Roots » The Backseat Stylers | Toronto Fashion & Style Blog

GIVEAWAY: LINE Knitwear x Roots Vancouver Sweater

by The Backseat Stylers | October 1st, 2012

October has officially arrived, and with it the type of crisp fall weather that calls for a cozy and patriotic sweater from the LINE Knitwear x Roots collaboration. Two of our favourite Canadian brands teamed up on a collection of 4 city sweaters representing Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and Banff for fall, and we’re giving one away to a lucky reader!

We’re showing some west coast love with this contest; up for grabs is a Vancouver sweater in a size small that retails for $128. Want it? Contest rules are below. Good luck everyone!

UPDATE:

Congrats to the winner of the LINE Knitwear x Roots Canada Vancouver sweater…Kendra Thompson!

Thanks for all your entries, everyone, and stay tuned for our next giveaway!

xx, T & S

Contest Rules [CLOSED]:

1. To enter, leave us a comment on this blog post and ‘like’ The Backseat Stylers and LINE Knitwear’s Facebook pages here and here.

2. For a bonus entry (you must complete step #1 first), follow @backseatstylers and @LINEKnitwear on Twitter and tweet the following: “The @backseatstylers are giving away a @LINEKnitwear x @RootsCanada Vancouver sweater in sz S, and I want it! http://bit.ly/QSJ8Vp #giveaway”

3. The contest closes at midnight on October 9, 2012. The winner will be selected randomly and announced on October 10, 2012. The winner will be notified by e-mail.

4. This giveaway is open to our readers located in Canada only.

5. There are no prize substitutions.

Contests

4 Must-Have Jackets You Need This Fall and Where To Buy Them

by The Backseat Stylers | August 20th, 2012

The kids are getting ready to go back to school, the leaves will soon be changing colours, and I’m already dreaming of leather jackets and riding boots – sure signs that fall is on its way! And rather than fight it this year, I’m going to embrace it because autumn is, hands down, my favourite sartorial season.

My love for fall dressing is in large part due to my outerwear addiction, which I’m more than happy to share with you. The search for the perfect fall coat obviously entails a trip to Sherway Gardens, the upscale fashion and lifestyle centre in Toronto’s west end. With over 200 stores on its directory, there are plenty of stylish outerwear options from which to choose (clockwise from top left):

1. The Trench – Burberry (Available at Holt Renfrew)

Every woman needs a trench coat in her closet, and none is more iconic than Burberry’s classic take. Whether you’re on the hunt for single- or double-breasted, epaulets or no epaulets, tan or black, Holt Renfrew stocks a selection of styles from the UK-based design house. Our pick for the season is a double-breasted version with leather accents that’s classic with an edge ($1,695).

2. The Motorcycle Jacket – Jacob

Whether it’s done in cotton, wool or leather, I’ve never been able to resist a great motorcycle jacket. Jacob’s white textured cotton offering, priced at a very affordable $99, is downright irresistible. Not a practical colour, you say? With a price tag like that, this fabulous little moto jacket is completely worth the risk. (Just carry a Tide pen with you!)

3. The Blazer – Club Monaco

There’s always room for one more blazer in my rotation, especially when it’s as sharp looking as this one from Club Monaco’s September collection. Colour blocking trend or not, the combination of the light brown plaid and contrast navy sleeves is simply perfect. Dress it up for the office or keep it casual for the weekend – you’ll get a lot of mileage out of this jacket (US$249).

4. The Varsity Jacket – Roots

Whether or not you’re currently in school is completely beside the point. Varsity jackets have never been cooler, and if you aren’t lucky enough to have a vintage piece you can fish out of your (or dad’s?) closet, then Roots is your very best bet. There’s a range of styles and colours available, but our hands-down favourite is the Sorority Jacket in grey ($358).

With such chic outerwear options, it’s rather impossible to pick just one, isn’t it? That’s where Sherway Gardens’ Fall Into Style Contest comes in. Until September 17, enter to win the grand prize of a $1,000 shopping spree at Sherway Gardens or 1 of 20 $100 Cadillac Fairview shop! card® gift cards over on Sherway Gardens’ Facebook page*. And don’t forget to share your winnings with the lovely blogger who told you all about the contest. Hint, hint.

Good luck and happy outerwear shopping!

xx, S

* Open to Ontario residents only.

Image Credits: Burberry, Club Monaco, Jacob, Roots

Sponsored by Sherway Gardens

Events

Happy Birthday to Us! We Celebrated Three Years of Style With Style Blog and The Souls of My Shoes

by The Backseat Stylers | August 13th, 2012

On Tuesday, August 7, we celebrated Three Years of Style at the Thompson Toronto Rooftop Lounge, co-hosted by Nelia Belkova of Style Blog, Kimberly Lyn of The Souls of My Shoes and yours truly in honour of our joint 3-year anniversaries. You came out for the festivities in full force and knocked our Louboutin stilettos off with your overwhelming support…and incredibly stylish get-ups!

We were honoured to celebrate our blog birthday with so many of our favourite fashion industry folks, including designers John Muscat and Jennifer Wells of LINE Knitwear and Monica Mei of Aime, many of the city’s fashion writers and PR superstars, a blogger contingent that included Anita Clarke of I Want – I Got, Jay Strut of the eponymous blog, and Richard Fabregui and Marc Piercey of Toronto is Fashion, and more. It was also a huge pleasure to chat with you lovely readers and Twitter friends, many of whom we were meeting in person for the very first time.

With all the love you showed us, we couldn’t let you go home empty-handed. The first 50 guests to arrive each snagged a rather epic (in our humble opinion) swag bag featuring Ardell eyelashes, an eLUXE discount card, essence cosmetics make-up, a copy of FLARE Magazine‘s August 2012 issue, Goody Double Wear elastics, John Frieda hair products, a Nella Bella handbag hook, a Roots iTunes playlist redemption code, Tweezerman tweezers, and a bottle of vitaminwater Zero.

We also awarded our most stylish attendees with $650 worth of prizes. Our grand prize winner, Aya McMillan, took home a $250 eLUXE gift card and a Nella Bella handbag, while Jessica Chiu, Liane Fong and Diego R. each won $100 gift cards from Yorkdale Shopping Centre, Danier Leather and Roots. And as if that wasn’t already enough, we also drew Wendy Leung‘s name in our draw for a fabulous $550 LINE Knitwear leather jacket. Colour us jealous!

After an evening of such fabulous fun, we’d like to offer our heartfelt thanks to all our readers and friends who celebrated with us atop the Thompson rooftop – it meant the world to us! Thank you too to all the brands who supported Three Years of Style, Sheila Hui for all her hard work, and You Just Got Spotted for the fantastic photos to remember it all by. Not to mention lots of love to our co-hosts, Nelia and Kimberly, the very best blogging BFFs we could ever ask for. An honourable mention to Mother Nature as well for providing a stunning sunset and perfect weather for a rooftop party.

The countdown to our 4th anniversary bash next year officially begins…now!

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Runways and Showrooms

Roots Spring 2011 Shoes and Accessories Collections

by The Backseat Stylers | May 12th, 2011

Roots recently held a preview for their Spring 2011 collection at their Toronto flagship on Bloor Street. It had, quite honestly, been years since I last visited a Roots store, so when the invite landed in my inbox, I was intrigued. Stepping into the store after such a long absence, I was welcomed by floor-to-ceiling walls of leather bags to my left and shoes to my right; certainly, this visit was going in the right direction.

Of course, being the bag and shoe addict connoisseur that I am, a much closer inspection of the offerings was in order. Shoes first, naturally, particularly where gorgeous woven leather riding boots are involved. The buckled belt detailing, the tabs, the contrast stitching – these all screamed “legitimate horseback rider” to me, which I’m not but love to pretend to be. When I was informed that they’re limited edition, made-to-order, I fell even deeper in love; there’s nothing better than being able to walk down the street knowing the likelihood of bumping into a stranger rocking the same bad-ass boots is lower than running into someone wearing the same Louboutins.