Pattern Loving

We're almost halfway through the week's entries to the Fashion Finder Blogger contest at Pickering Town Centre. Each day we are posting a finalist; one lucky "stylist in the making" will win. Today's finalist, Avery, loves stripes and has a good eye for combining patterns -- a very hot trend right now. Click here to view Avery's style video.

Currently, on the runways of Toronto Fashion Week, we're seeing more stripes and patterns for fall 2012...

Lundstrom Collection, fall 2012. Photo by George Pimentel.

Matis by Lucian Matis, fall 2012. Photo by George Pimentel.

Joe Fresh, fall 2012. Photo by George Pimentel.

March Break Fashion Week at Pickering Town Centre continues through Sunday, March 18th. You still have time to enter the contest and a chance to win a $500 gift certificate to PTC, a Blackberry Playbook from Best Buy Mobile and a chance to appear with the F-list at the America's Next Top Model Live show in May.

I'll be at the mall on Sunday between 12 - 2pm, so come down and let's talk style!

March Break Fashion Week - Style Addicts Finalists

Congrats to Emily, our next finalist in Pickering Town Centre's March Break Fashion Week. Her look included a clever pairing of different patterns - stripes and polka dots - along with a punchy red trench coat. Click here to view her video. On the runways of Toronto Fashion Week, we're seeing similar patterns pop up.

Holt Renfrew shows off a striped jacket from Smythe. Photo by George Pimentel.

Adrian Wu mixed polka dot fabrics. Photo by George Pimentel.

Raising the Next Generation of Style Addicts

Truth: some of my fondest memories are playing dress up with clothes. I would spend hours poring over my mother's scarves and jewelry and turning her sweaters into dresses. I spent hours at the mall, too, even though my part-time Baskin Robbins job didn't afford me department store clothes - at least I could find inspiration to later exercise my cash and creativity at Goodwill.

So the chance to work with young stylists-at-heart during Pickering Town Centre's March Break Fashion Week was a no brainer! All week young fashion lovers can get mini makeovers, strut their stuff on the catwalk and meet celebrities. I will pick a finalist each day from the Fashion Finder Blogger video auditions and post to the F-list Facebook page (don't forget to like the page!).

One winner will have the chance to appear with me in May at the America's Next Top Model Live event (May 4 - 6). Check out our first finalist here.

Stylemint Giveaway: Win 1 of 2 T's by Mary Kate & Ashley

If anyone knows style and comfort, it's got to be Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen. I mean, if they aren't on a red carpet or front row at fashion week, then aren't they lounging in cool t-shirt's counting their millions? No?! (Kidding...maybe.) Let's be honest - these girls have proven they know a thing or two about style and design.

With the recent launch of Beachmint in Canada, we get to enjoy the Olsen influence too. MK and Ashley collaborated with Beachmint on an exclusive line of t-shirts called Stylemint. Sign up to Stylemint, complete your style profile and receive a personalized showroom based on your profile. Membership is free.

Stylemint is one of the many celebrity collaborations you'll find with Beachmint and I'll be sharing my own experiences with each of them soon. In the meantime, I'm sharing the Stylemint experience with you, readers. Enter to win one of two t-shirts designed by Mary Kate and Ashley. They are super comfy and made in the USA from a delicious blend of cotton/polyester/rayon. 


All you have to do to enter is tell me your style preference - spots or stripes?  

Send an email to info@f-list.ca by 11:59pm February 29th with "Spots" or "Stripes" in the subject line. You'll be signed up for the F-list newsletter (if you aren't already) and entered to win either a red and white polka dot or red and black striped t-shirt from Stylemint based on your style preference! Winner will be contacted by March 2nd.

Win jewels from Anne-Marie Chagnon

If you're like me, there are a few things in your fashion repertoire that are almost guaranteed to invite compliments from others. Mine includes jewelry by Montreal designer Anne-Marie Chagnon. Compliments every single time.

Lucky for you Anne-Marie is at the Toronto One of a Kind show through December 4. And while you're shopping for friends and family, be sure to drop off this ballot to booth T-38 for a chance to win these matching earrings and bracelet (value $300). This contest runs the duration of the OOAK show, so you have until next weekend to drop off your ballot (one ballot per person). The winner will be announced here!

Bring completed ballot to booth T-38 for a chance to win!

 

F-LIST EXCLUSIVE: Win a $100 gift card from Dealuxe

Wish your window shopping would pay off?  Now it can.  F-list members are invited to sign up for Dealuxe and share your summer must-haves for a chance to win a $100 gift card.  But summer is fleeting and so is this special offer.  You only have until July 27th to post your comments and enter.

Reader Survey: What's Normal?

Last week I asked readers "What is normal?" and you answered in droves. I expected as much, since it was a chance to win an autographed copy of Kelly Cutrone's latest book Normal Gets You Nowhere. It was such fun reading the responses, I had to share. Here are a few choice favorites:

What is normal?

Thinking, "I don't give a damn!" and leaving the house with a ton of self-confidence.
~ Domenica

Normal is forgettable. Normal is following the status quo. Normal is being complacent in life, never questioning anything. Normal is what's expected of you. I refuse to be "normal".
~ Stephanie

'Normal' is what makes your mother happy.
~ Anna

Normal is a word that's made up to classify the boring, mundane things in life and the box that you trap yourself in when you only go as far as what people expect of you.
~ Christine

Normal is a whole lot of crazy and a little bit of dull added together and divided in half!
~ Hanah
 
Normal is what everyone else is doing to fit in!
~ Jessica

Normal is benign, boring and unremarkable.
~ Barbara



Normal is trying to think of  a clever answer to a question, and can't think of a darn thing!!
~ Dyane

Normal is being insecure about our differences, but once embraced, they become are biggest assets.
~ Michelle

Nothing.
~ Maggie 

Normal is vanilla. It is beige on beige, but not in a magnificent suede or textured
leather. It is never flirting with a coworker, or making a sarcastic joke. It is plain, passable, and unprepossessing.
~ Ariella
 
Good sex!
~ Abbe
 
Normal is being just like everybody else only different.
~ Janet

There's no such thing is normal! Normal is conforming to who you think you should be instead of who you are.
~ Fiona

Accepting mediocrity in fear of being different from the majority.
~ Rachal

Believing there is no such thing.
~ Jacklyn

Normal is nothing. It is a figment of our imaginations... an idea we've created.  Our own judgement of what we think others expect of us.
~ Wendy

Whatever the hell I want it to be!
~ Jaime-Anne

Win an Autographed Jeanne Beker book!

Whether she’s getting up close with the world’s top designers, launching a fabulous new line of clothes or taking care of family at home, Jeanne Beker is candid, colourful and deeply personal. 

Her new book, Finding Myself in Fashion is a vivid
account of life both behind and in front of the camera, providing readers with an intimate look at Jeanne’s story. The book is released today, but you could win one that's autographed by the fashion diva herself.

You know you've always wanted to go behind the scenes with Jeanne! In the book she recalls backstage encounters with Valentino,
Karl Lagerfeld, Paul McCartney, Isabella Blow,
Yves St. Laurent, Andy Summers, Sean Combs,
Alexander McQueen, Sarah Jessica Parker, and more.

TO ENTER: Make sure you're on the F-list mailing list -- four lucky subscribers will win!

Win a Date with Bill Cunningham New York

You are going to love this movie. 

I say this with confidence because if you are here, then clearly you like the topic of fashion. Bill Cunningham New York tells the story of the king of all street style photographers, Bill Cunningham, and features an incredible line-up of New York's most fabulous and fashionable people. (As a former New Yorker, I ached for the city's eye-catching characters daring to wear what they do.) It's a heart-warming tale of a simple, snap-happy man with a keen eye for trends.

I'm giving away two pairs of tickets to join our private screening of Bill Cunningham New York this Monday, April 18th at 6:00pm at the Hazelton Hotel.  Each winner will also receive a gift certificate to enjoy a post-movie dinner at one of my favorite Yorkville spots, Cafe Nervosa.

To enter, email info@f-list.ca with STREET STYLE in the subject line by 11pm on Friday, April 15th. Winners will be selected and contacted by Saturday morning! 

 

Click here for the trailer.

Fashion Week Survival Checklist: Free tickets? Check.

Fashion lovers in Canada are a patient group - for two months we watch the global runway collection coverage before we are finally treated to live shows by our own Canadian designers. Thankfully they are worth the wait. 

LG Fashion Week began Monday and features 33 shows between its runway and studio spaces. Our friends in high places have offered seats for TEN F-list readers and their friends to Friday's 7:30 show.  Want to sit front row?  Email info@f-list.ca with FRONT ROW FASHION in the subject line and you're in!

One of these lucky readers will also receive a fashion week survival kit from Rowenta. This goody bag (value $500) is chock full of awesome necessities including:

• Rowenta’s First Class Travel Iron
• Rowenta Beauty Infini Pro Hair Dryer 
• Re-usable mini lint roller
• Crease Release luxury travel kit from The Laundress
• Recycled leather fashion notebook by PaperThink 
• Sharpie non-bleed pen
• Aromatherapy candle
• Relaxing bath salts 
• Manicure touch-up 
• Wrigley’s 5 gum
• J.R. Watkins Natural Apothecary Lip Balm

From backstage to the runway, Rowenta’s premium steamers and irons are the tool of choice among top fashion designers and stylists across the globe, and the Official Garment Care of LG Fashion Week.  Track fashion week's backstage antics by following Rowenta on Twitter or Facebook.   

Good luck!

The fine print: The first ten readers to email info@f-list.ca with FRONT ROW FASHION in the subject line will win access to the 7:30 show only. Winners will be contacted by email Wednesday evening and will need to confirm their attendance by noon on Thursday. The Rowenta winner will pick up their prize bag on site at LG Fashion Week. Parking or transportation not provided. Must be 19 or over to win.

Win Big at the Shopgirls Night

Shoppers at this Tuesday's Shopgirls' shopping event are in for some treats, literally! Our generous sponsors have donated some great door prizes. Win a "steam dream" package from Rowenta, a $100 gift certificate from Town Shoes, beauty products from L'Oreal Paris or Lacoste fragrance! 

F-list members will enjoy two hours of discounted shopping, wine, entertainment and special guests. We have space for one more winner and a friend to join 20 already shoppers! The first person* to email info@f-list.ca with SHOPGIRLS in the subject line will win this coveted slot. Hurry!

Rowenta's ‘Steam Dream’ package includes a Precision Valet Garment Steamer + travel Ultra Steambrush (value $300). Click here to follow Rowenta's backstage antics during LG Fashion Week.

* Note: Email time stamp closest to blog posting time will win.

Win a Fashion Show Experience from Philip Sparks

Enter to Win a Night at Shopgirls!

It's nearly spring (I promise!) and I'm getting feverish to add a little light to my wardrobe. Join me at Shopgirls for an evening of shopping, music, drinks and special surprise guests. Shopgirls has a must-see line-up of Canadian labels and accessories for spring and on this night you'll save 15% on all purchases.

Want to come? Email info@f-list.ca with SHOPGIRLS in the subject line by March 11th. I'll randomly pick ten people to bring a pal for this fun girls' night out.