FASHION Magazine

My early fall was jammed with weddings. I attended four over the span of five weeks, two of which were my brother’s–a Jewish ceremony in the Berkshires followed the next night by a dinner reception in Yonkers, and then a Chinese banquet four weeks later in Toronto. By the time the hometown celebration rolled around and I was wearing my mauve silk ’20s-inspired dress for the third time, I needed to do something to shake up what had become my Fall 2010 wedding uniform. My solution? An updo, something I hadn’t had done since my own wedding, and a way to deviate from your usual look for the barrage of holiday parties that will soon be eating up our calendars.

When you’re based in Toronto, it’s not often that you get the privilege of encountering your idolized beauty rock stars in person, since so few of the major ones ever cross our border. Please, Pat McGrath or Guido Palau in our city? Never happening. The only way you’ll get face time with these power players is by going to New York, where I was lucky enough interview the almighty Dick Page at a Shiseido event back in May, about eyeshadows he designed for the brand. I’ve spoken before of my admiration for him, but this launch was a chance to interview him for more than the few minutes you get backstage at New York Fashion Week, where you’re expected to clear out as soon as you have your quotes. I’m already giddily anxious in his presence, but what elevated the night to a whole other level was the fact that the president of Shiseido Canada invited Dick for drinks with us afterwards—and he accepted! We ended up at some random champagne bar, and while I didn’t get to sit next to him (that honour went to an editor from Montreal), I learned a few things about him that have nothing to do with makeup: