was a wonderfully loud leopard print coat that caught our eye, you can start small with a scarf like Massimo Dutti’s woollen green snakeskin foulard ($59.50) or a handbag like Banana Republic’s ‘Jamie’ box clutch ($150). For those of you who are ready to fully embrace animal print, a dress is surely the way to go. Who needs a LBD when you can rock Ann Taylor’s zebra knit jacquard sheath dress ($98) or Juicy Couture’s ponte knit green python dress ($218) instead?

We’ve spotted everything from crisp white cotton button-downs to colourfully-printed silk blouses so far this week, and one of our favourites has been the studded collar shirt we saw on Jenn Campbell, FLARE Magazine’s Senior Digital Editor. TEC has tons of collared shirts to choose from and whittling the list down to just 3 was a tough task, but J. Crew’s silk boy shirt in heart throb ($158), Club Monaco’s ‘Patricia’ silk shirt with contrast leather piping ($149.50) and Mendocino’s graphic print blouse by Clover Canyon ($312, arriving in November) are our top picks.

When it comes to statement necklaces, blogger Nelia Belkova is the queen; we’ve seen her sporting one fabulous piece after another every day this fashion week. Go big or go home, her accessories philosophy seems to be, and it’s ours too. Hang a conversation starter like H&M’s insect necklace ($14.95), BCBG Max Azria’s rocker statement necklace ($178), or the Lulu Frost for J. Crew crystal petal necklace ($220) around your neck to take your fashion week outfit to the next level with some help from TEC.

It’s the last day of WMCFW today, and U.S. retailer EXPRESS, which is launching a new store at Toronto Eaton Centre next month, is set to close the week. We’ll be live-tweeting tonight’s 9pm show, so be sure to follow @backseatstylers and @toeatoncentre on Twitter for updates straight from the runway.

See you at the tents one final time this season – and then at Toronto Eaton Centre! After all those fashion shows this week, you’ll want to do some serious shopping at TEC’s newest boutiques: Canada’s first unisex J.Crew, North America’s first Massimo Dutti, and Canada’s first Ann Taylor. We know we will.

xx, T & S

Sponsored by Cadillac Fairview

Events

J.Crew is Officially Downtown! Toronto Eaton Centre Location Now Open For Business

J.Crew has landed! For those of you who, like me, have been shopping online or making the trek to Yorkdale, your favourite source for the preppiest of sartorial goods has finally set up shop in downtown Toronto. The brand’s second store in the city finally launched yesterday at Toronto Eaton Centre to much excitement from the hipsters, the Bay Street crowd and everyone in between.

The new boutique opened up bright and early for a breakfast preview that saw some of our favourite Toronto industry insiders stop by to fondle the cashmere and ogle the statement jewelry whilst waiting for the opportunity to chat with Tom Mora, head of women’s design, and Frank Muytjens, head of men’s design at J.Crew. We caught the Beckerman clan plotting their next street style shoot, Fashion Magazine‘s Caitlin Agnew hanging out doing research in the shoe section, and a contingent of my male fashion blogging counterparts looking really, really pleased with the first J.Crew menswear offerings in the city.

I, for one, can’t wait to get the Mister all outfitted in J.Crew’s fall collection…but I think I’ll start with me first. Do you blame me really?

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Glossies

J.Crew’s Fall 2012 Campaign Stars Julia Sarr-Jamois, Caroline Issa and Other Industry Insiders

Everything J.Crew is selling these days, I’m buying. I have a healthy addiction to their jewelry, silk blouses and no. 2 pencil skirts happening right now, and it looks like it’ll continue into the fall. The retailer tapped street style stars Julia Sarr-Jamois, fashion editor for Wonderland, and Caroline Issa, executive fashion director for Tank Magazine, among other well-known faces from the fashion industry, for its fall 2012 campaign.

If the collection is good enough for Julia and Caroline, then it’s most certainly good enough for me. I’ll take one of everything Julia is wearing in that campaign shot, please.

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Runways and Showrooms

Joseph Altuzarra for J.Crew – Complete Collection!

News of the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund collaborations with J.Crew is now coming fast and furious! Yesterday we got a sneak peek of the capsules designed by Joseph Altuzarra, Pamela Love and Creatures of the Wind, and today images of the complete 7-piece collection by Altuzarra have been released.

The designs, inspired by “Brigitte Bardot in Saint-Tropez and French preppy style,” range in price from $85 for a cotton top to $345 for the espadrilles. The collection isn’t what I expected from Altuzarra, but I’m never one to turn down anything nautical, sartorially speaking. I’m all over the gingham and Breton stripes. And those espadrilles! Too cute for words.

Altuzarra for J.Crew is available for pre-sale starting tomorrow, April 19, and lands in stores on April 23. Happy shopping!

xx, S

Images via Fabsugar, NY TimesFashionista

Fashion News

Joseph Altuzarra, Pamela Love and Creatures of the Wind for J. Crew – Sneak Peek!

When winner Prabal Gurung confirmed a few weeks ago that he’d collaborated with J.Crew on the second round of CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund collections, we started to get excited. Today, Vogue.com brings us our very first look at the capsule, as well as those of runners-up Pamela Love and Creatures of the Wind, and now we’re getting really excited.

Altuzarra’s Parisian-inspired nautical sweaters, pencil skirts, and espadrilles hit stores on April 23, while we’ll have to wait until May 14 and June 11 for Pamela Love’s boyfriend jeans, belt, and shrunken jacket (clothing from the jewelry designer!) and Creatures of the Wind’s twinset, floral summer dress, and patchwork oxfords. Anxious about missing out? You can pre-order by phone starting this Thursday, April 19.

The images are rather small, but are you liking what you’re seeing so far?


Joseph Altuzarra for J.Crew

xx, S

Image Credits: Vogue

Street Style

Stylin’ from the Backseat: Superhero Kicks

The Mister, baby and me sported matching Superman Converse shoes this past weekend because, you know, that’s just how we do. We’re the biggest Superman fans around, and what better way to show it then through our footwear choices? Exactly.

The rest of my ensemble was a little less heroic looking. Smythe jackets and Balenciaga bags are pretty super, by my measure, but the Converse x DC Comics Chuck Taylors were obviously the source of my superhero powers. Or so I told the little one.

Want a pair too? Enter our giveaway over here for a chance to win some superhero kicks of your own!

Smythe blazer / T by Alexander Wang t-shirt / J Brand cargos / Converse x DC Comics shoes / J.Crew necklace / Balenciaga bag / YSL ring / MAKE UP FOR EVER make-up

xx, S

Fashion News

Joseph Altuzarra for J.Crew – Confirmed!


Joseph Altuzarra and J.Crew’s Creative Director Jenna Lyons

Fashionista reports that rumours of a collaboration between J.Crew and CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund winner Joseph Altuzarra have been confirmed by the designer himself. “So we worked on a collaboration,” he revealed, “which I think will be coming out in a few weeks.” A few weeks! That sounds delightfully soon.

“It was a really interesting project”, he went on to say, “because it was like a conflation of their language — or of their world — [and] of our world and putting it together. And I think that was really interesting for me to work on.”

Colour me intrigued. Considering how miserably I failed in my bid to nab some Prabal Gurung for J.Crew this time last year, I’m going to be extra diligent about shopping this collaboration, if it turns out to be as covetable as I’m imagining it to be. Who else is excited?

xx, S

Image Credit: Vogue

Red Carpet

Admiring from the Backseat: Jenna Lyons at NYFW Fall 2012

To some of you, any street style looks from the New York Fashion Week shows last week are already old news, but I haven’t been able to get these 2 ensembles from Jenna Lyons, President and Creative Director of J.Crew, out of my mind.

The outfits Lyons donned to the Prabal Gurung runway show and to her own presentation for J.Crew have me on a desperate hunt for the perfect pair of statement pants to wear right now and into the Spring. Naturally, I’ll have to make a stop by J.Crew, stat.

xx, S

Image Credits: Tommy Ton, Getty Images

Retail Therapy

Coveting from the Backseat: National Sweater Day 2012 Edition

It’s National Sweater Day! Today is the day we remind ourselves to throw on our sweaters, turn down our thermostats by a few degrees and join the fight against climate change.

We at The Backseat Stylers are doing our part by layering, keeping our room at much lower than balmy temperatures, and, of course, putting together this post of six of our favourite sweaters this season. What better way to support such a worthy cause than to go out and buy yourself some lovely new knitwear? Happy National Sweater Day!

Clockwise from top left:

1. Topshop knitted textured stitch cardi, $76 (available in Canada and worldwide)

2. J.Crew linen v-neck cable-knit sweater, $79.50

3. Moschino Cheap & Chic pearl-embellished striped cardigan, $495

4. T by Alexander Wang neon yellow sweater, $266

5. Rag & Bone ‘Danby’ cable-knit wool sweater, $325

6. Miu Miu knitted cotton and lace sweater, $485

xx, T & S

Image Credits: As linked

Street Style

Stylin’ from the Backseat: Resolutionary

Septembre recently asked the Twitterverse for their 2012 fashion resolutions and rounded up the responses in a blog post for Slice.ca. Mine, “To buy less and shop my closet more”, was included. So far – a mere 8 days into the new year – I’m failing miserably; all of these end-of-season sales have been far too tempting for the saleaholic not so deep inside me.

On the bright side (literally), I’ve been doing quite well with one of my other resolutions: to wear more colour. I must confess though that this is a resolution not specifically for 2012, but rather carrying over from 2 years ago. In fact, I’m a tad embarrassed to report that all 20 of my New Year’s resolutions from 2010 are still in progress, which begs the question: twenty resolutions – what was I on?! Talk about setting myself up for failure.

But this year is going to be different. This year I plan to be awesome at keeping New Year’s resolutions, starting with this wearing more colour business. My recent VAWK teal coat and J.Crew yellow sweater pairing was the most colour I’ve worn since my jogging suit-wearing days in elementary school.

Sure, I could have added orange pants and a purple floppy hat to really hammer the win home, but let’s be real. This is year three of me working on this 2010 New Year’s resolution – I’m clearly taking very baby steps. This counts as 1 point for Sharon, 0 points for the trifecta of black, white and grey. 2012 is officially off to a good start! Sartorially speaking.

Do you have New Year’s resolutions from several years ago that you’re still working on as well? Tell me in the comments so I can feel better about myself. Please and thank you!

VAWK jacket / J.Crew sweater / Joe Fresh blouse / Current/Elliott jeans / YSL ring / Ralph Lauren boots / MAKE UP FOR EVER make-up

xx, S

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