By Alannah O’Neill

On Friday afternoon I ventured to the Carlu to attend a wine tasting featuring vino’s from the South of France.

It was a hard job, but somebody had to do it.

France’s South West Wine Council was in town to educate Torontonians about the different grape varieties in the South of France—with proceeds raised by ticket sales going to the Canadian Cancer Society.

Beautiful spreads of charcuterie and rich cheeses lined both sides of the room, with wine vendors holding court in the middle. I felt like a kid on Christmas day. Malbec? Yes please! Ooh, and I’ll try the Tannat (which had been aging for four years, seemingly awaiting my arrival).
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Montreal Fashion Week, Spring 2011: Be our fashion editor for a day!

ELLE readers, we’re calling you to action. We just finished Day 3 of Montreal Fashion Week (Spring 2011) and now it’s your turn to weigh in (Aren’t you tired of our rambling, anyway?) Below you will find galleries of the major shows we attended last night: Envers by Yves Jean Lacasse, LOVAS and Soia & Kyo. Scroll through the image galleries below and take on the persona of a fashion editor: What do you like? What don’t you like? Let us know about your favourite looks and share your fashion critiques with us. How is it done? Simple. Add your notes into our comments section on this blog. Our ELLECanada.com editors will review them all (we promise!) and then post your insights in on our next blog. So, c’mon! What are you waiting for?

Click after the jump and let the fashion games begin …

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In between the shows, covering backstage beauty and generally running around town, we decided that our schedules had to indulge us one of our favourite pastimes: Shopping. And there’s nothing we like to do more than shop for accessories, especially when we travel with carry-on! Banking on our contacts in the biz, we made appointments with three rising Montreal accessory designers that we think you need to know about. From an Alexander McQueen expat, to a Denis Gagnon jewelry collaborator and a fresh-out-of-school hat designer (yes, hats are back), herewith the names to put on your radar:  Read the rest of this entry

A tale of two film festivals, in star gazing, hot restos, and party It spots.

This festival, Laura deCarufel and Jennifer Lee, the co-editors of Hardly magazine, had the high honour of reporting from TIFF’s coolest films, parties, and events. Stay tuned for our wrap-up coverage this week, including our favourite moments from the festival!

This spring and fall, Jenn and I covered two very different film festivals. Cannes was a très surreal experience—the festival took over the town, with men in tuxedos and women in ballgowns lined up along the Croisette looking for stars, and hoping for tickets (Typical homemade sign: “Wall Street 2!!! S’il vous plait?”)

We took the train in every morning from Vallauris, where we had rented an apartment, and joined the crush of journalists waiting in line for films and press conferences. We saw some great movies (Blue Valentine and Heartbeats by Quebec wunderkind Xavier Dolan), and some terrible ones (Woody Allen’s You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger.) We saw stars on the red carpet, at the nightly parties, and on the street (Naomi Watts, the incredible Mathieu Amalric). We stayed out until 5, then watched George Clooney’s Nespresso commercials while eating steak and scrambled eggs as the sun came up. To say we had the time of our lives is to understate.

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Day Two: Coccolily and Annie 50

By: Lara Ceroni

Coccolilly

Sex and major ‘tude was on-offer at Naana Tennachie Yankey‘s spring 2011 collection, but  the question remains: Are we ready for it? In some ways, yes. The colour-blocked dresses in complimentary colours of pink and camel were nice and wearable (if not slightly too short), as was a few of the cocktail frocks with strategically placed cut-outs (Reminded us of Narciso Rodriguez.) A personal favourite was the shocking cobalt-blue, baby-doll dress that kicked off the presentation and the cutesy floral, ruffled number (with an equally cute model) that was the only real nod to the South African/World Cup theme.

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Runway hair must-have

By Karen Kwan

The hair products that Denis Binet, creative director for hair at MFW, keeps reaching for time and time again for pretty much every hair style he’s been doing is Fine Hair Solutions from the new Customized Pantene—no matter what the model’s hair texture is.

So I had to find out what the deal was. Read the rest of this entry

A pallid palette wins us over at Helmer

The look for Helmer. Photo taken by Karen Kwan with Fujifilm Finepix F300EXR.

By Karen Kwan

“The inspiration I had in mind was Girl with a Pearl Earring,” says Amelie Ducharme, artistic director for makeup at MFW. “It’s a romantic look but with an edgy twist.” Given that the clothes at Helmer are so big and dramatic it was important that the makeup remain soft, she says. So Ducharme decided on a tone-on-tone palette to help to sculpt the skin into a ghastly-yet-gorgeous overall look. Get the look after the jump!

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ELLECanada.com’s Lara Ceroni reports daily on the best of Montreal Fashion Week, Spring 2011.

Marie Saint Pierre
Off the beaten fashion track, I head to the outskirts of Montreal (ok, maybe not that far, but $30.00 taxi fare later, I’m definitely not in Kansas anymore) to make my first appointment for Fashion Week; an intimate cocktail fete at Marie Saint Pierre’s atelier. The much-loved designer eschewed the traditional runway to showcase her latest looks for Spring 2011 at her home base, which, literally, is the epicenter of the Montrealer’s label. Every piece of the brand’s puzzle is here: Atelier, manufacturing plant and design studio because, as Saint Pierre emphatically told me “I’m a control freak; I want to be able to have everything I do with my label – concept to production to market -produced not only in Montreal, but in my space.”

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Inspiration derivation

Feminine hair backstage at David Dixon. Photos taken by Karen Kwan with Fujifilm Finepix F300EXR. .

By Karen Kwan

Ever wonder how those fantastic runway hair styles come to be? I chatted with Denis Binet, creative director for hair for Montreal Fashion Week and Pantene Pro-V consulting stylist, as he was prepping for the David Dixon show.

“I ask the fashion designer where, for the 17 minutes of their show, do they want their audience to go,” says Binet. “Is it the future? The street? The office? Is it 5 a.m. or midnight? Who’s their muse? What type of music will the show have? Will the models be smiling or looking serious? And what type of light will the runway have?”

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Grace's Day Four outfit was snapped by www.mydaily.co.uk

By Grace Carroll

It’s finally Day Four of London Fashion Week!! This is the day I have been waiting for! Two Canadians and London’s fashion sweetheart are showing today: Mark Fast, Erdem & Christopher Kane – I can’t wait!!

Throwing open the curtains in my bedroom I basque in the morning sunshine streaming through my window. What luck we’ve had for LFW this season! Constant sunshine and mild temperatures – it’s a bloody London Fashion Week miracle! I turn to my closet and kick my stockings aside, with weather like this I’m going bare-legged, baby! I’ve got a confirmed spot on the guest list for Christopher Kane’s SS11 show and in an ode to the designer I pull out my Christopher Kane for Topshop mini skirt. Sadly, true House of Kane is still out of this gal’s price range so for now one must stick to his high-street collaborations — and thank God for those!  A vintage white blouse, nude looped knit cardigan from Asos and a Topshop necklace complete my outfit. I slip into my gum-soled black heels, grab my Marc bag, throw on my Luella sunglasses and I’m out the door. Read about Grace’s Day Four picks after the jump!

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