FASHION Magazine

Editor: Sarah Casselman

Prairie belle Jacqueline Conway is the owner of Trend Blazer Marketing and a jazz, tap and lyrical dance teacher. But that’s not all this 27-year-old mover and shaker choreographs; she’s also the brains behind the Saskatoon Fashion and Design Festival (she’s the executive director) and Mix & Match Marketplace, a designer trade show for Regina and Saskatoon artists that targets the province’s nouveau fashion crowd. Conway relies on labels like Club Monaco and Rachel Roy for classic everyday staples and Zac Posen and BCBG Max Azria when she’s looking to create a little after-hours sizzle. Local labels Rebecca King and Laurie Brown—among those Conway has selected for pop-up shops and fashion shows—have found their way into her closet amongst her Joe Fresh and H&M finds. “Retail therapy is the best solution to a stressful workweek,” she says.

View Jacqueline’s shopping picks »

Saskatoon is filled with so many creative individuals who are seizing the opportunity to showcase their talents in our growing, entrepreneurial city. Quinn Trenouth, a newcomer to the local fashion scene, is breaking in with her line of costume jewellery.

Normally I would order my mineral makeup online and have it shipped from the States, but I have recently discovered The Body Shop’s (The Centre 3510 – 8th Street East, 306-477-5515, thebodyshop.ca) new Nature’s Mineral line (from $13).

My latest find is a new store that has opened up on Broadway, my favourite shopping district. The Better Good Store Ltd. (640 Broadway Ave, 306-242-4663, thebettergood.com) is a one-stop eco-friendly shop for products that support sustainable living–carrying everything from clothing and home decor, to cleaners and body care products, to delectable treats and kids toys. All their stock is either organic, fair trade, natural, local, handmade or crafted from reused, recycled or renewable materials.

Sunglasses are like shoes–a single pair isn’t going to work with every outfit.  You need a collection. For example, you could wear your aviators for driving, D&Gs for meeting the girls for lunch on the patio, Oakleys for an afternoon game of tennis, Ray-Bans for a day in the park.  My all-time favorites are the aviators I’ve had forever, but when I do need new designer specs, I head to Midtown Plaza (1st Ave. S., midtownplaza.ca), which has a couple of stops I can count on.

It’s always a sign of summer for me when the racetrack opens up. As a little girl my grandparents would take me and all my cousins to the races and we would each get to place a two dollar bet on our lucky horse.  Naturally all of us girls would choose our winner based on the color sash the horse and jockey were wearing.

I was reminded of this memorable occasion while browsing through hats at Hats & That (636 Broadway Avenue, 306-933-1898). 

Lately, I’ve been hitting the golf course and though I’m no Tiger Woods, while I’m chipping, putting and slicing away (I have a knack for getting into the sand traps), I am definitely the best dressed.

You don’t need to be a model to have amazing pictures taken of yourself. Saskatoon photog Erin Levesque’s Flash’on Photography (331 1st Ave., 306-373-0417, flashonphotography.ca), which opened its doors in October, can set you up with your own photo shoot.

  

Spring is finally here and I have been searching high and low for some of the best seasonal frills for the summer and wanted to share my findings:

Tonic (122 2nd Ave. N., 306-975-1529, tonic-life.com) has started to receive their spring dress collections from Traffic People, Veromoda, BB Dakota and Nicky B, just to name a few. They are adding more daily, but get there soon to get the best selection.

When swapping thrift shopping info with a girlfriend, she told me about Stasia Consign and Design Boutique (1002a Central Ave., 306-931-2250, stasiaboutique.ca) a consignment shop that donates its unsold merchandise to charity. Passersby often miss this tiny boutique, but I couldn’t wait to check it out.

If there were some sort award for roller coaster weather, Saskatoon would definitely be in the running.  With the weather dipping down to minus 46 and then climbing the Celsius chart to a whopping plus five in a mere 48 hours, people are examining their closets and contemplating what to wear.  Spring shopping has many of us keeping our hopes up that the warmer months won’t pass us by.

The Princess Shop is having their second annual Glass Slipper Benefit for Princesses dinner on Friday, March 13 (from $60, TCU Place, 35 22nd St. E., theprincessshop.ca).