FASHION Magazine

While most of the female population breathes heavy during episodes of Say Yes to the Dress, us fashion folk have, shall we say, finer taste. For those who a layer cake of taffeta doesn’t exactly scream “fantasy,” look no further than the summer weddings of these seven Canadian stylemakers. From a larger than life ceremony at the Art Gallery of Ontario to a City Hall visit in Doc Martens and dark jeans, these inspiring gals prove that thinking outside of the box pays off.

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“Never seen so many Canadian designed outfits worn at a gala in Toronto.” Derick Chetty’s tweet from last night’s Toronto Fashion Incubator fete said it all. The 25^th anniversary party held at the Royal Ontario Museum was a Canadian fashion love-in.

CBC’s Nil Koksal pinned an enormous white orchid in her hair to match her floral Pink Tartan wrap dress. YSL Beaute’s Jane Connell rocked a crinolined Wayne Clark. And after stealing the Barbie runway show with her robot moves, The Listener’s Tara Spencer-Nairn slipped into a plum kimono dress with gold obi by Vawk.

When dressing for a formal affair, the rules aren’t so black and white. Electric furs and feathers add spark to the classic evening pantsuit. Get inspired by our electric photo shoot from our Holiday issue.

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Shop the shoot: LOOK 1 | LOOK 2 | LOOK 3

Billy Idol‘s “Hot in the City” played on soundtrack as Donatella Versace‘s modern mermaids paraded the catwalk in under-the-sea neoprene gold studded scuba jackets, white hot short suits, and bandeau brassieres with slim pencil skirts in pretty pastel, sea shell and sea-horse prints. Save for the pageant worthy finale gowns, it was short, sexy and ultra feminine—certainly fit for a new-age Ariel.

Should you ever find yourself in a similar predicament, the most appropriate way to fête an international fashion superstar in the hometown of her photog paramour would be to roll out the leopard carpet, send in the trannies and keep the bubbly flowing until a dance party ensues amidst racks of designer duds.

Sometimes you look and something coming down the runway and just think, “Huh?”

That happened last night at Lanvin when a black and white floral pouf dress appeared at Alber Elbaz’s fall 2011 show. As I watched the booted mini pass by, my next thought was “‘80s Wayne Clark”. Then, I noticed that the outfit was on Freja Beha Erichsen, and since designers tend to put their most important outfits on the better-known models, I wondered: should we to take this look as directional? Will we be seeing more poufy, oversized florals on the spring 2012 runway? Hmmm….

It takes a certain amount of guts to co-opt Diana Vreeland’s famous line, “Pink is the navy blue of India.” Holt Renfrew turned that on its ear at last night’s LG Fashion Week opener, casting magenta–their signature shade–to fill that role in Canada. Well it was, at least for the night, when the luxury department store brought nine designers from their stable of homegrown talent to the runway. It was a blockbuster ticket that included five looks each from Jeremy Laing, Lida Baday, Line, Pink Tartan, jacket specialists Smythe, glamour veteran Wayne Clark, Mikhael Kale, menswear label Wings + Horns and Montreal designer Denis Gagnon. With a few of the designers, it was a bit of an appetizer–Pink Tartan and Line show tonight and Gagnon presents on Friday–but the show also served as a crib sheet for some of our country’s brightest fashion lights (and a handy-dandy walking catalogue for Holts’ customers).

See a gallery of looks from last night’s show»

Watch a video of the Holt Renfrew runway show»

Read our full coverage of Toronto Fashion Week»

Apt. 909 (909 Dundas St. W., 416-916-7599, apt909.blogspot.com), coincidentally also my apartment number, is a cozy vintage stop with an extensive archive of designer vintage that ranges from Louboutin, Valentino, Jean Paul Gaultier and YSL to the more eclectic gems from Comme des Garçons and Yohji Yamamoto. With ephemera casually scattered about in shop amidst antique decor, each piece is tagged like an artifact with handwritten descriptions by owners Elizabeth Gondek and Ria Jones.