Fashion's Night Out 2011

FNO was started in 2009 by VOGUE Magazine, CFDA, NYC & CO and the City of New York, as a way to restore consumer confidence during the recession. On September 8th, 2011, from Manhattan to Milan, Atlanta to Australia, the after hours shopping extravaganza Fashion's Night Out is back! For the third year in a row. Celebrities, designers, and stars will perform and mingle with shoppers as they will once again flock to their favorite stores for an extravagant night of shopping, champagne and exclusive FNO events, including some major live music acts. The celebration marks the kickoff to New York Fashion Week, a stylish way to start the season.

Events

September 8

Fashion's Night Out (FNO)

The annual celebration returns for a night of shopping, champagne and exclusive events, with an additional electronic commerce component this year.

September 8–15 

Tour de Fashion 

Broadway Plazas at West 40th Street

Bowery Lane Bicycles will offer free rentals from a fleet of bikes customized by designers like Diane von Furstenberg, Betsey Johnson and Prabal Gurung. It's all in the name of an eco friendlier Fashion Week, and it's a sure way to beat traffic between shows. 

Through September 26

Uniqlo High Line Roller Rink and Pop-Up 

The Lot at Tenth Avenue and West 30th Street 

Uniqlo rolls over to The Lot, beneath The High Line, with a pop-up shop and skating rink. The space features an 8,000 square feet skating area, benches made from original High Line beams and a Uniqlo Cube, where skaters can shop a collection of T shirts, cashmere selections and more. 

Through November 1

Sleep No More 

McKittrick Hotel, 530 W. 27th Street.

British theater troupe Punchdrunk presents a contemporary, voyeuristic and nearly wordless interpretation of Macbeth. For the interactive performance, directed by Felix Barrett and Maxine Doyle, the audience is required to wear masks as they silently wander the elaborate rooms, following whichever performers they choose, even interacting with props by, for example, rifling through a suitcase left behind by one of the characters. The cast is outstanding, but the venue takes the lead in establishing this production's eerie ambiance: when the McKittrick Hotel's construction was completed in 1939, it was set to be Manhattan's most lavish hotel. But days after it opened, World War II broke out and it was condemned and closed until now. One last note, if you're planning to attend this racy, violent show, leave the kids at home.

The luxury goods B2C industry is booming and also facing the channel bottleneck

According to the news of June 30, the China Venture has made a news report, and all kinds of data prove the fact that luxury consumption potential in China is emerging. The relatively limited consumption ability of Chinese middle class provid the opportunity for e-commerce mode. And the investment of luxury B2C industry will become the new hot point. But sales network could damage the interests of agents and distributors, and the simple shopping mode could influence the luxury orientation and the mystery feelings.

Not long ago, the world's largest luggage manufacturer Samsonite and Italy luxury brand Prada successively accomplished IPO in Hong Kong, each financed 9.73 billion and 16.719 billion HKD. The two companies choose to enter the market in HongKong. They are both because of their increasing business in Asia's emerging market, especially Chinese fast growing market. The story of "Chinese growing consumption market", and reality of becoming the second biggest luxury goods consumption country, makes the Chinese luxury consumption market prosperous.

In this background, the domestic luxury consumption and relevant industries, both have more imaginable space. Especially the 2010 Chinese e-commerce industry's booming development, makes the combination of luxury consumption and online shopping more practical. In 2011, as the investment of comprehensive B2C and group purchase industry have been saturated, the investment of luxury B2C industry tends to become the new hot spots.

The desirable consumption of the middle class is rising up and on line shopping caters the Chinese characteristic consumption

All kinds of data prove that the luxury consumption in China has a bright prospect. On June 9th the latest report of the world's luxury goods association said last year the total sum of luxury consumption market in domestic China has reached 10.7 billion US dollars, accounting for a quarter of the global share, which is expected to be the world's biggest luxury consumption country surpasses Japan next year. More than 8% of the GDP growing rate in China for several years and the residents increasing consumption expenditure year by year would undoubtedly construct the solid foundation of the growing domestic luxury consumption market. The subcompany database CVSource of ChinaVenture mastered a macroscopic economic data, it showed that in recent years, the domestic urban residents' consumption support is continuous growing, the average growing rate is over 10%, which has surpassed the average GDP growing rate, showing a strong national consumption power.

Among them, the rapid rising amount and the huge number of middle class has become the mainstream of the luxury consumption group. They need a car, luxury clothing, cosmetics, and watches and high-end products to reveal their leading position in wealth, taste and other personalized aspects. The Chinese luxury consumption is therefore to move into a fast growing stage. However, compared with the traditional retail stores, the Chinese middle class has relatively limited consumption power, so the on line shopping provides the opportunity for this new luxury shopping mode.

Generally speaking, in China people whose monthly income is between 20000 yuan to 50000 yuan are belong to a typical luxury consumers. In the future's years, the amount of these people will rise from the current millions to 250 million. However this group of people in China at present only belong to not very rich people. These rich people pursue the top luxury consumption, but they will be sensitive of the price, that is a typical phenomenon. In earlier time, people would solve this problem by shopping abroad or buy on somebody's behalf, this consumption account  for more than half of consumption scale. And with the mature of Chinese e-commerce industry  and the formation of network consumption habits, the on line shopping of luxury goods are accepted by more and more consumers because of its price advantage and convenient shopping. And it also has become an important part of Chinese luxury consumption.

Shopping style changes and the traditional retail encounter challenges

Sitting on the sofa at home is very comfortable. You can enjoy the beautiful music, while pressing the mouse leisurely. You can never leave home but can buy back the things you need. In stores you may try good clothes, shoes, but don’t directly pay for it. You may habitually return to home, open a computer for online shopping. You can buy the goods by 30% off or even cheaper price. If you pay enough attention to it, you will find that, this convenient online shopping way has been welcomed by more and more customers. This means that the traditional retail industry is suffering a new challenge.

The online shopping - a fashionable and new consumption

The number of Internet users in China is up to 500 million, the number of global online shopping users is more than 137 million. The online shopping is now showing a huge potential for market growth, and quickly become a kind of fashionable consumption. The large market demand has driven and resulted in the fashionable consumption.

When you are asked" are you shopping online today?" And this has become a pet phrase when two friends meet together. When the online shopping has become a fashionable consumption, one day we will suddenly discover and say: yes, the online shopping has entered our daily life. I connect the whole net, and purchase the world. This is not only an inspiring AD sentence, but also indicates the charm and the future of online shopping.

Geeks in fashion retail

Marx once said, the price depends on the value regulation of the commodity. In the traditional marketing mode, a commodity is ultimately owned by consumers. And this will suffer much exploitation of all kinds of agents. But the cost of online shopping is very cheap. The goods can be sent to the consumers’ hands through the national various express companies for just a few days. But the price is only half of the traditional price.

The China electronic commerce research center assistant and electronic business analysts said the competitiveness of online shopping price derives from "the single media and low operation price". Aim at the "global online brand flagship store", some websites will actively play its advantage of global supply chain. They will regularly choose the suitable goods from the most famous old store in the United States--Macy's Department Store. And at the same time the professional people will check and compare the global commodity price system of each commodity, thus will give more profits to the consumers, so it is not surprising when you see the goods that have 97% to 95% off discount.

Now, the cake of online shopping is bigger and bigger, the traditional retail has come into "small profit time". The online shop has no boundary of the mall stores, never close, never turn off the lights in the windows. The employees are never off the work, never shut down the checkout counter. All these advantages are rising abruptly. But the traditional retail stores are facing rent, the management cost and such problems. The traditional retail will how to break through the bottleneck of its development, and how to deal with the network challenge, we will wait and see!

Know more from www.wholesale-dress.net

Art and tees

When I was at the mall on the weekend I stopped by some stores to window shop. I wasn't going to go into Bebe because their clothes are ridiculously overpriced but a t-shirt caught my eye. It was a white, long scoop neck t-shirt with a graphic of a fashionable woman.
Now I'm a huge lover of graphic tees so I immediately went into the store to check it out. Turns out, Bebe is doing a collaboration with Biba founder, Barbara Hulanicki.




I think graphic tees are a great way to liven up an outfit. Pair them with jeans, skirts, black leather pants or (if it's long enough) wear as a mini-dress. I like wearing them to work with a schoolboy blazer, jeans and heels. I don't like wearing outfits that are too serious so the graphic tee livens it up and makes it more playful.
And these Bebe ones I would definitely wear going out a night; with long necklaces, a cocktail ring and skinny jeans, hell yeah!
I think graphic tees are a great alternative to the usual party dress. And they're a heck of a lot more comfortable and easy to party in.

But not all graphic tees are great. I was unfortunate enough to notice a grey tee in H&M which was extremely ugly. It's too bad I didn't get a photo of it because it's hard to explain. Picture this: A zebra head on top of a tiger's body. Scary right? H&M has been producing a few unfortunate shirts like this. I call them the "hipster shirts." For some reason people think shirts with imaginary scary animal hybrids are cool. Please avoid!

(kind of like this only scarier)

So in short: Fashion and comic tees are cool, weird animal crossbreeds are not.

Ah leather. How I love you

Yesterday after work I headed to Queen Street with the sole intention of buying Fables comics from the Silver Snail. Unfortunately along the way I got lured into the Rudsak store. The smell of leather puts me into a heavenly coma.
I've never been inside a Rudsak store before but I have seen a few of their collections on the runway at Toronto Fashion Week. When I saw their S/S 09 collection last October, I fell in love with their bomber jackets (in redish-pink, khaki and coal black) and their gorgeous leather bags. So I just had to take a look to see them up close.
First thing I noticed (besides that heavenly smell) were the jackets: Long coats with belts around the waist, fitted bombers in the softest of leathers, spring coats with a bomber look but in a lighter more synthetic material and loads of bags, wallets and other small accessories.

But what really caught my eye were the flats. I immediately asked to try on a classic black ballerina, leather flat that has a silver button/knob thing on the toe. They were gorgeous; so well-made, with soft leather and a sturdy bottom. Unfortunately they didn't have my size so I ordered a pair from Montreal. I can't find a picture of them on the website but take it from me; they are perfect to wear anywhere; at work, at a party, lounging about in the house, shopping, wherever.

There was also a great pair of party heels; open toe sandal with a cross cross construction and zipeer at the back. I resisted.

But the piece that I really wanted and almost died when I realized the price, was a fitted leather black bomber jacket. It had multiple zippers in silver and several pockets. The leather was very soft, and it fit me perfectly. Too bad I'm saving for an apartment. Or maybe I should be saying, too bad apartment, the jacket will be mine!

I'm trying to buy more clothes from Canadian stores because a) I believe that supporting our country's designers is really important b) Canada has amazing designers who make beautiful clothes and c) I don't want to give all my money to behemoths like H&M who make poorer quality clothes.

If you've never heard of Rudsak, I insist you check them out. The brand was founded by Evik Asatoorian in Montreal in 1994. They specialize in leatherwear and goods but they also sell t-shirts, shoes and bags. And I have to say that even though they can be a bit pricey, their stuff is timeless and will last you forever.

If you ever make it to L'Oreal Fashion Week, go to their show. And if the clothes aren't enough to entice you, the models are always super hot. At the show in October I couldn't stop staring at this super fine male model. Even Project Runway Canada winner Evan Biddell was drooling.

They have a few stores in Toronto and the GTA as well as in Montreal. Check out their site here.


I want this bag! Isn't the colour gorgeous?

Classic.Party shoes!

Oh no.....oh yes! Boyfriend jackets!

Saving for an apartment? What apartment? I can't think about saving money when there are gorgeous vintage boyfriend jackets on ebay that I must buy right now.



Gorgeous girl eh? Found them all from this great online vintage store Trendsetter Vintage.

So...should I spend just a little bit more money and get one? Or two? I really love the red one. Or should I buckle down and keep my money? Argh!

Update: I won the red blazer and the blue one (third pic down.) Can't wait to wear them!

Recession what?

I've been curious to see how the retail sector of Toronto has been affected by our fledgling economy but I haven't been shopping in a while, partly because I'm trying to save for an apartment, partly because I can't justify spending so much money on clothes and partly because I'm spending too much on books and DVDs from Amazon.


With all the doom and gloom talk these days about how hard the fashion industry has been hit by the bad economy, I decided to visit Holt Renfrew on Bloor St. to see how or if it has been affected. When I walked into the handbag section it was empty, save for a couple of sales people idling about looking bored, but apparently not bored enough to ask if I needed assistance. I guess those stories about high-end retailers making their sales associates pay extra attention to customers (even ones who don't look like they spend thousands on a shirt) aren't being applied at Holt's.

I wandered up to the second floor in search of a leather bomber jacket and had to hunt down a lone sales associate who promptly told me that they don't carry them in the Spring. Alright...so I decided to browse the clothes. There were the Marc Jacobs prairie skirts from last season going for $1500, and I saw a couple of older Asian women paw them enthusiastically but leave them on the racks. I tried on a DVF dress and sparkly gold boyfriend jacket which retailed for about $900. They were well-made and absolutely beautful but again, who can afford luxury these days?

The racks made me sad. There were many beautiful designer items but hardly anyone in the store trying them on.

Even the cheaper designer labels such as Marc by Marc Jacobs had their racks filled with unsold merchandise. It could have been that Holt's just restocked their items, but there was a definite lack of enthusiasm in the store. I'm curious to know how much they've had to cut down their Fall collection orders.

I have a feeling that the store is a bit behind the times; instead of trying to bring in new customers with sales and cheaper merchandise, they are sticking to their usual formula of catering to the higher-class customers with invitations to exclusive events, trunk shows, and invite-only discount nights. Their customers however are not shopping as much and people who don't normally check out Holts are even less inclined to shop there because of the exhorbitant prices and aura of exclusivity.

What's needed is a change in the way they market the store; incentives for new customers to shop, more clothes that retail for less than $1000 and friendly sales associates. Otherwise how will they survive?

Shopping made difficult

My friend Michelle and I were planning on shopping for shoes after work. We got off at 5 and made our way up Spadina to Queen. We were hungry and decided to eat first at Pho before starting our quest for the perfect footwear; Michelle needed fancy shoes for a wedding as well as Campers and runners whereas I was looking for high-heeled black boots.

By the time we finished our food it was quarter to seven. No biggie, it wasn't even dark yet. But most of the shops were already closing. I ask you: Why do all the shops on Queen Street close so early? There must be some kind of rule or law because it doesn't make any practical business sense. There is barely enough time for people to leave work, get a bite to eat and shop. We managed to look in three or four stores before we gave up the search.

Random note: Since when are black boots "out of season"? Out all of all the stores I checked out, none of them carried them. Michelle politely informed me that stores only carry them during the Fall and Winter. I say screw that! Black boots are timeless and can be worn on the hottest as well as the coldest of nights. Black boots are hot! And so the search continues.

Another random note: Every store was carrying Hunter boots. You know, the rubber rain boots that cost upward of $150...for RUBBER BOOTS. I've got my eye on a pair or red tartan non-Hunter ones. Is $60 too much for rain boots? I'm tired of working with wet feet and pebbles in my toes.

Can I wear these to work?

I bought these shoes from Aldo a few weeks ago because I've been obsessing over those Balmain studded leather ones from last season.
They're perfect because they go with everything; skinny jeans and a casual tee and any kind of dress. Day or night you can rock these heels.
But my question to myself is: Can I wear these to work? When I showed them to my sister she immediately proclaimed that they were "hooker heels." Her words, not mine. Which led me to second-guess my idea of wearing them to work.
When I dress for work I don't have an exact formula in my mind or a standard uniform; I pretty much wear what I feel like in that moment and I'm usually too tired to try hard. I don't care if I don't match or if my heels are too tall or if I wear a large sweater. I like to mix it up a bit with cool jewelry, tartan heels, schoolboy blazers and I like experimenting with length and volume. So if I'm wearing tight pants then I'll pair it with a loose tee. I also don't like to stand out a lot and I think these shoes might stand out. Just a bit. But will my co-workers think that I'm wearing "hooker heels"? Damnit, now my sister has me quite petrified that I will be labeled the office ho. My nickname will be "Hooker Chloe" or "Hot Heeled Chloe" or something equally embarrassing.

Which leads me to think about what is appropriate to wear to the office. There are a lot of women and some men in my office who dress well but none of them take chances with their clothes or accessories. But maybe I shouldn't judge; it's not like we're working at a fashion magazine. Still, is it taboo to wear something flashy to work? Are women too scared to wear their hooker heels in the office for fear of being labeled a trollop? Maybe it is inappropriate?
But I'm not talking about dressing like you're about to go clubbing. I'm talking about wearing something unexpected like my shoes, or a jacket with big shoulders or neon pink harem pants. Just for fun. Just to challenge yourself and defy the expected way of dressing for work.

I haven't worked up the nerve to wear something unexpected and maybe it's not appropriate for an office that is non-fashion related. But maybe one day I will get the courage to wear my fabulous shoes to work and not be scared of what people will think.

Addicted to LV

A couple weeks ago, a group of us who are members of The Purse Forum decided to meet in Toronto for brunch and shopping. Here we are in front of the Louis Vuitton boutique on Bloor St.
That's me second to the right leaning to the side with a big grin on my face.
I had such a fun time with them and I can't wait till we meet again. And yes, I did buy a bag.

Cuff finds on EBay

I've been obsessing over cuffs and I can't get them out of my head. While flipping through the new issue of Elle I saw a beautiful gold plated cuff with a pearl embellishment by Ann Taylor Loft.
I really want to wear a gold cuff somewhere. Anywhere. Maybe at the office holiday party to go with my black dress.

The Ann Taylor cuff wasn't on the website so I decided to troll EBay to see if anything appealed to me. A few did!

Sterling silver cuff

It's simple and classic. I would pair it with a graphic t-shirt or even a plain one. It's casual but elegant.


Vintage gargoyle cuff
I love this cuff but the bidding just ended and I lost! It was made in the 1950s and has pictures of gargoyles and griffins on it. Beautiful.


Multi-chain cuff

I like that it has all those chains because it gives it a little glamour and can really spice up an outfit.

Indian cuff
The detailing and design are very beautiful.The pops of red go really well with the gold. It's definitely a more formal cuff but I would still wear it with a casual neutral-coloured outfit.

Hammered cuff
A cuff staple. You can't go wrong with one of these.

Black resin cuff
I really like the leaf embellishments and the black and red stones. It's very pretty and festive.


Animal cuff
Rowr!

What was I thinking? Chanel flats?

I really need to rip up my credit cards. Yesterday I had time to waste before meeting a friend to see "Rachel Getting Married" so I went to Holt's just to look at beautiful bags. Nothing caught my eye (thank God) until I wandered into the Chanel boutique. And I saw them. The perfect pair of flats ever created. Black lambskin leather with a black patent toe. They were perfect. I had the SA put them on hold for me and I'm supposed to pick them up today. But holy shit they are expensive. And I'm really starting to think that $650 for flats aren't worth it, even if they are Chanel. Hmmm. So I've been debating all day whether I should get them after I get off work. Which means I have four hours to make up my mind.

I took my question to the Purse Forum and asked the ladies there what they thought and got some mixed answers ranging from "Yes they will last forever" to "are you crazy for spending that much money?" Noted.

I do want classic black leather flats but I know I can get amazing ones for way cheaper. But they won't have Karl Lagerfeld's stamp of approval. And I want a whiff of Lagerfeld in my shoes.
I am leaning towards not getting them since I just maxed out my credit card for the Yves Saint Laurent Muse Two bag and I can spend the money saved on Christmas presents. I can't wait for Christmas.

Update: I decided not to get the flats. I'd rather get Christmas presents!

So I bought the Yves Saint Laurent Muse Two

From overstock.com. Even though I swore to myself that I would not buy anything for myself until after Christmas. But it called my name. And there was only one left! How could I say no to my new Holy Grail bag? I just couldn't pass this by.

This isn't the original YSL Muse Two I wanted to get; at first I wanted to get the embossed Crocodile version but I realized that I like this one better. As I was clicking the checkout option I could hear Rachel Zoe and her assistant Brad enabling me to just get it, even if it costs more than rent. This is why we have economic problems. It's all my fault! Damn you credit cards!

I'll post pics once I get it!

SHE'S BACK

Found the red booth :)

I don't even know where to start; I feel so behind. I can't wait to catch up on all the lovely blog on my roll. I had a blast in London even though the flu/food bug caught up with me. Am still trying to recover. I have my good moment and not so good moment of feeling sick. Right now, I am having my good moment, so I decide to let you all know am BACK--I might not be totally back on full force because of being sick and exhausted, but do bear with me.

Hope your weekend went well and the week is going great. I enjoyed London. London is so much different from America. Each time we got in the car, it felt weird because they drive on the right hand--pretty interesting!!! May be because of the right side driving, it always felt like the drivers where driving too close to each other :)

Now the most fun part, apart from visiting different families, friends, & relatives, I felt like I was in heaven when I went to oxford street for some shopping therapy. I felt like a kid in candyland except I can't have all the candies. To name a few, I went to Selfridges, NEXT, H&M, but the one that they had to drag me out of was TOPSHOP--gosh! I can't wait for that store to hit the states--hopefully I won't go backrupt :)

For now, I have to end my long story because I am feeling a bit tired--I will try and get some rest and hopefully get my grove back before the end of the week.

THANKS for all the safe journey wishes, the sweet comments, and questions. I will try and get back to all questions. If you still want to ask me any question, please ask away :)

First night in London: exhauted from flight, but still had the energy to stop by for food :)

the beginning of my long day tour ;-)




Love the 'vintage' buildings :)

too shy to get close :)

Strike a pose :)


xoxo

My amazing finds

I've been doing a lot of shopping recently, party for fashion week and partly because I need new clothes for winter.

After I picked up my pass for L'Oreal Fashion Week at the Drake, I came across a vintage shop called 69 Vintage. They had amazing clothes: Soft men's leather jackets, military-style coats, poofy dresses, sparkly clutches and other great finds. I wasn't looking for anything in particular but a bomber fur coat caught my eye and I decided to try it on. Now fur is not a look I normally go for. I think it takes a lot of confidence to pull off an all-fur coat (those jackets with fur trims on the collars don't count.) But this was so soft, warm and in excellent condition so I bought it for a bargain of $70. I haven't worn it yet because I'm a bit worried that people will throw things at me so I'm going to wait until it gets colder. But it's magnificent.




My second amazing find is a Elie Tahari black lace cocktail dress I got at Winners for $200. It's stunning. The top has lace detail with a cream lining so you don't see through it. It has a square neck line. The fabric just below the bust is ruched and then the rest of the dress just sits perfectly on the body. It reminds me a bit of Audrey Hepburn.



There are a ton more clothes I bought but I don't have the time to photograph them all so I will list them:

- Dark wash Silver skinny jeans
- H&M vest
- H&M purple taffeta dress
- H&M men's graphic tee
- H&M studded belt
- H&M purple and black tights
- H&M lace skirt and lace top
-Zara men's Superman tee
- Black Danier leather jacket
- DC Comics Batman tee
- Jones New York men's classic white shirt
- GANT navy blue blazer with crest

And I'm sure there is more but I can't remember. And now I'm done shopping for myself for a long, long time.