Can Celebrity Mugs Mask Poor Quality?

I confess, I don't care about celebrity style. Outside of the major red carpet moments, I generally don't care what a celebrity is wearing. But I do believe in tastemakers. I listen to restaurant recommendations from my friends who frequently dine out for work and pleasure, for example. Same goes for that girl in yoga with the great nails. Where does she get that killer mani? I need to know.


But tell me what jean shorts Kristen Stewart wore last week? YAWN. So when the celebrity styled BeachMint invited me to test drive a few of their lines now available in Canada, I agreed to set aside my lack of enthusiasm over the celebrity quotient and just think about the fashion.


The BeachMint properties are free to sign up. Each month the sites offer an item based on your personal style. You can choose to buy that month or skip it. According to the site, subscribers pay $30 for pieces that the company says would normally retail for a multiple of that price. 


Anyone who knows me knows my love of accessories. (I live by the line from Steel Magnolias, "the only thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize.") BeachMint's first vertical, JewelMint, features curated jewelry from celebrity duo actress Kate Bosworth and her stylist Cher Coulter. My ring, below, was actually five separate rings, or stackables, that could be combined in whatever combination of color I was feeling that day. Unfortunately the woven metal came with harsh edges around the beads and after continually catching it on my clothes - and worse, my skin - I tossed it. 

Jewelmint's stackable rings didn't last long

Next up was ShoeMint by celebrity Rachel Bilson, Nicole Chavez, and Steve Madden. The two-toned sandals were cute, but I couldn't ignore the visible wear on the (brand new!) straps where they had been buckled prior to meeting me. Their cuteness was quickly downgraded to a cheap, "made in China" vibe. I was torn. Truthfully you can't see the damage if I'm wearing them. And while they may be from China, they are still cute. And since I have no other cute brown sandals...well, now you see how fashion decisions are often made.

My Shoemint shoes

Finally I checked out my StyleMint t-shirt, endorsed by Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen. Definitely cute, definitely comfy -- frankly it's hard to go wrong with a t-shirt. And they don't. But how many t-shirts with budget-friendly prices does a girl need? Wisely, StyleMint now goes beyond basic tees to offer some ready-to-wear items, cashmere options and even sunglasses. It has inspired another celebrity-backed t-shirt start up. The LA-based Teeology.com, from a couple of whiz-bang tech entrepreneurs and Jennifer Lopez launched earlier this month. 


Still not sold on the celebrity factor, I do see the appeal of having an item curated for you each month for your taking - or not. Since announcing they ship to Canada, BeachMint has added HomeMint and IntiMint to keep your home style feeling fresh. Let's hope their quality lives up to the names on the business.

Mary Kate & Ashley. Or Ashley & Mary Kate. Who knows?

F-listed Anniversary Auction is Live!

Happy birthday to me! For the next ten days explore F-listed, the first online auction of its kind. Browse and bid on fashionable goods donated by Canadian designers, retailers, tastemakers and celebrities across Canada. 

New items will be added throughout the week, so check back frequently. Are you on the mailing list? We'll notify you when new items go live. Sign up here.

Proceeds help support Dress for Success Toronto, a cause I feel passionately about because we all deserve to look and feel our best. Dress for Success not only outfits disadvantaged women in professional attire, it helps them enter the professional world with mentoring and job interview training. It's a volunteer organization with outlets all over North America.

For more on F-listed, click here. Shop, browse and bid now, click here!

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.

  

Christmas Wish List: Item #12

Pamela Anderson, kindly avert your attention for this blog post.  This one is about fur. 

I adore fur.  It's only since moving to Canada that I even gave fur any thought.  Canadians love their fur.  It's part of the history and well-accepted here.  Not so where I come from.  In fact, while visiting friends in Pennsylvania I discovered (and quickly snapped up) a mint condition fur shoulder wrap at a flea market.  My American friends were aghast, questioning "You aren't worried about wearing fur? Won't you be attacked?"  "Are you kidding?" I replied adding, "in Canada?!" As if.

Yes, I unaplogetically wear vintage fur.  In the words of Rachel Zoe: It's vintage, so it's okay.

That's why I love Montreal's Rachel F.  She is a practical yet imaginative designer of accessories using recycled leather and fur. 

"I only use recycled animal skins and other materials that come from second hand clothes, production waste, and material samples that were not used from large manufacturers. Because we live in an over consumption world, we should take advantage of this opportunity to renew existing materials."

- Rachel F.

And when I stumbled across her latest fall line at Shopgirls earlier this year, I knew these earmuffs would haunt my dreams.  I decided to put them on my Christmas list.