A few months back, while S was vacationing in Mexico, a rather epic email landed in The Backseat Stylers’ inbox. It was from the lovely Sarah Casselman, Senior Editor, Fashion News at FASHION Magazine, and she wanted to know if we were interested in being profiled in the publication’s November issue. Needless to say, S immediately jumped up from the computer and ran around her hotel room screaming at the top of her lungs, while T was having a similar reaction back home in Toronto. We obviously played it cool in our reply (we limited the number of exclamation marks to 2!), but, in truth, we were freaking out. There’s just something so magical about print.

Shortly thereafter, we found ourselves searching for articulate yet witty answers to interview questions Sarah presented to us, like: “What’s on your fall must-have list?”; “What do you two fight about?” (nothing!); and “Who is your style icon?” But the most critical question running through our heads was, “What are we going to wear?” For the portrait that would accompany the article, that is. We are, after all, fashion bloggers. So we set off to style one outfit each that would sum up each of our sartorial existences. Dramatic characterization, yes, but it was a daunting task indeed.

Naturally, T immediately hit the mall, with friends D and E in tow. In one whirlwind shopping trip, she pulled together the key pieces for her ensemble. At the new J.Crew store, she picked up a fuchsia rose print skirt that she paired with a silk blouse with decorative metal collar tips and a smart tuxedo jacket, both from Zara. S took a different route, calling up one of her favourite designers, Sunny Fong. During one very fun studio visit, we worked with Sunny to pull together a fabulous look from VAWK’s Fall 2011 collection. S felt like a superhero in the wine-coloured, fur-trimmed trench and leather shirt-and-tie combo we picked out; thank you, Sunny! Topping off our respective ensembles with fierce boots by Acne and Alexander McQueen, we were ready for our photo shoot.

Enter Emma McIntyre, the Toronto-based photographer extraordinaire who patiently snapped away as we (awkwardly) posed, strutted and “smeyes”-ed up and down Queen Street West. “You look terrified,” Paul later observed of the chosen shot, and then added (upon noting S’s look of dismay), “but in a modelly sort of way.” Nice save. Despite our obvious shortcomings as models, Emma managed to expertly capture a FASHION-worthy shot (tellingly the very last frame of the day!), and for that we are indebted to her (thank you!).

FASHION’s November issue hits newsstands next week. Gwen Stefani is on the cover, as are promises to share with you (a) what to wear now, (b) how to find your dream job on Twitter and (c) how to identify male gold diggers who are after your money. If that’s not enough to entice you to buy the issue (unlikely, we know), our feature is also on page 192. Thank you to Sarah, Nicole Stafford, Caitlin Agnew and the rest of the FASHION team for putting us there! And to Editor-in-Chief Bernadette Morra, too, for allowing our mugs to grace her fabulous magazine.

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