If you have yet to finish your spring shopping and have some extra pennies in the bank – lots of extra pennies – you may want to stop off at Holt’s ASAP. Some of Victoria Beckham’s hotly anticipated handbags have just arrived at Toronto’s Holt Renfrew. These highly structured, ultra-luxe pieces have a penchant for flying off shelves.
It was a big week for Toronto. Not only did some of our national designers unveil their new looks at Toronto’s LG Fashion Week, but our national politicians also announced a federal election. Like politics, fashion makes a statement, either by being outrageous, loud, or even understated. This week’s top sales are for those who use fashion to make a political statement.
When I was in high school, I was more of an in-betweener than part of any specific clique. Where I ate my lunch alternated between outside the gym, the student council room or the “popular” table, while crushes varied from sensitive boys trapped in a jock façade to bookworms who boasted about their close ties with the physics teacher. But most markedly of all was the misnomer that was my “personal style.”
Hot on the heels of Jay Manuel’s Attitude design debut, Post City Magazines’ very own Ron Johnson is ready to reveal the results of his first foray into fashion. Our longtime editor-in-chief, known for his trendsetting sartorial statements (“plaid on plaid” and “so what if I wore this on my jog this morning?” are two of his signature looks), is taking the undergarment world by storm: his tartan and silkscreened long johns, RonJohns®, will hit the shelves in early Fall 2011.
The Toronto Public Library’s month-long festival of reading, Keep Toronto Reading, kicks off today with the One Book program, a city-wide book club in which everyone is encouraged to read and discuss one book. This year honours Judy Fong Bates‘ novel Midnight at the Dragon Café. She’ll be at the Toronto Reference Library tonight for the One Book launch, but we had our own discussion with Judy Fong Bates by telephone.
David Suzuki and Naomi Klein are lending their support. So are Margaret Atwood and Michael Ondaatje. Oh, and Adrienne Clarkson and John Ralston Saul. In fact, innumerable Canadian celebrities are coming forward under one roof in Toronto this April for Hope Blossoms, a fundraising show to help relief efforts in Japan.
Guu SakaBar, the sequel to Church Street’s hugely successful Guu Izakaya, may have finally opened its doors in the Annex, but the waiting has just begun. Thankfully, it’ll be in an enclosed waiting area this time around. Many elements here are reminiscent of the Izakaya — this is a Guu, no question — but there’s a sizable selection of new menu items. We sampled some and had Natsuhiko Sugimoto, chef and general manager, break them down for us.
While hamburgers are still cool In Toronto, hot dogs are out, apparently. So out, in fact, that they’ve been booted from the Mink Mile. According to the Sun, The Bloor-Yorkville BIA says hot dog carts don’t fit in with Bloor Street’s newly renovated vibe.
In yet another example that Twitter isn’t just for vain self-promotion, the social media site has started an uprising in order to save the job of Holt Renfrew’s long-time doorman, Tom Hargitai. Mr. Hargitai, often referred to as the unofficial mayor of Bloor Street, was recently told he is being let go after 21 years of service at the luxury department store.
What do you get when you mix one part style and one part substance? Probably something along the lines of the newly-opened The White Space for men at The Bay. Suzanne Timmins, The Bay’s fashion director, says the concept area is meant to appeal to the discerning customer. Pieces are stylish but understated.
The culinary minds at Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) revealed a meaty new list of concessions yesterday, just in time for the Toronto FC home opener against the Portland Timbers tomorrow. The inspiration behind BMO Field‘s new barbecue-driven menu is “comfort food,” says Tony Glitz, executive chef of Real Sports Bar and Grill, who helped put the menu together. Fans of beef, pork and porchetta will be impressed.
If you’re a sports fan who’s never been to a Toronto Roller Derby game, it’s a great time to get your feet wet. Toronto’s biggest roller derby event of the year is going down this weekend at Downsview Park as Toronto’s all-star team, CN Power, hosts teams from Kitchener-Waterloo, Ottawa and Montreal in a two-day tournament. We asked CN Power co-captain Lady Scorcher to fill us in on this weekend’s events.
