I recently went through a transition period - going from school into the workforce warrants an investment in a good bag, and I only recently discovered how immensely difficult it is to find the perfect work-ready purse.
Why is it difficult? Several reasons:

You definitely don’t want to go overboard and have all dem ghetto studs and shiny patent on your bag (hint: NOT PROFESSIONAL)
Finding a quality bag for a good price is genuinely hard (I made the mistake of purchasing overpriced pleather, I shant do it again)
I’m just really picky, I’ll …

Japan has always been a major player in fashion ever since the trio of Yohji Yamamoto, Rei Kawakubo, and Issey Miyake made tidal waves with their avant-garde aesthetic in the 80’s. The big 3 broke conventional norms and introduced a new type of creativity that put Japan on the fashion map. In the early 2000’s we saw the uprising of Undercover and Number (N)ine, two street wear oriented labels who have cultivated a unique presence on the runway. Now, most recently, two menswear labels will soon join …

I always imagined Club Monaco to have a certain polished, professional aura about it. Yes, this is a post about a seemingly generic retailer, but I think it’s important to take note that Club Monaco has become increasingly dominant in the fashion world. The latest bit? A swimwear collection. I’m somewhat taken aback by the image of a black and white polka dotted bikini on the landing page of the CM website, but I can’t say that I’m surprised at all.
What I’m curious about is how much they’ll warrant charging …

It’s one of the fastest-rising brands in Hollywood - Ed Hardy by Christian Audigier is absolutely huge. I can only attribute it to the way that the brand mimics tattoo style-clothing and a complete explosion of visual imagery on cloth.
I’ve never been one to be intrigued by heavy-prints and graphic clothing, but this is an interesting one. Ed Hardy is a brand that’s unafraid of producing seizure-inducing designs and oversexed, borderline cheesy clothing that virtually pays no heed to current trends. Hell, they’ll slap designs onto a 5 year old …

The Clothing Show (Toronto) took place May 2 - 4, 2008 with over 300 booths and a huge variety of fashion and artisan retailers. This was the first run that I had gone to, and I was somewhat surprised at what I found.
For one, the traffic in the Better Living Centre definitely wasn’t as high as I thought it would be - despite their heavy advertising virtually everywhere. The clothing exhibitors included vintage, random non-clothing related retailers (ex. Hair extension retailers?), and very specialized clothing. What did I manage to …

Neighborhood Technical Apparel (more commonly known as Neighborhood) is a Japanese street label that takes influences from punk and street culture and fuses it in their limited edition graphic t-shirts and selvage denim. As of lately, their denim has been the biggest hype in the Asian street fashion scene, spreading to North America. Starting at around $300 retail price and being resold at reseller shops and online for as much as $1500, these jeans seem to validate themselves on the market.
Created by Shinsuke Takizawa, Neighborhood first began in 1994. Their …

While browsing through Roots, that ever so classic store of Canadiana, I fell in love with their new Treetap Rubber collection. Featuring three classic leather bags made of 100% Amazon Treetap Wild Rubber with Vegetable Tanned Leather, this collection is the newest addition to the revamped green focused Roots line. Now I have to say, I have no idea what other methods of tanning are available or what difference veggie tanning makes but who cares with classic styling like this. With its largely dark brown leather, cherry wood leather straps, …

Taffeta beware - we’re coming after you.
Fairweather is flourishing and teen magazines are cluttered with imagery of overly elaborate prom/formal dresses. I’ve somewhat decided to skip out on my university formal for the sake of saving a buck, and relieving the unnecessary stress of trying to look unrealistically perfect and partaking in an expensive, contrived evening.
But that didn’t stop me from online-browsing for something I would’ve considered wearing if I had decided to go (hey, girls never stop finding excuses to shop).

Dubbed as “what GAP should be”, Madewell spells out their founding principles with the brand name. Driven by 71 years of quality, fit, versatility in matching and originality, Madewell has marked itself in my mind as a colourful clothing line with a plethora of personality.
Their website boasts numerous enviable looks that cry out “semi-prep-trendster”. You can’t help but to rifle through the looks to store them in queue for your next casual day out.
Check out http://www.madewell1937.com/ for more happy.
> images courtesy of madewell1937.com