The official grand opening for the first Top Shop in Calgary is Saturday November 2nd at Chinook Mall. In the meantime, here’s a video to whet your shopping whistle:
The Collection, featuring design collaboration with Kate Bosworth, is already available online.
Last year, I had a Venetian Ball to attend.
The Grave Gala’s theme, Venice is Sinking, made for some dramatic moments at the Hotel Arts in my favorite elevator …
… and on the dance floor with gondoliers — and the occasional venetian blinds. This year, however, with the Grave Gala resting in peace, I’m moving on to Paul Hardy’s Halloween Fashion Fete. The mandatory theme, Fashion Icon, Past or Present, is sure to inspire a future post. Boo!
Like the sign says, finally! With approximately 3,000 stores in 53 markets, the Swedish company is continuing their push for global fashion domination. At the very least, they have saved Calgarians from that closet they call an H&M in The Core. And the other 3 locations I never seem to run across.
Also sometimes hard to find, the H&M capsule collections and designer collaborations will be available here. Underneath inspiring murals… 
… and on well-read mannequins. 
Nice job putting the men’s collection upstairs so those in heels don’t have to hoof it too far, H&M! You can find the new flagship store across from Zara at the south end of the mall (verrry close to the new Top Shop that opens this Saturday). At 20,000 square feet it’s hard to miss.
Peak foliage, as the leaf peepers say in Vermont, where watching autumn colors is a sport, has passed in Calgary. The leaves are swirling to the ground, dry and crunchy. Kinda like my skin, which, luckily is not currently yellow, orange or red.
In my hunt for maximum pre-snow hydration, I turned to an old standby, Nivea. In Calgary I could wear this as a day cream during winter. Pure and natural moisturizing night care keeps my skin hydrated for hours. 95% naturally sourced incgredients. And no parabens, silicones, colorants or mineral oils.
But when I want something a little lighter, ie an actual daycream, I’ve been using Aqua Effect nourishing daycare. Don’t let the almond oil worry you, it goes on as a nice, light lotion with the classic Nivea baby soft scent. Creamy but easy to smooth onto your skin without any oily feeling.
This stuff makes your skin feel like velvet. Body Milk goes on thick and creamy, but doesn’t leave your hands sticky afterward. The only sticking point is that it goes on more like a cream than a milk, so it takes a little more time to apply. It’s worth the effort, but if I need a faster slap and dash to softness I usually go with the Shea Butter Hydra IQ Smooth Replenishing body lotion, not pictured here.
All photos taken on the pedestrian bridge to Lindsay Park, home of the huge Talisman sports complex. It’s looking a lot better than in did during the June floods, above.
My favorite pedestrian bridge, just a few miles up the Elbow River, doesn’t exist any more. All three super-bouncy suspension bridges got washed out and won’t be rebuilt til next year. City engineers tell me they’ll be more solid, aka more safe and less bouncy. Here’s a run down memory lane, across the old bridge. At least this winter I’ll be more moisturized.
Best-selling author Todd Babiak knows exactly how many suits he owns.
“30 in total. 11 in rotation.” The man who identifies as overdressed on his professional Facebook page has a passion for fashion. That’s why we’re meeting at the Fairmont Palliser in Calgary ahead of Wordfest, which starts Monday — not to discuss the new book he released September 25th, with promo billboards coming soon to a city near you.
“There’s a stereotype of writers that they’re frumpy and they don’t dress well,” he says. “Because writers aren’t supposed to have any money, they’re supposed to be struggling and they’re supposed to be counter-cultural.”
His penchant for personal style is a rebellion to that — and growing up poor. He started off doubling preppy polo shirts in high school, collars up, and moved on to suits. Still, he’s embarrassed by his numbers, as if it might be a tad too extravagant. As a former news anchor, I think 11 sounds woefully low, especially for someone who wears them almost every day, even when he’s skateboarding to a business meeting in Edmonton (his home base). But then I remember he’s a guy. I ask him how many ties he has. “Oh, zillions.”
According to his latest count, he also has a zillion shirts. Todd favors Banana Republic shirts for their slim fit and French cuffs. Which, in turn, can only mean a zillion pairs of cufflinks. These ones are from Artworks in Edmonton.
With accessories like this conversation starter at the top of his fly, no one will ever notice if Todd wears the same suit twice. He picked up this Flightpath Designs belt buckle at the Art Gallery of Alberta.
Dressing up is the great divide between his books and his business — a marketing company called Story Engine. “I have a psychological switch in the day. I work on novels in the morning wearing comfortable clothes, even PJs. Then I shower and get ready. Even if I’m going to stay at home, I get dressed up to work on Story Engine.”
He’s color-blind, but he knows the J. Lindeberg suit he’s sporting is brown. He’s got a thing for Swedish menswear designers (Tiger is another go-to for Todd) who do that slim Euro fit. “It works for me because I’m little.”
A new round of drinks arrive, distracting us from a lengthy digression into the history of pleated pants. The Oak Room’s cocktail menu had so many delectable creations it was a tough choice, but I settled on the Green Park, because of the basil, and substituted Hendrick’s Gin for Bombay. Lemony and refreshing, it also part of the same color palette as the cover of Come Barbarians. But as delicious as it was, those floating green bits made me nervous. I ducked out to the loo to make sure nothing was stuck in my teeth.
Which gave me a chance to appreciate the sumptuous lobby. With centennial celebrations in the works for June 2014, the Fairmont is one of the few old-school places in Calgary where you feel like you’ve stepped back in time. The lobby is usually bustling, yet hushed. The perfect place to rock my new skinny crops that I stole from the Gap for $16.99. Who cares that they were on the summer sale rack? The fact that it’s not snowing yet in YYC is the ultimate excuse to bare some ankle. Purse, Gucci. Shoes, MICHAEL by Michael Kors. But back to Babiak in the Oak Room, where he was still focused on fashion. 
“You can’t wear bow ties all the time,” he says. “They’re too whimsical. So I’m probably 20% bow ties.”
He looks for ones that are hand-made in small batches. 
Last time he was in Brooklyn, he discovered a boutique where he picked up this Pierrepont Hicks bow: 100% cotton and 100% hipster.
“Also, I like the way an untied bow tie looks.”
So do I Todd, so do I.
Did you notice the vintage polo photos on the wall behind our table? Of course this is now my favorite nook in the Oak Room.
You’ll have plenty of opportunities to acquire your own autographed copy of Come Barbarians at the 18th annual literary festival in Calgary this week. With three Wordfest appearances, we’ll see if Todd ups his bow tie ratio. And if he wears one, will it stay tied?
Mmm, new fall colors from AERIN.
“Inspired by an afternoon in the city, with a brisk walk through Central Park or a visit to the museum, this collection speaks to my Fall staples – a great peacoat, a pair of sunglasses and the perfect touch of color on my lips and cheeks,” says AERIN Founder and Creative Director, Aerin Lauder.
I’ll be kicking my leaves around Calgary instead, but the colors in this collection work in the Rocky foothills just as well as they do in NYC. I’m going to forgive Aerin for her treacly quote because I love her makeup so much. And I wouldn’t turn down a great peacoat if one came my way.
AERIN’s fall palette has a trio of eyeshadows: Smoked Navy and Midnight Shine, with the soft neutral Barely There to start your canvas. Also included is Soft Beige blush — you won’t need too much with the dramatic blue tones. I’ve been wearing AERIN makeup for a while now and the eyeshadows apply with true, even color. They never seem to crease, even hours later. Once the sun starts setting earlier, I love me some smoky eyes. 
Take your smoldering gaze even further with Kajal Eyeliner in Skyline. The inky black hue defines the inner lids in one easy fluid stroke, or can be softly smudged on the outer lids for a more intense look.
Reach for the sky with Evening Light, Bohemian and City Rose. I’ve been wearing Bohemian non-stop as a neutral. It has the perfect slidey-ness in a gloss, giving that full pout without goop, somehow tasting good with no flavor at all while soothing chapped lips.
Or go full drama with full-on lipstick: the NYC-inspired Madison and Mercer. We can all use a little New York in our lives.
Even if our lives seem to revolve around four-legged ones. Once Simon goes out to pasture for the winter, I’ll have time to channel my inner makeup artist — ie, no sunglasses in a story about smoky eyes.
Shot on location at the Calgary Polo Club.
If you’re headed to the Calgary Home+Design Show this weekend, I recommend going to it before you paint your walls the wrong shade of grey. Because if you attend, like I did, while the unexpected blue and lavender tones are still drying on your walls, you’re sure to see the right shade of grey everywhere. Like here, on the main stage furnished by Urban Barn.
And at the Western Living Lounge.
Even on the super-cool distressed concrete floor.
Plus I was a walking example of What Not To Wear to a convention center. But I tried not to worry about that — I was there for a party.
Calgary’s best bloggers were invited to attend a pop-up dinner party to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the design show.
Decorated by Revolve, my table was accented in blue. Blue Besos blue. With totally appropriate azul cocktails.
The Casa Bubble display lurks in the background while YYC top chefs, Kyle Groves from Catch, Paul Rogalski from Rouge and Michael Dekker from SAIT cook under the watchful eye of Neil Stuart from Trail Appliances…
… and the eyes of anyone walking by the cooking stage. With a camera overhead displaying their culinary moves on a giant flatscreen, it was a cooking show come to life.
Of course, that also meant if you were part of the dinner, you were part of the demonstration.
But the food was too good to let eating in a fishbowl sink my appetite. Especially when Chef Kyle Groves’ dish included an unexpected fish chip made from deep fried char skin. 
Cafe Rosso rounded out the night with a jolt of java. Cole tried to distract me from all the surrounding perfect grey tones by remembering I like my lattes extra-hot. He has a memory like an elephant, or should I say he has grey matter similar to a certain grey pachyderm? Meanwhile, the coffee and cooking were delicious. The Calgary Home+Design Show continues at the BMO Center through Sunday.
Crowd sourcing before 9 am at Chinook Mall: Eileen Fisher’s grand opening is the bugle call for a herd of Calgary bloggers.
We fashion reporters respond rapidly to a Mimosa Reveille.
The second Eileen Fisher store in Canada (Vancouver’s the first) opened at the north end of the mall in August. Wisely, they waited until everyone finished their holidays before holding the media event today. Brought to you by powerhouse distributor Sece Apparel, the Canadian stores are the only EF franchise shops in existence. The others, in the US and the UK, are all in the family. 
Eileen isn’t just for old ladies any more. No longer satisfied with prime placement on the fab-over-fifty blogs, Ms Fisher has taken the blue-haired ladies out of most of her promo materials and is moving toward hipper textures, like waxed denim. I fell in love with this besos-blue sweater. Thanks for the heads-up, Joan!
Get your head in the game this Saturday, with $25 off at the Eileen Fisher stores in both Vancouver and Calgary. Ten percent of sales proceeds will go to the Women In Leadership Foundation. Happy shopping!
The best thing about Britney Spears’ Radar video spent the summer in Calgary.
In the video, shot at the Santa Barbara Polo Club, Britney ditches the patron (played by an English model who exaggerated his riding abilities to get the gig) for polo pro Mariano Gutierrez. Good move, Brit.
In real life, Mariano “Guti” Gutierrez spends much of his workday at a flat-out gallop…
… so it’s no surprise that around the barn, he likes to enjoy his tranquilo time dressed casually. I figured his favorite fashion items would be trademark Argentine attitude, like the Alpargata shoes that Toms has appropriated, but the boy from Buenos Aires doesn’t wear much of his country’s traditional clothing.
Still, when I join the 5-goaler at the back barns of the Calgary Polo Club, I find him at a table covered in the makings of the ubiquitous Mate, the must-have drink of Argies everywhere.
Mariano never planned on being a polo pro, even though he started playing when he was 7. It wasn’t till after he logged a few years in law school that he was lured away by the siren call of the white ball. After a dozen years of playing in places like Paris, Deauville and Aspen, the 34-year-old came to Calgary to play in Fred Mannix’s 20-goal league.
Meanwhile, he has several businesses back in BA. “Soccer there is like hockey here,” says Mariano. The polo player takes full advantage of that, renting synthetic turf fields by the hour. He also has a skateboard shop which sells surf and skater styles. But don’t expect to find him in a pair of board shorts any time soon. 
“I dress casual,” he says. “Very casual.” And he’s low-maintenance, cutting his hair only twice a year…
…unlike his ponies, whose manes are shorn on a regular basis.
At the game, his Converse are usually close by.
Even his mallets are low-key. No flashy paint job on these babies.
His only act of conscientious color coordination is a burgundy helmet to match his horses’ burgundy wraps — btw, buen trabajo Amanda!
This pony switch could qualify as flashy, except it’s just part of the game for Guti.
After riding into the Calgary sunset, Guti plays in Buenos Aires this fall and Indio this winter. Hasta luego, Mariano. Come back next year!
Happiness is… 
… being told by your dermatologist the week of a big party that your cancer scar is not ready for another round of lasering, setting the stage for scab-free socializing.
Happiness is a borrowed Roberto Cavalli dress and Fendi bag. And looking much, much classier than you planned for the Calgary Polo Club President’s Ball.
Happiness is being able to wince your way to the car an hour later, where you have a pair of backup shoes, after realizing your feet are not yet ready for high-heeled prime time.
Happiness is also no shoes at all. And wearing white after Labor Day, because games continue through September at the Calgary Polo Club.