Dereon Fashion Show with Beyonce

Having nothing to do before I landed, I was poking around on my laptop looking at pictures. I came across some pics in August from the Canadian launch of the Dereon line. Beyonce attended so it was a big hubbub.

Being a fashion buyer has it's perks and this was one of them. The store sells more Dereon than anyone on the westcoast so we were invited to attend the Dereon launch with Beyonce in Toronto. It was at the swanky Ultra Supper Club on Queen St. Appetizer wise: Super yummy giant seared scallops, tasteless giant thai prawns and cold mini turkey burgers.

We stood in the club for an hour and half before Beyonce arrived. It was wall to wall people in there. Even Canadian fashion staple Jeanne Beker was in attendance. The models and the clothes were stunning, featuring this current season's looks. The fashion show was really well done and better than anything I've seen in Vancouver.

A major embarrassing moment was averted that night, I nearly wore the same gold snowflake dress that Beyonce was wearing!

After the show, Beyonce spoke a few words and then she ducked out the back. There were some gift bags, nothing very flashy but some absurdly huge XL Dereon tank tops.

Neo Citran and Dim Sum at the Lounge

My dear partner who is sick like a dog drove me to the Airport. It was some pretty awful rain on the way to YVR. Which reminded me to tell you all, we've got some great Metallic Gold and Silver North Face Down Coats in the store. No not the the kind you ski in, the kind you look sexy in! Let's face it, in Vancouver waiting to get into a club nothing goes better over a fly Dereon Dress than a puffy jacket.

I'm in the Cathay's Marco Polo lounge. They've got a huge food spread in here, they've got Dim Sum and Congee as well as your typical western fare. I'm gonna fill up on some steamed dumplings. Prior to boarding I'm gonna make sure I get some sleep but drugging myself with my sleep aid of choice: Neo Citran. Someone once told me that Neo Citran is a very Canadian thing and that in the UK or US it doesn't exist. A country without Neo Citran is not a country I want to be part of!

Aimless thoughts at midnight before the airport

I've got a 3AM flight to Asia tonight... errr... tomorrow morning. I've got 30 minutes to kill so here I am with my new blog. I didn't expect to have so much to say or to have such a good time saying it. So I hope you're all enjoying too!

I'm off to Hong Kong to see some family and friends. One of my long time key staff has moved back to help out in the family business. So we'll do lunch. I'll also shuttle over to Japan for funky new designers and Korea for knitwear and accessories.

I was flipping channels and saw the on SNL the "Iran So Far" digital short with Andy Sandberg and Maroon 5 guy sing a gay love song about that Mahmoud guy. Funny stuff. I also caught most of an Elise Estrada video on Muchmusic. It wasn't bad but more interesting was that clearly it was filmed in Coal Harbour. So I take it she's a local. I wonder if she's ever shopped at the store. We certainly would welcome her if she wasn't!

Sudden realization just dawned on me! I haven't watched TV in ages. I watch a lot TV shows but it's been ages since I watched it on a TV. I do all my watching on either streaming media or via downloads. This is a superior way to watch shows, no commercials and where else would I be able to watch Next Top Model from Britain or Australia? The NTM show, even the US version isn't about fashion or modeling... it's about catty women living together. Gawd, I love that show. In the current ANTM I like the girl with autism. She's so different and I like an underdog.

Opps got to fly, literally!

Hot Looks for Fall

Since I'm out of the store so much, I rely on the team at the store to keep things together. The girls have really excelled at wardrobing and it's reflective of the skills of how well the mannequins and the windows are put together. Our mannequins are those bolt joint types that are a pain to pull apart, but the girls make short work of them.

I'm very proud of how independent and skilled team is. They have put together the following looks:

Look 1 (top left): Lady Dutch sweater, Antik Denim skirt, black leggings

Look 2 (right): Lady Dutch with detachable faux fur collar trim, Free People baby doll tunic top

Look 3 (bottom left): Golddigga faux fur trim hooded 3/4 sleeve sweeter, Faith Connexion stripped race back tunic tank, Free People crochet leggings

Christian Audigier - So Hot it BURNS

While I was away, we had gotten in a delivery of Christian Audigier hoodies.
For you not in the know, it's Ed Hardy with even more attitude! The gorgeous Heart Breaker design with the torso wrapped barbed wire and gold Christian Audigier monogram really set this piece on fire. We've got in black and ivory. I originally wanted one of these for myself but found today that all my sizes had not only a hold but a second hold on them (actually all the sizes have holds). Oh well, customers first! Looks like I'm gonna see if I can get a reorder.

Vancouver night clubs are stupid

My dear cosmopolitan city of Vancouver, just when I think of how proudly progressive she is, I find this: Some downtown Vancouver nightclubs are not allowing certain brands to be worn in their Clubs. It sounds like they're targeting men who are wearing expensive print shirts. Too bad guys! Just when you've gotten enough nerve to wear that Ed Hardy "love kills slowly" top, the man is shuttin' you down! I haven't heard any incidents with girls but you never know.

It's all pretty stupid for any club to limit what their customers are wearing. It's supposed to cut down on gang activity in their clubs. I think it's a PR stunt so that the clubs can be perceived to be doing something about the violence that often spills out of their doors in the wee hours of the morning. Even the police when hearing of this policy thought it was inappropriate to discriminate by dress. To paraphrase the officer, "We have a list of names of gang members not a list of clothing brands."

Girls you know when you go to a club you want to be decked out in your finest. So it seems silly that a club owner would want you to show up at the door with in a totally blank black outfit!

Milan Fashion and Clubs

Down to work! With shopping aside, everyone knows Milan is the city of fashion and that's what we're here for! So we focused on getting sexy dresses and tops for the store.

The show is always cool. You'll see stuff that you won't see anywhere else. Like this Faux Boa Leather clad car.

The show itself is crazy it's like 20 Costcos! If we didn't know what we were doing it would take us 2 weeks to go through it all.

After the shows we got invited to this Club in the middle of nowhere. It's called Borgo Del Tempo. It's like an outdoor nightclub in the middle of some farm land. It's wild and crazy fun, with go-go dancers to boot. I've included the link if you want to go. When I was lining up to go to the washrooms there was lots of double action going on in the stalls. Yup crazy!

The outdoor club lounge area

The streets of Milan are paved with bags

Last week I came back from a 6 day buying trip. I went with a girlfriend, for her this would be her first trip... for me this would more times than I have fingers.

The plane trip itself was exhaustive as we had to transfer 2 times and had some unexpected layovers. Once we got there we hit the ground running. We hit Duomo, Monte Napoleaone and Spiga right away. Those areas are really the center of the world when it comes to shopping. They have like 3 Prada shops in the same block! Italian made stuff is generally cheaper than in Canada and when you factor in all the various taxes and duties, we still come out like 30% cheaper than Holts.

I really like Bottega bags despite the brand being older, I found one that wasn't all old lady like and snapped it up. I must say this trip I was the ideal of self control, I only bought a few things. My GF on the other hand went hog wild. For fear of reprisals from her husband, let's just say she did very well.

It's 2AM at the Central train station in Milan. They've got the only 24 hour supermarket around. There's lots of people around, must be the art exhibit going on.

Welcome!

Hi All! For modesty sake, I'll refer to myself "M". I know it's a bit dramatic but when you run a store it's a neccesity! Anyways, I run a little fashion boutique in Oakridge Centre in Vancouver called Tru Drama. Everyone believes that having your own clothing store is a dream job. In many ways it is but at the same time it's loads of work.

I've started this blog to give everyone a small window into our world.

The picture is when we first opened the store 2 years ago. It's changed a lot since then!