What to buy where.

Salma Hayek, and Daughter Valentina in Redfish Kids butterfly Dress, $55

Redfish Kids Store Opens In Vancouver

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It’s about time Canada’s most original children’s wear designers/manufacturers set up their own shop made of brick and mortar.

Salma Hayek, and Daughter Valentina in Redfish Kids butterfly Dress, $55CULT SHOP OPENING | There are any number of interesting clothing designers in Vancouver, but when it comes to kids’ apparel, one company in particular stands out: Redfish Kids. Their clothes for girls and boys are not inexpensive, but they are great value when you consider that they’re impeccably made (in Metro Vancouver) and not about to wear out (think coveted hand-me-downs). Still, qualities like durability don’t begin to explain how Redfish Kids came to achieve a cult status, with celebrity moms such as Salma Hayek (pictured above) outfitting their offspring in the label. Read more

Tiffany Rings

How & Where To Buy An Engagement Ring

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Here’s the formula for buying a diamond engagement ring—and—where to get maximum bling for your buck.

Tiffany Rings

 

SHOPPING AROUND | We like to think that it isn’t the size of a diamond engagement ring that matters—but let’s face it, that’s what most people notice first. Still, what really draws you to a diamond and holds your attention is its visual performance—the brilliant, sharp flashes of multicoloured light that give it “life” when it’s moved. This has nothing to do with a diamond’s size and everything to do with its cut and clarity. Read more

Danier Leather Puffer Coat

Danier’s Great Deals For Leather Lovers

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And third, fourth and more if you shop at Danier’s frequent and fashionable leather sales.

Danier Leather

 

SALES WE LOVE | Okay, so it doesn’t do bleeding edge leather the way Skingraft does—hey, who besides Nicki Minaj dresses like a rock star anyway—but Canada’s Danier makes clothing and bags with enough twist and bite to appeal to most leather-loving fashionistas. It also has wicked ongoing sales, which is how we came to discover it—and why you’ll want to check it out. Read more

Hunter Boots

Canada’s Full Of Gilt (.Com)—And Loving It!

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The website that pioneered members-only time-limited shopping now ships to Canada. Woo Hoo!

Hunter Boots

 

SHOPPING AROUND | With its crazy good deals on coveted designer products like the Hunter boots pictured here, Gilt used to be one of my favourite online shopping destinations.

But then the trouble of getting my purchases home—Gilt only shipped within the United States—eventually got to me. Besides, we Canadians finally got our own flash shopping sites (CLICK HERE for our story). Still, I’d wistfully check Gilt every so often if only for inspiration. Read more

Jenna Lyons's Closet - Domino

How To Shop Your Closet And Get Results

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Here’s how to shop your own closet to find more than a few new outfits you never knew you had—results guaranteed!

Jenna Lyons's Closet - Domino

 

WASTE NOT | The whole notion of “shopping your closet” makes perfectly good sense—in theory. Who wouldn’t want to expand their wardrobe by mixing and matching their existing separates in new and unexpected ways. Who wouldn’t want to put their little-used shoes, bags, scarves and jewels back into heavy (and more creative) rotation. Read more

Partick Cox Geox Brouges for Elton John - The New York Times

Fun With Shoes: Shiny Brogues Are The Bomb

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There’s gold on them thar heels—toes, too! But hey, you don’t need to hit pay dirt to afford gilded oxfords or brogues.

Partick Cox Geox Brouges for Elton John - The New York Times

 

CHEAP & CHIC | We aren’t sure who showed them first (we’re not that consumed by fashion), but it may have been Belgian fashion superstar Dries Van Noten in his 2007 men’s collection. Whoever it was that spun the traditional Scottish brogue into gold inspired plenty of other shoemakers to follow suit. Just last week, The New York Times showed metallic brogues (pictured above; read story here) from a collaboration between mega shoe star Patrick Cox and the Italian Luxe brand Geox. They were made for Elton John for his for new Vegas show “The Million Dollar Piano.” Elton’s been photo’d wearing the supershiny gold brogues, and images of this shoe have been showing up everywhere on the internet because, over the past year and a half, shiny gold oxfords and brogues have been blowing up. Read more

On The Bright Side

Have To Have It: The Joe Fresh “It” Coat

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Cool hunting fashionistas have been waiting for this one: the Joe Fresh neoprene topper.

On The Bright SideCHEAP & CHIC | Say it ain’t so, Joe Mimran? Tell me you’re going to produce more than a limited number of what had to be the coolest coat on the Joe Fresh runway at LG Fashion Week in Toronto last spring. You know the manteau I’m talking about: the oversize neoprene topcoat that comes in colours so intense and on trend that most Canadian fashion journalists who saw it at the show proclaimed it an instant hit—then promptly stuck it on their need-to-get-one list. Read more

Swatch wrap bracelets

Two Top Wrist Wraps From Hermès & Swatch

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When it comes to the current fashion in bracelets, one good turn deserves another, and another, and another.

Swatch wrap braceletsSTYLE GUIDE | Back in 1991 when Hermès introduced the first double-turn strap on a watchband with it’s now iconic Cape Cod watch, little did the fashion world know the revolution it would cause. Now everyone from Marc Jacobs to Fossil has a multi-turn strap for the timepieces in their line. And what Hermès has done for watch straps it has also done for bracelets. Read more

Jil Sander for Uniqlo autumn-winter 2011

How To Get Jil Sander For Uniqlo In Canada

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+J, Jil Sander’s hot fashion for Japanese megabrand Uniqlo, is low-end couture at its finest. Pity these pieces aren’t easily available to Canadians—or are they?

Jil Sander For Uniqlo autumn-winter 2011CHIC + CHEAP | Fashion icon Jil Sander, referred to as the queen of minimalist fashion for her single-minded focus on understated elegance—picture the perfectly tailored pant, the precisely cut coat, the impeccably executed white blouse—will end her three year collaboration with Uniqlo, Japan’s inexpensive high-style-basics chain and Asia’s largest clothing retailer, with the launch of a final (fall/winter) collection on September 7. Read more

Nordstrom Rack

Ambushed By Low Prices At The Rack

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Ambushed by unbelievable prices at Nordstrom.

Nordstrom RackSAVE ON CHIC | While I am seriously involved with a website that deals with shopping topics, I am not a shopaholic. When it comes to buying clothes, I like to have a specific goal in mind, like buying a bathing suit for example, and I can usually resist pulling out my wallet for anything other than the exact item I have on my list. Where this blue steel resolve always breaks down is when I am standing on the threshold of one of my favorite deep-discount meccas, Nordstrom Rack, where the deals are usually so crazy good that I never fail to find something I wasn’t necessarily in the market for, wonder if I’ll ever use but always wind up wearing till it dissolves into a few random threads. Read more