October 26th, 2010 - Womenswear Update

Have just arrived home after the second last trip of the buying season, an important Womenswear trade show in Los Angeles.

I love going to LA, and for a lot of reasons: watching street fashion is a great spectator sport, as is checking out the goods at the show. The 'west coast' look is really all about LA, where most of the fashion comes from, both as ideas and often as a place of manufacture. This is particularly true of all things denim.

Of course there's also the celebrity sightings, which these days also has a fashion bent. It's all about who wears what, and who wears it better than the other person, as seen in all the comparisons in celeb magazines. It seems there's no such thing as an exclusive piece anymore, unless you're at stratospheric prices. By that I mean spending thousands on a single article of clothing.

Speaking of celebs, a week ago Sunday, I went to Nate 'n' Al’s, a great breakfast spot in Beverly Hills, where I spoke to Larry King, in for his take-out order of morning bagels. Over the years, I've seen Andy McDowell, Paris Hilton, sat in a restaurant next to Misha Barton, Dustin Hoffman and so on.

As I write this in the store, with the rain falling, it's, well, it's back to reality.

Speaking of Women’s fashion…for those in the fashion loop, or maybe just the TV loop, I had dinner last night with Jeanne Beker, host of CTV's Fashion Television. Jeanne was in town to launch her own line at the Bay, along with VP of Sales for Levy Canada, Linda Legault, and Nicole, the Bay's PR point person. Darcy Baillie, the store media co-ordinator was also in attendance. The five of us had a lovely fashion industry chat over a great dinner at the Oak Bay Marina, and then came to the store around 10 PM for a complete tour of the shop. She loved it, bless her heart.