City Sophisticate: Let the World be Your Runway (or Catwalk)

Tomorrow marks the beginning of a number of important events. I suppose the most pertinent to me is that it's the first day back to the grind after a restful week away from the school (wahn wahn wahn). I prefer to focus on the events I'm a touch more enthused about which are also set to commence in a few short hours.

Well firstly, how can St. Patty's Day go unmentioned! A day where we all dress up in green (not typically a color I migrate to when making my daily wear selections) and have an excuse to begin drinking green beer at 10 a.m. Of course I will not be partaking in that portion of the tradition. Perhaps green Kool-Aid with the students will have to suffice. What I find comical is that a large number of participants in these festivities haven't a clue as to the story behind the day of celebration. I have to admit, I'm one of them. My Irish ancestors would surely be offended. After a couple of pints, does it really matter? Let's just call it a fantastic way to let loose and socialize while sporting temporary foamy green mustaches that have been caked on from the incessant swigging. I'm proud of my one quarter Irish heritage! Cheers!

Along with those foamy mustaches, I believe street style may be temporarily amped up a notch for the Toronto fashion scene's big event. Toronto Fashion Week begins tomorrow and carries on through to the weekend. I have to say, although I enjoy clothes and fashion and also paying attention to the incredible design talent within this city and country, Fashion Week has never been quite as exciting to me as the one set to begin. There are various reasons for this; one being that my aforementioned gal pal, L.C., who has worked her tail off to get her foot in the door as a fashion insider, has just been granted an accredited press pass for the entirety of the week, due to proving herself as a talented, knowledgeable and well-versed fashion writer in Fashion Studio Magazine. I am beyond ecstatic for her and what this means for her future success in the fashion world.

Interestingly enough, the main character of my novel The Tantalizing Tale of a Bitter Sweetheart works tirelessly to break into the fashion world. This obviously has meant a good deal of research, on my part, to understand the workings of the fashion industry, the process to creating a line, the elements involved in a single runway show, the seasonal shows etc. I have attempted to bridge fiction with non-fiction in the area of fashion weeks and media written about within the novel and hope that I have done the industry justice in the manner that I have included it.

I suppose this fashion week is of interest for a multitude of reasons, not only to celebrate the success of a good friend and cheer her on, or to marvel at the newly unveiled collections, but to also edit where need be in relation to the events in the novel that are heavily fashion-world focused.

Lucian Matis, the design team behind the Rudsak brand, Vawk and the design team behind the Mackage brand are a few of my favorite T.O. and Canadian designers that surely always impress. I know that the week will uncover a few more gems to be added to the list.

I intend to work my runway all week, even if that runway is surrounded by 9 year old students and paper airplanes and my selected daily outfits are coated with chalk and paint by day's end.