The moment you’ve been waiting for – all this talk about boxing day and here’s the culimination of that fateful day. Honestly, it’s not my tradition to head out at all, but because the other half has one, I’m there with bells and plastic on.

Welcome to my adventure – I woke up at 7am to head down to Eaton Centre – Yorkville – Bloor – Queen West – then King West. Eventful, tiring, and overall, so glad that I did it. I used to work so much retail that December 26th used to signify wearing comfortable shoes and having no breaks. Love that it’s on the other end. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not advocating to go out and splurge, but rather to save yourself money and pent up that buying impulse for a day where you’ll save half the money you would have spent on regular price.

Have a look see at what I managed to haul this season, after the cut.

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This image is by no means a Debbie Downer-infused one. It’s a tribute to the summer neutrals that I was happy to sport for the last few months. While the colouring might not tip towards a more light and breezy nature, rest assured these pieces were fantastic for the warm (and not so warm) weathers. Although I definitely see myself still sporting some of these pieces whilst layering.

Can you tell what’s in this photo? To save yourself some heavy squinting, I’ll spell it out for you:

• Lustre Boutique – Bird Necklace
• Club Monaco Cream Vest – Tri-buttoned (missing a button)
• TNA Light Summer Sweater
• Wilfred Pique Cotton Tank
• Kooka Weave Belt – Cream
• H&M Taupe Scarf
• Talula Babaton Bubble Waist Skirt – Taupe
• Club Monaco Oversized Summer Tshirt avec rolled cuffs

One day I’ll start taking photos of me actually wearing the stuff. Hearts!

> image by me.

You’d think the bolder the better with our beloved primary colour red, but it seems that the faded has made a comeback. Rather than wearing your own aged and preloved shirts, you can now purchase high quality shirts lacking colour from fine retailers this season.

I’m personally not a fan of this frugal use of dye – who’s with me?

> image courtesy of clubmonaco.com

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 for the clothing with the least amount of material in the store.

> image courtesy of clubmonaco.com

I worked at Club Monaco for four shifts. Not something I’m particularly proud of because I worked there for such a short period of time, but in that time I realized something – do the majority of men even really, truly care about purchasing clothing of higher price and quality? I never managed to sell a single item of men’s clothing simply because they didn’t want to spend the money, or they thought they could find something of equivalent style and quality for cheaper at H&M.

Why? What happened to the movement of men redeeming themselves by caring more about grooming and appearance than ever before, the sentiment that metrosexuals are widely embraced because girls are just so appreciative of effort. But then again, men’s fashions do get quite awkward at times (see above for skinny-leg-cuff-crinkle-jean??)

Where do the boys go for clothes that don’t suck? Do share, I’m quizzical.