I enjoy keeping an eye on who the fashion bloggers in Canada are, and one question that comes up from time to time is whether there are any menswear focused blogs in Canada. I always recommend Thom Wong’s site The Sunday Best – based out of Vancouver. Thom’s site celebrates his taste in all things, but especially clothing and music. He occasionally illustrates little story blog posts, something very rare and charming.  He also produces podcasts from time to time and kindly gave me a few tips when I started my own podcast adventures. I asked Thom a few questions about niche blogging and the connection between music and style.

When I think of great fashion blogs in Canada that focus on menswear, I think of you… and then my mind goes blank. Are there any other members of your niche I should be aware of?

That’s very flattering, but I’d hardly call my blog great if only for the simple reason that I don’t put nearly enough time into it. (Wendy Brandes has a great article on this at IFB). I don’t link to any men’s style blogs written by Canadians, but that hardly means great ones aren’t out there. I just don’t tend to read style blogs.

I just Googled “men’s style blog Canada” and the first hit is my friends at Style Salvage out of England. So maybe part of the problem is Google.

Here’s one I found at random: Blame it on Vancouver

Do you agree that there is a lack of great men’s fashion blogs out there, or is supply more or less equal to demand?

I’ve thought about this more than I should, and my feeling is supply actually exceeds demand – in the sense that any at all might be too much. Men just don’t discuss fashion the same way as women do. By that I don’t mean they simply talk about it less, although they do, but more that they talk about it differently. For example, I read Street Etiquette regularly now, but I can’t imagine reading another men’s style blog dedicated to the writer(s)’ style. Almost no one is writing about men’s style from a critical or theoretical standpoint, but I don’t get any sense that there’s a demand for that. I’d read that site.

You are also an avid follower of music – do you think your taste in clothing complements or contrasts with your taste in music?

There was an article in Radar Magazine about “twee-mo” and I was horrified to find how much I fit into it. Wes Anderson movies. Earl Grey tea. McSweeney’s. But the kicker was the styling of the two models – Moscots and bowties and fitted blazers. Basically they pwn’d me, and I had no response.

I also read somewhere that Vampire Weekend had ruined the way rock stars dress. First of all, VW are not “rock stars.” Pete Doherty, god bless him, is a rock star. Not in the sense of his popularity, but in the sense that he seems hell bent on personal destruction.

All this to say – yes, my taste in music is probably discernible from my style.

Are there any music artists in particular whose sartorial savvy is equal to their ability to rock?

Janelle Monae. Full-stop. I am completely obsessed with her. Ok, and David Byrne.

Can you describe a favourite fashion experience you’ve had?

Every time I go into Blackbird in Seattle. It’s just a nice place to hang out.

When fashion blogging was young, I started to keep an eye on the other Canadian fashion bloggers out there, and I found that Kimberley Jev in Calgary was doing the same thing. Her site, Calgary Fashion, is a lively, city-specific fashion blog which Kim successfully turned into a full-time gig. I first met her when she came to Toronto to cover fashion week here a few seasons ago, and this summer she showed up in Toronto again and decided to stay. We’re lucky to have her! She’s a bright, passionate  blogger with an entrepreneurial streak, and she knows how to have fun, so naturally we’ve hit it off. I asked her a few questions about her fashion blogging experiences and what Hogtown should know about fashion in Cowtown.

You’re the founder of Calgary Fashion, which is really the premier, go-to site for fashion news in that city. Can you describe a bit about the genesis of the site? Why you think it is so remarkably successful in a very narrow niche?

In my first year of Journalism school, we had to pick beats to keep track of and report on. I chose the fashion beat. A challenge at first, I was very adamant there was more to the fashion scene in Calgary than the little tid bits on malls and salons, so with my camera in hand I set out in search of designers and fashion shows in the city. September 2007 was when the blog was created and the Downtown Association of Calgary held a fashion week, there was very little reporting on the event as you would find in other cities online, this sort of sparked everything. My interest in photography was blossoming and there was an obvious lack of fashion reporting through the web with reports on shows, so I made it my business to be everywhere fashion was in Calgary, this is how it all began.

The site is successful because there really isn’t anything like it in Calgary. The aim with the site is to inspire and mainly promote. It’s online to show there are people just as enthusiastic about fashion as any New Yorker or Londoner would be. It’s online for the kid living in the suburbs just dreaming of fashion school and not knowing where to turn, it’s showing that it’s okay to come from Calgary and love fashion, it really is okay!

Calgary Fashion works because every thing that happens with the website is local, the photographers are local, the writers are local, the designers are local, 90% of it is local coverage and reporting. It’s showing Calgary that fashion really can exist anywhere, you don’t have to be based in Paris to experience it. This is why I think it works, there are several people making a difference and it’s specific to Calgary even when we are at shows in other cities, we’re bringing it to Calgary for Calgary.

Lets talk a little bit about blog burnout. How do you deal?

Blogging when it’s a full time gig gets pretty serious, somedays I don’t even want to look at Calgary Fashion…but that is impossible.

My days are made up of phone calls from the early morning to the evening, meeting with various members of the fashion industry, publicists, promoters, consulting, answering e-mails, keeping up to speed of fashion locally and internationally, editing and making sure content is up to par as well as making sure i’m on top of things for weekly meetings with the editorial team…week after week, it really does take a toll. I usually just leave things for a bit, this is the really wonderful thing about niche blogging as well as saying what goes and what doesn’t, we don’t really have a set schedule for blogging. We go with the flow. So when I feel a burnout coming, we slow down on posting, we slow down on trying to be everywhere all the time, this usually coincides with down times in fashion events in the city as well.

To get away from things, I drive, far away and when I can’t drive I fly. I’m a hula hooper and a big music fan so I hoop, catch shows and generally try to see as much as possible outside fashion.

If you can’t drive or fly or don’t like dancing or hooping, it also helps to offer your services to something of a total different category from fashion or blogging even, doing work for something else really helps you take your mind off things and teaches you about how to do other things as well. Basically intern or volunteer your time to something else. You’ll be surprised to see how the things you learn come back to you and your blog.

You’ve recently moved from Calgary to Toronto. Will you continue to oversee Calgary Fashion? Would you consider starting another city-specific fashion blog or are you after something completely different?

Ha! No way! A lot of work has gone into Calgary Fashion, creating another city specific blog would be way too much work to be honest. I’m really happy with the site, Calgary Fashion is my baby and as mother of the blog I can’t really throw that responsibility of nurturing it out the window. It has so much growing to do, it hasn’t even scratched the surface of it’s full potential, i’m quite positive on that.

There are already so many other blogs that do the job just fine for other cities especially Toronto. There is no lack of fashion news in this city. I’m not here to step on any ones toes or to claim we know more about it than what the bloggers and fashion journalists here already know.

The aim with the move is to be able to bring fashion event coverage from other fashion weeks really, this has been the goal from the very beginning. I want to see more coverage on Toronto Fashion Week and Montreal Fashion Week and then who knows other weeks from different parts of the world all on the Calgary Fashion site.

To me, this is the next fun and logical step. However, you just never know really, tomorrow I could shut everything down and become a full time hula hooper, watch the space I guess, see what happens!

Do you have any advice for all the city-specific fashion bloggers out there?

Really pay attention to the flow of fashion in your city, if it’s not happening, it’s not happening, don’t beat yourself up about it. There is a time for everything. Embrace the slow times, use it to go over your content, edit, edit, edit, it’s never enough, especially on a blog or if you are publishing through the blog format. Refine, look over it, throw out what didn’t work, embrace what did work and keep it moving.

It’s also okay to just stop and not worry about things. You will come across some really bizarre demands from people in your city and the industry,stay strong, you won’t be able to please everyone. Do your best for yourself as well as your team, that is if you have a team. Remember the blog itself is a separate entity from who you are, unless your blog is centered around you as a personality but for those that aren’t, you are not your blog, so live a little.

Stay focused on your blog mission. Never forget a blog gives you the freedom to do and post whatever you want, so don’t worry too much about what other blogs are doing, do what feels right for you and your blog and your readership as well, most important.

What fashion designers from Calgary should the rest of the country and the world know about?

Haithem Elkadiki is an established Calgary designer whom I think more people need to know about, he is a very talented menswear designer with clients all over the world. Two up and coming designers I am also a fan of are Caitlin Power and Nonie Rahal of House Of Nonie whom I believe constantly exceed expectations and although very young on the scene compared to other established designers in Calgary, possess a much necessary understanding of what it means to be a fashion designer, paying attention not only to the quality and craftsmanship of their designs but also to the tenets of the business of fashion.

While attending the Spring 2010 shows at LG Fashion Week in Toronto last fall, I had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of a fellow fifth-row denizen, Kimberly Lyn.  She has a fresh shoe and shopping blog called The Souls of My Shoes.  I love meeting new bloggers and it is always so nice to see a friendly face when you take your seat at a fashion show.  Since then I’ve had the great luck to hang out with Kimberly at many fashion events. She’s generous and beautiful and even commissioned me to do a figure illustration of her.  I asked her a few questions about shoes and the fashion blogging scene.

When did you discover you were into shoes? What is it about a pair of shoes that captivates you?

There’s no specific moment when I discovered my love for shoes, it has always been an item I naturally gravitated towards. When I go into a store I make a beeline to the shoe department – it helps when I’m out shopping with friends because they know exactly where to find me if we’re separated.

Since starting my blog I’ve taken a more invested and keen interest into shoes. My taste in footwear varies from the simple to the extravagant, from flats to high heels. I’m captivated by interesting shoe designs, such as those which have sculptural elements, use interesting colour combinations and materials, and footwear made of good quality.

I’m not a shoe person, so I’ve always wanted to know – why do so many ladies put up with the pain – financial and foot wise – to wear “killer” shoes?

I think it’s purely for aesthetic reasons. Historically, shoes/heels marked things such as a person’s social status or served as a sign of fertility and over time this concept has transformed into people’s obsessions with footwear today. High heels are equated with enhancing a woman’s sex appeal and can instill increased confidence, and owning a pair of Louboutin or Manolo Blahnik shoes is associated with affluence. The same also applies to men but less of a spectacle is made of their footwear.

When it comes to the pain financially or foot wise, to wear “killer” shoes, sometimes I (and I’m sure other people) just grin and bear it for aesthetics. There are times when I’ve exceeded my shoe budget and there are times when you have to say “No” to purchasing more footwear. I love shoes but have to be realistic and responsible – I sound like my mother. However, don’t be surprised if you see me quietly slip off my shoes when sitting down. Like everyone else I too feel the pain shoes can bring and have the track record of blistered heels to prove it.

You’re a relatively new fashion blogger. What were your intentions and ambitions when you started your fashion blog?

I started The Souls of My Shoes after being was laid off from my full-time job last year. Going through an array of emotions I needed to keep busy, channel myself intellectually and creatively, and found comfort through blogging. Like my interest in shoes, fashion has always been something I’ve gravitated towards and it wasn’t until I lost my job that I rediscovered my love for it. In addition, I’ve always wanted to blog but didn’t know what to write about and one day it just dawned on me to focus my thoughts and energy on fashion.

I didn’t have high expectations when I started my blog but knew I wanted to provide content that was interesting, thoughtful and engaging straddling the commercial and editorial spheres. I followed a lot of fashion blogs such as yours (Final Fashion) and I Want – I Got, and read a lot of fashion news media which provided me with a template of the content, style and voice I wanted to portray online – something that is personal, honest, fair and professional.

Now that you have been blogging for a while, how does it compare to your expectations?

Fashion blogging has greatly exceeded my expectations; I went into it with none but have gained so much knowledge and insights as a result. First, it has helped to improve my writing skills which I think is key to good blogging. Secondly, I’ve learned so much more about fashion when researching content for entries, conducting interviews or when looking at clothing designs. Third, I’ve met so many amazing and talented people at various events around the city; other bloggers, designers and artists have all become part of my network both as friends and colleagues.

Can you tell me about a favourite fashion experience you’ve had?

My favourite fashion experience was attending the North American premiere of Valentino: The Last Emperor during the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). I recall saying to myself there are so many celebrities in town promoting their movies during TIFF, but I highly doubt Valentino would come to Toronto.

By the end of the movie, when the spotlight shone on Valentino Garavani (who attended the premiere) I was proven wrong. Everyone in attendance immediately took to their feet and gave him a standing ovation lasting for several minutes. My hands hurt from clapping and I was filled with emotion, because we were just taken on a cinematic journey through his life, the ups and downs, and now the fashion legend himself was standing before us proud and tanned as can be – it was a once in a life time opportunity to be near, let alone in the same building as Valentino.

As often happens in fashion blog land, some of my favourite bloggers discover me. When Gilda of Queen Gilda commented on my site and my drawings, I followed the link back and discovered an awesome fashion student blog, candid and enthusiastic, full of feeling and colour.  I even had the opportunity to meet her when I went to NYC and she gave me a short clandestine tour of Parsons, where she goes to school.  Gilda, like all fashion students, is super busy with her school work so her posts are infrequent – but when she does post, its well worth the wait – her posts are long and full of stories and pictures, honesty and humour.

I asked her about her projects, her school, and her favourite fashion inspirations.

You just finished an amazing project for LVMH, can you tell me a bit about the design and construction process of it?

this project was basically a collaboration with LVMH and parsons, called “the art of craftsmanship revisited: new york”. it was a group project where students of different disciplines within the new school university can take part in. the project is two-fold: we have to create a 5 minute mini-documentary based on the artisan we were assigned to, and we also had to draw inspiration from their craft to create an ensemble.

the artists we were assigned to were metal artists from a french company called les metalliers champenois. we went to visit their shoppe a few times and were so blown away. “amazing” really isn’t a way to put it. because we had to bear in mind that the garment had to reflect our artist, it was a lot more difficult than just sitting down and designing something as we were used to.

more than anything, what really inspired us when we were at LMC was their work ethics and the way they thought and went through their work process. we wanted to make sure we respected this and so we tried to put ourselves into their shoes and become fashion designers who could inject our own sense of aesthetic to the work, but also employ their thinking and mindset to the garments.

the resulting ensemble was a half-jacket, that represents strength and “protects” the most important thing to any artist – their arms and hands. in particular the “stronger” arm that they work with. under it was a very fitted dress with only 1 straight seam; the rest were all curved. it was a reflection of the movements the artists took as captured in our videos. we also included ideas that spoke about the amazing latticework that they do inside of statues and restoration work that they do.

lastly, on top of the dress is a delicate 3-tiered cowled piece which is made of 2 layers of light chiffon fused together. it is a direct homage to the amazing repousse work that LMC does.

construction was a huge craze. i did the patterns for the dress and the dart manipulations took me a day and a half of mathematical calculations to get right. i’m glad i took my time with it because there wasn’t any major fit issues. phew!! we draped the jacket and cowls together. cowls seem so easy but it also took us about 3 days to finally get the exact shape that all 3 of us were happy with!

What is the Parsons fashion design program like? The best part, the worst part? Would you recommend it?

i know i sound so biased about this topic. it’s hard to talk about it because i had attended another world-class fashion college before parsons, bunka fashion college in tokyo, so after coming here from there, i think i was very angry as i felt i was wasting my parents’ hard-earned money and giving myself a lot of unnecessary stress. the best part are the teachers. some of them, not all. i have been lucky to have been blessed with a handful of extremely talented and really nice teachers whom i have learned a lot from. the worst part is the school itself. i would rather pay my teachers $40,000 a year and just learn from their studios. in other words, even if i could come back to this school for free, i would not. i had to say i am biased also because i have already received my basic education in sewing and design before coming to parsons, so the comparison makes me sick to my bones and sometimes i feel like i haven’t learned anything new. in america though, it is supposed to be the best school available. perhaps it is? i really don’t know.

What inspired you to choose the life of a fashion designer? Is your experience so far anything like what you expected?

i’ve always loved fashion, although when i was probably 15 i thought i was really cool and stuff, but looking back at pictures i would love to slap myself. i’d always devoured magazines and went shopping all the time. by myself, especially. shopping alone is best for me. (ha!) when i was about 15 or 16 i started remaking a lot of my clothes; i had no idea how to use a sewing machine so everything was done by hand with a thread and needle. i tore up so many tshirts and sewed some together, made new shapes etc. i also made accessories. and i had so much fun. i never gave it much thought until i was about 17 when i had to think about what was going to happen to me after high school. that was when i set my hearts on doing something in fashion, and i never really looked back.

the experience has been amazing and fulfilling. it is a lot of work. a lot more work than 90% of the people think it is. sometimes i watch those reality shows of people who think they are “fashion designers” but really they are just rich b*tches with silver spoons in their mouths, who have no sense of personal style and think they are amazing. i could line them all up and shoot them, really. they give fashion a bad name. nothing is glamourous, everything is work, nonstop, all the time. being able to create something from 2D on paper and fabric, into something in 3D that is going to be worn by someone… the work in between takes a long time, and yet, the sense of fulfillment of seeing a finished garment is just something that cannot be explained. i imagined this is how it must feel to have a child when it finally pops out of the belly. heh.

to some people, fashion is nonsense. ridiculous. it is just clothes. and in many ways, that is true. it doesn’t matter what sort of collection a designer puts out there every season; in the end, it’s just clothes. when i tell people i am a fashion designer, sometimes i get scoffed at for having such a trivial occupation. so i tell them that fashion is part of their lives, everyone needs it even if they refuse to think so. they need to eat. sleep. be protected by the elements under a roof, and to do so they also need clothes. i’d like to see them run their lives while in the nude.

What fashion professionals do you admire? How have they influenced you?

my biggest influences are rei kawakubo, junya watanabe and tao from comme des garcons, as well as jun takahashi from undercover, takahiro miyashita from number (n)ine. i love japanese designers. they design in a very different way as compared to american or italian designers. i love the avant garde look, the undone, asymmetry look… basically i want to be adopted by them. please.

Can you describe your proudest fashion moment?

the biggest one so far would definitely have to be my recent participation in the LVMH x parsons event. the launch was during nyfw at milk studios. we were right there having a show after proenza schouler. i mean, to be still a student and to have this opportunity to show some of my work during an event like nyfw, that is not some chance that hops around at every corner of the street. meeting so many people from the industry and having people compliment us on our ensemble was just a feeling i hope i never forget. it really spurred me on to thinking more about business plans and how i can one day, on my own two feet, return to fashion week. new york? tokyo? somewhere, one day.

When Danah moved to Toronto, she emailed me and asked what is up in the city.  I was familiar with her site, Ottawa Street Style, and I invited her to Fritz Helder and the Phantoms‘ single release party where she made friends, pretty much instantly.  Danah is precocious, honest, has a great sense of humour and her new non-city-centric blog, The Yuppie Activist is all of those things too.  I asked her a few questions about her home cities, regional fashion and blogging.

photo by Renata Kaveh

When you moved from Ottawa to Toronto, you chose to pass along the torch of your street style blog to other contributors.  How do you move on from a blog but still keep the flame burning?

I had one reliable contributor for a little while but right now I’m just updating the blog sporadically with events going on around the city. But moving on from a blog is hard. Initially, I was going to write a post telling my readers I’ve decided to stop writing here since I couldn’t find reliable contributors, however, one contributor persuaded me to keep it up, so I did with her contributions but I’ve yet to find someone who is really consistent. I think I kept the flame burning through her enthusiasm and through the emails that come into my inbox letting me know how much they love this blog and how it’s their go to for X, Y, Z. That’s really important, so the readers, in the end, keep the fire alive.

It amazed me how quickly you became part of the scene and collected a terrific group of friends.  How do you make the most of moving to a new city?

How do you make the most, hmm, well for one, I was always connected to Toronto before moving here so that’s something that I would always keep in mind prior to venturing to a new city: have an idea of the city you’re moving to. I am a huge fan of research. Find the places of interest to you and go to them, keep track of events and don’t be afraid to ask further information from the organizers. Talk to people. A lot of people keep to themselves and don’t talk to anyone, or sometimes you’ll meet them once and they don’t talk to you again. I will never do that. I will always come by and say hello and talk to people and get to know them. Personally, I am not afraid to find people with similar interests and go ask them for coffee in order to get to know them. For example, as a blogger, it’s easy for me to connect with other bloggers (such as yourself) so I use that common interest and build conversation. That’s how I met a lot of people. Being sociable helps! Get over yourself and your insecurities and go do it, it won’t just come to you!

What are your favourite blogs, websites and magazines?

I work in the social media world, so my Google Reader and Delicious are flooded with a variety of blogs and websites so I’ll attempt to keep this short! Blogs: John Haro’s Fashion Copious, he’s always on top of the latest in fashion – magazine covers, models, editorials, news, etc. I read a lot of advertising websites because it’s a passion of mine so I Believe in Advertising and Adverblog are daily reads. Personal blog: The Tragically Unhip. They don’t post as much anymore but the material on that site is hilarious. Otherwise there’s a few here and there but nothing I’ve gotten too into. I’m sort of a blog snob, I read a lot of them so the content has to be really impressive, especially when it’s a personal blog. Art and design is also important, so I’m huge on The Contemporist, Drawn, Jessica Goldfond’s Shiny Squirrel features some great illustrators and fashion designers and Kitsuné Noir always updates with fantastic content! As my identity also reveals, I’m an activist, so I like political humour, a website called KABOBfest fulfills that for me. There’s a lot of news websites lingering as well! When it comes to magazines, I read AnOther Magazine, Dazed & Confused, Kill Magazine (Montreal based), Monocle, Vs., 10, Applied Arts and I recently heard of Bidoun Magazine which I haven’t found in the city yet but I’ve been perusing the site religiously! I used to read Strut a lot (Canadian publication) but their content isn’t as strong as it once was. I collect magazines that look interesting from everywhere I go so my place is flooded with them.

You know I’m going to ask it – do you have any comments on Toronto fashion and style vs. Ottawa?

There’s obviously a difference because of the city culture but I mean it’s not like there’s a huge difference. There are areas you visit in both cities where you expect to see people dressed a certain way. In Toronto, you see that more often because the population is larger and the scene is bigger and more established here. But if we’re talking club wear entertainment district zone, you’re looking at the same dress codes, no exceptions! Toronto is also Canada’s capital of private companies so it has more men and women in nice business attire or the casual but stylish young, creative professionals. Ottawa is Canada’s capital of government employees so there’s a lot more pleated pants and khakis because the dress code isn’t enforced on all offices! There’s also such a lack of places to shop in Ottawa (although that’s changing) so people end up all looking the same whereas with Toronto its much more of a fashion established city so fashionable people are more common. I don’t however, want to take away from those teens outside Much Music! They all look like they walked out of the same shop! If we were to compare all Canadian cities, Montreal takes the prize. The French rather starve than not look good!

You have had some experience with both Toronto’s and Ottawa’s fashion week events.  One thing that seems to define Canada is regionalism – and a lot of smaller fashion weeks.  What is your perspective on regional fashion weeks?

Straight up, I’m a fan of the regional fashion weeks concept. I definitely think Canada needs to support its talent more to raise the bar for these fashion weeks. We see it in our arts industry – there isn’t nearly enough support for the arts or sports! There’s even less for the category of fashion. Canada doesn’t have many fashion schools or resources for Canadians interested in fashion. When looking at the fashion weeks in smaller Canadian cities vs the larger ones, there’s also a “fashion divide”. The larger fashion weeks make it hard for new talent to gain experience, they want bigger names, and when they showcase the new talent, they don’t promote the show well enough so attendance is low. Ryerson had a show at LGFW back in March but not many people attended. Those students are the future of our country’s fashion industry, we need to support them. If no one is going to come out and watch their show this is where the much smaller fashion weeks come in handy, it’s like a step for these designers awaiting to gain experience and some recognition, the confidence to participate in shows and eventually move onto larger fashion weeks and to stay in Canada. A lot of designers leave for opportunity in different markets why didn’t we provide them with that opportunity here? Ottawa Fashion Week didn’t start to compete with larger cities, only to promote the local designers and give them experience to build up their brand and move on. Otherwise, they’ll feel shunned out. We have great talent here – support it! Did I answer the question?

–

Post Script – Danah passed along this poster for a fashion fundraiser in Ottawa – Fashion Cures à la mode – so if you’re in Ottawa, you should go.

The coolest thing about my series of Toronto Fashion Blogger Brunches was the tremendous diversity of the attendees – not all of us were university students or recent grads – we had some bonafide adults in the group including Eden Spodek of the Bargainista shopping blog.  Her perspective as an online professional, hobby fashion blogger and mom made for some fascinating conversations over coffee and eggs.  Besides scoping out deals for Bargainista, Eden also collaborates on the Community Divas podcast and has a day job in PR.  She’s always a terrific person to talk to about blogging and developing professional relationships online and in real life.  I asked her a few more questions along those lines here.

You have a unique perspective being both a shopping blogger and a PR professional.  What do you think fashion blogging has to teach PR, and vice versa?

Wow, Danielle! That’s a loaded question. All bloggers and PR professionals can benefit from learning how to work well together. There are several agencies that have been working with fashion bloggers for quite some time. I don’t know them well because I tend not to get out to Fashion Week. From what I’ve seen, some have done a good job of getting to know individual members of the Toronto fashion blogging community and tailor their approach accordingly.

The Toronto fashion/shopping blogger community can show PR practitioners how communities will grow organically and be self-regulating without following any rulebooks, codes of conduct or social media thought leaders.

You are very active in a number of online communities and have an interest in communities in general.  Given the breadth of your participation, do you have any comments on the fashion blogging scene in particular?

The local fashion blogging scene is a relatively mature online community. It’s a tight, passionate and supportive community that has always been welcoming to others – for instance, Anita Clarke found me online and asked me to participate in TFBB (a group you founded).

It’s mature in the sense that its members successfully demonstrated their knowledge and influence early on. Independent retailers, designers and PR companies specializing in fashion recognized the influence of the fashion community early on and invited members to participate in the same events as traditional media, did their research and engaged bloggers on their terms. (That’s not to say there weren’t and still aren’t some hiccups along the way.)

We were discussing a certain “coming of age” for personal blogs recently.  When turning a personal or hobby blog into a business venture, what are the pitfalls to avoid?

I’m probably not the best person to ask about this because I’ve made a hobby out of keeping Bargainista a hobby. <joking>

In all seriousness, the most important thing a blogger has is her reputation. It’s worth more than money. Her blog is influential because it’s an authentic representation of her passion, her perspective. If she does anything to compromise her integrity, her reputation may be gone for good.

Pitfalls to avoid – ghost blogging, pay-per-post, not disclosing when you’ve been given a product, service or access to an event because of your role as a blogger, dishonesty.

My advice: be careful of whatever decisions you make, be transparent and disclose any relationships that may be perceived as a conflict of interest by your community.

What has being a shopping blogger taught you about shopping?

I’ve learned that online conversations really do influence purchasing decisions. It’s one thing to see crowds gravitate towards an iPhone app or a book on Twitter, but it’s another when you meet a regular reader of your blog who shows you all the things she’s bought because of your blog posts. Customer review sites are going gangbusters. Fashion bloggers are showing up in Holt’s windows. Things are changing. Blogging is becoming more mainstream. Google is a shopper’s best friend.

Not enough retailers appear to be aware of the online discussions taking place around their stores or competitors. At the very least, they should be monitoring online conversation.

Once I had an employee from a North American retail chain get involved in the discussion about a change in their return policy. She seemed quite jaded and her comments towards customers were somewhat harsh. Another employee chimed in who would have made a great online ambassador. She told us the policy had been overturned after a three-month trial period and that the company does listen to customer feedback about such issues. Unfortunately, both employees remained anonymous except for initials. The company would have benefited by having a social media policy in place to govern employee behaviour online and possibly cultivating online ambassadors who could openly engage in online conversations with customers and potential customers.

What do you think the future of the fashion/shopping blogging trend will be in the next decade?

The next decade? Online technology and adoption is moving at such a rapid pace that I’d be remiss to predict what it will be like even two years from now. However, I think we’ll see more online conversations with more brands participating. We’ll see a greater reliance on peer reviews and online customer review communities. I think online shopping will increase, especially as 3D web becomes commonplace and the barriers to entry decrease.

Gloria is another fashion blog friend discovered over brunch back in the day.  Her blog, UrbaneBloc covers fashion, shopping and gadgets, music and design… you know, things she likes! It is both personal and polished which is an admirable combination in a fashion blog.

She also has a quirky sense of humour and a soft voice which combined is instantly endearing.  I asked her a few questions about what she likes and how she blogs.

UrbaneBloc is one of the sites I like to click through from my RSS feed for because the look is so distinctive. How did you arrive at the design for the site, including the gorgeous logo and the style of captions-on-photos?

Thank you so much – it means so much coming from a talented fashion illustrator such as yourself! I think it took a lot of trial and error to get to this point – it’s a mash up of aesthetic styles I like. The captions are always a product of toying with effects, and sometimes beautiful fluke.

For the urbanebloc logo, I knew I wanted something simple and universal (meaning it would appeal to anyone and everyone, and could apply to all aspects of fashion and culture coverage).

The design of the site was just something that evolved over time. Be on the look out for the next version within the next little while!

You teamed up with Chris from Mindzai.com two years in a row to curate The Peek, an exhibition of contemporary local artists and designers. How did the idea for the Peek come about, and how do you and Chris pick the artists for The Peek?

THE PEEK is an event that originally started out as a Mindzai.com event – Chris is one of my best friends so I wanted to contribute. It grew into something much more, a collaborative effort. Instead of showcasing visual and graphic artists, we brought in a fusion of fashion, music, photography, and visual arts. It was a really unique blend of people that we knew from the Toronto community. We reached out to artists that represented the most incredible emerging talent, many of whom we had admired in the past.

Besides fashion UrbaneBloc also covers techy stuff, music and urban culture. So I have to ask, how do you define “urban culture”?

I have a fascination with city-slicker lifestyle – much of which stemmed from the fact that I’m an uptown dweller. I love the culture that’s housed in the epicenter (sorry, geek word) of a city. I love to play downtown – the trendiest, most sophisticated, and downright most interesting folk congregate and create this urban culture. It’s not necessarily the most popular trends that dictate this culture. But that’s my take.

What are your favourite blogs, websites and magazines?

I’m a fan of Toronto fashion blogs. Yulanda from Little Thoughts is great, Final Fashion (love the illustration style), I check in with lookbook.nu sometimes. The standard FashionToast is always great, because you wonder how she gets her photos to look the way she does (and it’s something that’s coming for urbanebloc.com). I love lookbooks that are created by online retailers, like Shopbop.com, RevolveClothing.com, and ModCloth.com (dream job – being a stylist for a plethora of branded beauties). Magazine favourites include the general FASHION Mag, but I definitely dig the more independent ones like MetroPop, and The Block has some nifty looks. Lula is a magazine that’s pretty hard to obtain sometimes – but it’s filled with pages upon pages of beautiful imagery.

What have you learned from the process of developing UrbaneBloc for the past two years?

So much that I don’t know if I could confine it to anything remotely succinct in description! I learned that blogging is a huge undertaking – it’s about being connected online and offline. I learned that you only get out of it as much as you put into it. In this case, I’ve put a lot of my life into it and I’ve seen an abundance of positive response and results – much of which has been a reflection of my fantastic friends and readers.

I’m definitely happy on the path that I’m on. All the other perks are just icing on the delectable cupcake.

Zoe of verbal croquis is one of my first ever fashion blog friends.  When I found out she was a finalist (and eventually, winner) for the Gen Art competition way back in 2006 I immediately bought my bus ticket to New York City so I could go and meet her.  We were instant friends and kindred spirits. Despite all the bright lights of NYC my favourite memory of that trip is wearing kimonos and having long conversations in Zoe’s hotel room.

Zoe’s a born fashion designer whose natural ability is matched by her work ethic.  Her blog, verbal croquis, is an incredibly candid and passionate perspective on the rewards and risks of her calling and the archives are a recommended resource for anyone who has fashion fever.  I asked her a few more questions about this thing called fashion.

What are you working on these days?

I’m in month 8 of my year-long no-plan plan, just trying to work and play and make as many cool things as possible and make some money along the way in as undisciplined a manner as my OCD, anal-retentive, type-A, order-loving little heart will allow. I used my corsetmaking knowledge to make some belts-that-don’t-keep-your-pants-up. I made a wedding dress. I made things for myself for the first time ever. I bought myself a drawing horse and drew a lot, which I hadn’t had time for in a long time. I collaborated with some interesting people.

Right now, I’m working on my next collection. When will it be done? What’s it look like? I don’t know. There’s no plan. It’s scary and fun at the same time. Like a roller coaster. I just hope I don’t get stuck like the folks at Great America last week.

In such a saturated, competitive and mature market, what do you think the better options are now for someone who wants to live the life of a fashion designer?

Someone “who wants to live the life of a fashion designer” or someone who wants to be a fashion designer? Haha.

With the Consumer Product Safety Improvement and Design Piracy Prohibition Acts, it gets harder and harder every day to be a fashion designer. At the same time, with all the niche markets, more people, both sellers and buyers, interested in becoming less mainstream, and websites like Etsy, it’s easier to be a designer than before. It all depends on what kind of designer you want to be.

If you want to cater to a small niche, or a very particular market, sell small volume of some amazing, precious items, I think the market will always support you. If you want to be the next Karl Lagerfeld, prepare for the long road. He’s developed this persona he loves of the amazing man who achieved everything from effortless genius but that’s a crock of crap and I doubt even he’s so deep into his own image to believe it completely.

I have always said, to people interested in fashion and anyone else who’s asked me, life is too short and work consumes too much of our time and energy to not pursue the thing you absolutely love the most in the whole wide world. The industry and the economy will weed itself. (How’s that for stream of consciousness?)

How do you see the role of fashion designers changing as we enter the next decade?

You know what would be awesome? If designers could go back to being designers instead of faces for their brand. My worst nightmare is for everyone to know about my engagement, my rehab, my latest zit, galavanting about at parties to amuse buyers into buying–and I’m just talking about the stuff I read in WWD headlines. I am one of the least ‘hip’ people I know. I’m happiest in my studio, knee deep in oak tag clippings and croquis. Parties scare me. At the same time, I want to be a successful designer with the respect of my peers, known in my industry without the pop celebrity.

What is it about fashion that holds your fascination?

The excuse to dream. Being a fashion designer is having a ready-made excuse to dream of the most amazing things and try to fabricate them and call it “work” and sometimes even get paid. The rest, ordering, costing, invoicing, grading, measuring, the caffeine swilling, the band-aid wearing, the head-scratching, the teeth-grinding, it’s the price you pay for the privilege of having that excuse.

When I first started Toronto Fashion Bloggers Brunch, I was thrilled to discover how many different types of bloggers there were in the city – shopping bloggers, street style bloggers, outfit bloggers – and beauty bloggers.  Henna was part of our core group of merry brunchsters – her site, Canadian Beauty, covers all aspects of beauty with a focus on products that are available in Canada.

Henna has since moved away to Calgary and we miss her here in Hogtown – I asked her a few questions about beauty blogging and the scene in her new hometown.

As a beauty blogger, your main focus is on products – how many products do you actually use in your own routine? How do you go about testing new products?

Well, there are really two kinds of products as I see them: routine and regular use products, and then there are products that you use sporadically. The ones in the latter column include makeup items like eyeshadow and lipgloss. I don’t have to make these a part of my routine to know whether they’re good or not. I can use them once in a while and generally, if I’m not satisfied with my very first use, then there’s something wrong with them.

The routine and regular use products include moisturizer, masks, body wash, etc. Those that are reviewed on my blog, really HAVE become a part of my routine! I enjoy using them so much that I can’t help but put them into my routine. The thing is, unlike most people, my rotation of products that I use on a regular basis is quite large. I have about 5 different masks that I use on a regular basis and that have different solutions. I have a moisturizer but I don’t use it daily – just when my skin feels really dry. I have different foundations for different days and even different powders for different days. When I like a product it becomes part of my routine – some times it replaces something I already have, and some times it doesn’t.

You are much missed in Toronto since you moved to Calgary – have you had the chance to check out the fashion and beauty blogging scene in your new home, and how does it compare to Toronto? Any recommendations for great western beauty and fashion bloggers?

I’ve checked out the fashion and beauty scene some in Calgary. I moved out here in October, and I think the biggest shock to me was that people don’t go out in the winter. Imagine going downtown on a Saturday and finding it completely empty simply because it’s the weekend. That changes a bit in the summer here, especially because there are so many festivals, but for the most part, “the scene” in Calgary is a lot different to the one in Toronto. The city is divided into quadrants and people generally don’t like to leave their own quadrants. It’s a really strange phenomenon to someone who comes from a big city, but Calgary is a sprawl and very suburban despite its size. That’s changing but very slowly.

Bloggers here are also far and few in between. It’s one thing to find someone who really has a strong blog identity, but in Calgary I haven’t even met too many people who have personal blogs. (editors note: Henna you need to meet Kim from Calgary Fashion!) I guess most people are too busy watching hockey! PR in Calgary is a lot different too, and it seems that businesses seem reluctant to make contact with bloggers. Perhaps it has something to do with the conservativeness out here, but many businesses are not interested in promoting themselves on any kind of big scale.

One of the conversations we had that left a great impression on me was your debunking the myth of “making pores disappear”. How do you separate the reality from the hype when it comes to the beauty industry?

Ahhh Beauty Myths. I think beauty myths are one of my biggest pet peeves because no matter how much I write about them, people still buy into them! For example, I cannot express how important it is to wear sunscreen every day. There are countless independent studies that show that the sun causes skin cancer, and in these days and times, we’re within 3 degrees of someone who has had severe consequences to sun bathing. Yet, I still have friends who go to tanning salons or the sun is “really good” for them. I even know of someone who thinks that it’s the sunscreen causing cancer and not the sun. People don’t understand that the darker you get from the sun, the more skin damage you have. I’ve accepted that there’s nothing I can do to help people understand what the truth is because people only listen when they’re ready, and they’re ready when they see the negative consequences with their own eyes.

The other part of beauty myths is the potions that companies sell to make people feel better about themselves. No matter how ridiculous it is to think that a cream can get rid of cellulite, people will still buy products that claim to do it, and part of the problem is that companies will still try to sell these magic potions.

I understand that beauty is about transformation – that’s why I’m drawn to it in the first place. But it’s transformation within reason. You can have lashes that look thicker, but nothing out there is going to grow more lashes for you. I think the most I can do is refuse to cover products that feed into the beauty myths (that’s largely one reason that I don’t really cover anti-aging products, also I’m not of the age that I need them).

Carolyn Rohaly has been a friend since first year of fashion school.  She is a creative writer, a sweet rock star (see photo at left by Caitlin Cronenberg), and always has a lot of projects large and small on the go.

She writes the Toronto Fashion Incubator diary blog, where she explores fashion news that affects entrepreneurs and does interviews with people in the fashion industry.  She was also my co-blogger at Rags and Mags (RIP).  She is also the author of the top-secret manuscript “Military Chic” which is a hilarious novel which someday I hope all of you will read.

Carolyn and I share a fascination and affection for the characters in the fashion scene in Toronto – from the media establishment to the scrappiest of up-and-coming designers.  She also has a terrific sense of humour.  For that reason I love to collaborate with her on projects that both send up and celebrate our little corner of the fashion world – and if she doesn’t have time for that, she is always a brilliant friend to brunch with.

I asked her a few questions about fashion in Toronto.

What is it about the fashion scene in Toronto that inspires you to write stories?

There are so many untold stories about Toronto fashion that it’s time to share the joy, optimism, and youthfulness of the scene. Stories from Paris, Milan, London, and New York have already been told. I like to write about what I know and I know about clothing designed by friends and colleagues where I live. Brands based in other cities don’t register with me.

You work in both the film industry and the fashion industry – what are the connections and contrasts between your two worlds?

I started in both industries through costume design and worked wardrobe on a couple of indie films. Then I fell into a film job that is more production and administration-oriented and realized I didn’t like shopping enough to pursue costume design.

To work in either industry, you have to have passion about what you want to do. Working in fashion or film takes so much work and can be so crushing, but if you love it, you can’t do anything else.

Oh, and in both worlds, the glamor is maybe 1-5% of the job. The rest is hard work.

You’ve interviewed a lot of cool people for the TFI blog. Do you have a few favourite interviews you would like to share?  (Note:  The TFI blog is not searchable – something it should be!!  So sadly I do not have the time to go through it all to find these specific interviews – all I can tell you is that it is a blog well worth reading from the beginning when you have some time to really enjoy it.)

Thanks! After I stopped working on my clothing line, I didn’t have much to blog about, so I started interviewing designers. I loved my first interview with Wonderlust designer, Hannah Melville. All of a sudden, I felt like a journalist, which wasn’t a career plan, but I enjoyed interviews and wanted to do more.

I realized that designers would benefit from interviews with other people in the fashion industry, so I interviewed model agents, stylists, photographers, and am always looking for interesting new people to chat with. I get inspired by visiting designer studios and talking about business rather than “what’s new this season”.

A few favourite interviews happened out at events when I thought, “Hey, there’s so-and-so. I should talk to her/him.” So far, nobody has declined. I enjoyed my Fashion Cares series last year where I interviewed a bunch of people involved in the event, from Artistic Director Phillip Ing to performer Kreesha Turner. Somehow I can always figure out a way to get fashion business advice from someone.

What are your favourite fashion blogs, websites and magazines?

My fashion reading leans toward local and DIY, so I’m a big fan of Final Fashion! I always read Nathalie Atkinson’s National Post style coverage, Andrew Sardone in NOW, and Rea McNamara in EYE WEEKLY. International publications I read include Jezebel, BUST, and Worn Journal, though WORN is based in Toronto. That makes me happy.

Do you see the Canadian fashion industry as a separate entity from the international fashion industry? Does it have its own unique concerns or advantages?

Canada is a baby on the world fashion scene and began as a wannabe New York, but now it’s developing a voice. some would say voices since there is not one all-encompassing Canadian Fashion Week. With so many enthusiastic fashion designers, journalists, bloggers, stylists, photographers, and models, I see nothing but uniqueness and advantage to the Canadian fashion industry. Since everyone wants it to prosper, I have only experienced support and hope it stays that way.