Nothing says summer like a straw carryall. Here are six we’d love to take everywhere from the office to the beach. (LOOKBOOK)
CHEAP & ICONIC | According to Wikipedia, the infamous Hermès Birkin handbag, which retails for a minimum $9,000 and has “ultimate fashion indulgence” written all over it, was conceived in the early 1980s after a chance meeting between then Hermès CEO Jean-Louis Dumas and singer/actress Jane Birkin on an airplane. She was travelling with a bag she’d already made famous, a wicker market basket she employed as both a handbag and weekend luggage.
This original Birkin, the Jane-invented one (pictured above as she carried it in the 1960s), was a holdover from her hippie chick days, when proletarian peasant sacks and straw bags of all sorts were in fashion—as they are again today.
Here are six cool straw totes—priced from $18 to $60—we’d take along to France (where Birkin still lives), or anywhere else for that matter. —Annabel Lee Read more
Our 6 Favorite Straw Handbags For Summer
/2 Comments/in Classics & Trends, FASHION, Fashion & Beauty, View All Fashion Stories /by EditorNothing says summer like a straw carryall. Here are six we’d love to take everywhere from the office to the beach. (LOOKBOOK)
CHEAP & ICONIC | According to Wikipedia, the infamous Hermès Birkin handbag, which retails for a minimum $9,000 and has “ultimate fashion indulgence” written all over it, was conceived in the early 1980s after a chance meeting between then Hermès CEO Jean-Louis Dumas and singer/actress Jane Birkin on an airplane. She was travelling with a bag she’d already made famous, a wicker market basket she employed as both a handbag and weekend luggage.
This original Birkin, the Jane-invented one (pictured above as she carried it in the 1960s), was a holdover from her hippie chick days, when proletarian peasant sacks and straw bags of all sorts were in fashion—as they are again today.
Here are six cool straw totes—priced from $18 to $60—we’d take along to France (where Birkin still lives), or anywhere else for that matter. —Annabel Lee Read more
Go {Really} Big Or Go Home At The Cineplex
/10 Comments/in Culture & Leisure /by EditorCineplex cheap movie Tuesday just got cheaper. Here’s how you can see jumbo-screen movies at a lovely, discounted price.
SUPER VALUE | With Apple TV, a local video store (yes, we still have one in our neighbourhood) and Netflix to choose from, my dh and I rarely leave home for a movie anymore—why would we want to deal with crowds and potentially bad seats when we can watch most of what we care to see on our large flat-screen TV with (admittedly dated) in-wall surround sound.
But all that has changed after last week, when friends asked us to join them in downtown Vancouver on “cheap movie Tuesday” to see Snow White and the Huntsman at the Scotiabank Theatre’s UltraAVX. Read more
The Easiest Way To Steam Vegetables
/0 Comments/in FOOD, Food & Drink, View All Food Stories /by EditorWhen time is tight, a silicone steamer in the microwave can take the place of stovetop cooking.
SAVE TIME | Where steaming vegetables is concerned, I’m lazy, I’ll admit it. During the week, I don’t want to have to haul out a saucepan, steamer insert and lid just to cook some stalks of broccoli or wait for them to go al dente on top of the stove. Read more
Use Mass Planting To Create Great Effects
/0 Comments/in Design, GARDEN, Home & Garden, View All Garden Stories /by EditorSimple does not mean stupid. Don’t underestimate the intelligence behind the less complicated look for gardens.
DESIGN WISE | It’s been two decades since gardening became a fashionable endeavor in North America. If we’ve learned anything during this time, over and above garden history and plant vocabulary, it’s that maintaining a garden is damn hard work. Only those who love mucking about in the dirt survive and thrive in the trenches.
This knowledge, plus a fascination with mid-20th-century modernist architecture and the gardens that went along with them, has lead to the pursuit of simple, (and hopefully) low maintenance planting schemes. Read more
No-Screw Shelving By Peter Cardew
/1 Comment/in CANADIAN CONTENT, DECOR & DESIGN, Home & Garden /by EditorKick out the Billy (IKEA lovers will understand)! Replace it with no-screw shelving designed by Peter Cardew—on sale right now at 18 Karat. (VIDEO)
FURNITURE WE LOVE | To our list of favourite contemporary home furnishings designers/manufacturers (who just happen to come from western Canada)—Niels Bendsten; Omer Arbel; Stephanie Forsythe and Todd MacAllen of Molo—we would like to add the name Peter Cardew. A man better known both here and abroad for award-winning architecture, Cardew has, in recent years, turned his talent to designing furniture for 18 Karat (now back in business after an hiatus), and this collaboration has resulted in some fine furniture pieces, particularly in wood. Read more
Rentable Plastic Boxes Are The Way To Move
/12 Comments/in CANADIAN CONTENT, Goods & Services /by EditorForget the waste and mess associated with cardboard boxes—the most expedient and ecofriendly way to move is with FrogBox.
SAVE TIME & AVOID STRESS | Anyone who has ever packed up their belongings to switch dwellings doesn’t need to take the Holmes and Rahe Life Changes Scale Stress Test to know moving is stressful. Anything that makes moving house easier has our stamp of approval, which is why we love FrogBox, the company that delivers reusable plastic moving boxes and supplies to your old home (or office) and then picks them up at your new one. Read more
Puff Pastry Sweets & Savouries In Under 10 Minutes
/6 Comments/in Easy + Quick = Delicious, Entertaining, FOOD, Food & Drink, View All Food Stories /by EditorThese delicious puff pastry sweets and savouries are oven-ready in less than 10 minutes. (RECIPES)
EASY & DELISH | Making authentic French puff pastry is no small accomplishment, even for the likes of Martha Stewart who confessed in her cookbook Martha Stewart Pies & Tarts that producing a classic puff takes time, “skill and practice,” and that she’s had her share of difficulties making one “because there are so many variables.”
While “quick-from-scratch puff pastry” is definitely easier and less time-consuming to make than the true classic version, it can still be a disaster as I learned not long ago when I tried to replicate THIS AWESOME RECIPE from the Los Angeles Times. Read more
Get The French Preppy Look For Waay Less
/1 Comment/in Classics & Trends, FASHION, Fashion & Beauty, View All Fashion Stories /by EditorWe love French preppy as much as the next fashionista. But is Altuzarra for J. Crew’s interpretation of it worth the money when you can pull together an equally acceptable version for an absolute rock bottom price?
THE LOOK FOR LESS | “Steal of the Month” is a feature—actually a double page spread—that appears at the very back of Vogue magazine every month. In the current issue, the steal is the top from Altuzarra’s capsule collection for J. Crew pictured above, and it’s been paired with wide leg jeans from Acne ($350) for an overall look Vogue editors have labeled “French preppy.” Joseph Altuzarra’s tops start at around $800 (on Net-A-Porter), so, of course, the J. Crew pullover seems shockingly inexpensive at $85—and it would be an absolute steal if it looked less basic J. Crew and more quirky Altuzarra, but it doesn’t.
What we are trying to say is that wardrobe pieces this iconic and familiar don’t need big label validation. To prove it, here’s our version of French preppy for a quarter of the price. Read more
Redfish Kids Store Opens In Vancouver
/4 Comments/in CANADIAN CONTENT, FASHION, Fashion & Beauty, Shops & Shopping, View All Fashion Stories /by EditorIt’s about time Canada’s most original children’s wear designers/manufacturers set up their own shop made of brick and mortar.
CULT 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
The Latest Joe Fresh Fashion Is Here—Yeah!
/0 Comments/in CANADIAN CONTENT, FASHION, Fashion & Beauty, View All Fashion Stories /by EditorThe fabulous Fresh Off The Runway collection has landed at Joe Fresh boutiques—quick, check the sofa for pocket change!
THIS JUST IN | We write so much about our love of all things Joe Fresh that you might think the company pays us to chat them up (they don’t, btw); it’s just that we remain perennially impressed by the fashion coolness that surrounds everything this brand creates.
We don’t care who you are or how much money you have to spend on your wardrobe, you are going to want to have a few pieces of Joe in your closet because they are just that interesting—and fun. Here’s what we’re loving (our own mini lookbook) from the limited edition SS2012 runway collection, which is in select Joe boutiques (in Vancouver that means Granville Street) right now.
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