Montreal vs. Toronto: StreetStyle Battle Royale

Oui, c'est moi! I was recently asked by the great people at Tourism Toronto to be their Stylist judge for a streetstyle contest -- Montrealers vs. Torontonians via a live web cam/screen downtown in each city -- at  "The Cheating Wall". 

From the photo above it's hard to tell that I'm melting (32degrees that day!) in my vintage cream, silk Lanvin blouse and lawn-green, high-waisted Prada skirt, but it was well worth the effort. Normally, I wear leave my crown of curls as-is in humid weather but I had a T.V. gig earlier that day and I would've barely fit in the frame with my usual wild mane!

I love Montréal and I visit Toronto often for clients. It's hard to 'judge' places held so close to heart, and yet... I did! Shoot, to be honest, for people that live in these cities, pegging TO against MTL is unavoidable. It runs deep in the DNA of our available conversation topics. After the contest, Tourism Montreal interviewed me about Montreal and Toronto style. The results are pretty funny. Peep it here (and sorry - you'll have to mind the writer's typos in the linked article!). 

"Dressed to the Teeth" Street Style - oh SNAP!

I recently got snapped by a Montréal Street Style blogger from the Examiner. It has been an amusing treat in the past to have been snapped by other street style blogs too, including The Style Scout, Savvy London, and Face Hunter. As a stylist myself, I have also been on the other (more enjoyable!) side of the lens, having published Street Style pieces of sartorial-standouts for Nylon Magazine and the Globe and Mail.

As street style blogs often do, Examiner asked me a few rapid fire questions to summarize my style quotient. My answers - as well as my outfit that day - were remarkably different from what they have been chronicled as in the past, when I've been caught by street style bloggers and I dressed more like Catherine Baba, Patti Smith, Princess Leia, or Mick Jagger.

On this fateful day however, I was caught debuting my new, purple-black Prada shades (a New Year's gift from my best friend), gold American Apparel leggings, gray boyfriend Burberry cable-knit cardigan, Salvatore Ferragamo boots, and my coveted biker jacket.

In a quick description of my style, I avoided using the cliché term, 'eclectic' which unfortunately, too often conjures the image of a middle-aged woman in ill-fitting and brightly-colored, novelty clothing (think polka dots, ethnic accessories, and gumboots all in one outfit). However, when used accurately and without prejudice, eclectic refers to 'selecting an unrelated/heterogeneous mixture of what appear to be the best of various doctrines/methods/styles'.  With that description in mind, 'eclectic' fits my visual personae just fine.