Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Happy New Year 2015!

My dear friends and readers, here's to anther end of an old year and the beginning of a new one, the 2015! I wish you all a fabulous new year ahead, may all your wishes and resolutions come true, and may happiness, prosperity and well being be with you this year and the years to come!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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Dragii mei prieteni si cititori, sper ca sarbatorile va sunt splendide, sper ca va bucurati de vacanta de iarna din plin, sper ca ati avut un Craciun minunat alaturi de cei dragi, si sper sa aveti parte de o noapte de Revelion de vis, dar si de un an nou fabulos! Sa va fie 2015 asa cum vi-l doriti!

LA MULTI ANI!

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Christopher Bates at Toronto Fashion Week Spring 2015

The most recent World MasterCard Toronto Fashion Week for Spring 2015 season took place in Toronto in October 2014 -- five days of fashion, style and glamour at David Pecaut Square downtown Toronto. Among the Canadian designers who showed their collections for the next spring season to come were Pink Tartan, Joe Fresh, Target, Christopher Bates, Klaxon Howl, Mackage, Caitlin Power, Soya & Kyo, Rudsak, Mikhael Kale, and others -- about 40 fashion shows in five days. Some of these are established designers, some of them are up-and-comers I've never heard of before, and I hope to hear about those newer designers and learn more about their work in the months to come.

One of the most prominent menswear fashion designers to show at Toronto Fashion Week this season was Christopher Bates, presenting a safari-inspired spring-summer collection. Christpher's fashion show took place on Day 3 of the fashion week, that is on Wednesday October 22nd at 5 PM, on the main runway. Christopher started his show with a short film (written and produced by himself) to introduce the collection, and then the models followed on the runway.

Most of the models Christopher Bates works with during Toronto Fashion Week season after season are the designer's long time collaborators, who came back on the runway to show Christopher Bates designs during this fashion week, just like they did in the past two years or so since I started attending Christopher Bates shows during each season. The white bearded gentleman model whom I saw first time this past March at the previous Toronto Fashion Week made his appearance on the runway again.

As of November 1st, Christopher Bates relocated to Milan, however his intention is to continue making fashion in Canada as well, so we hope to hear from him in Toronto again soon.

Photo credit: Nathan Denette / The Canadian Press
Photo credit Nathan Denette / The Canadian Press
Photo credit: Nathan Denette / The Canadian Press
Photo credit: Nathan Denette / The Canadian Press
Photo credit: Nathan Denette / The Canadian Press
Photo credit: Nathan Denette / The Canadian Press
Photo credit: Jenna Marie Wakani / ElleCanada.com
Photo credit: Jenna Marie Wakani / ElleCanada.com

Friday, November 07, 2014

Swarovski Unveils the New Collection for Spring-Summer 2015 in Toronto

Recently Swarovski invited fashion media from Toronto to preview the new collection of jewelry and accessories for the upcoming Spring-Summer 2015 season. The fabulous event took place at the offices of Edelman, the Public Relations representative of Swarovski in Canada (150 Bloor Street West, Toronto), during the most recent Toronto Fashion Week from October 2014, on Thursday October 23rd. The new collection is called “Crystal Gardens” and is inspired by florals. It features both women’s and men’s jewelry and accessories, and it will be available in stores and online at Swarovski.com early next year, in February-March 2014.

We went to Edelman offices to see the new Swarovski collection on October 23rd and we would like to share it with you today.






















Photo credit: Victoria West

Friday, August 08, 2014

Recenzie a cartii mele "Bits of Fashion" de Corina Stoica

Jurnalista Corina Stoica, fondatoarea revistei online romanesti LaRevista.ro, a publicat ieri o recenzie a cartii mele Bits of Fashion: Stories, Interviews, Reviews. Recenzia poate fi citita pe site-ul LaRevista.ro, daca urmariti linkul de mai jos.

"Bits of Fashion: Stories, Interviews, Reviews" de Victoria West. Despre moda, cu pasiune

Multumesc Corina Stoica!

Cartea mea poate fi cumparata pe Amazon, eBay si Barnes & Noble, mai multe detalii despre cum poate fi procurata gasiti aici.

Photo credit: Victoria West

Sunday, June 15, 2014

What I Have Been up to Lately

Not much, really. I’ve been pretty busy at work, so I didn’t really get to enjoy much of free time in the past few weeks. One of the previous weekends my family and I went out on a promenade on the shore of the Lake Ontario in Whitby, the Toronto suburb where we reside. The weather was gorgeous, albeit a little chilly and windy on the lake shore, and we walked down the beach enjoying the view of the lake and of the White Lighthouse from Whitby.







Meanwhile my lilac from my garden bloomed, as it blooms about this time of the year – end of May, beginning of June. This year I noticed my lilac was a little late, it bloomed at a later date than I remember it did last year, and I gather its lateness was due to the harsh winter that we had in Toronto this year.


Remember my Valentine blue roses that I showed you a few months ago? Those were the first blue roses I have ever got. I knew about their existence, but I had never seen them “live” before this year’s Valentine, so it was a really nice surprise from my hubby. I kept them in the vase for about three weeks after Valentine, but they were so gorgeous, that I simply couldn’t possibly part with them, so I found a way to preserve them and keep them. I used a hairspray to dry them, and I still have them on my dinner table in my living room, four months later. One of them is in my office at work, on my desk.


I had a new dessert experience recently – macarons. Aren’t they absolutely delicious? I’ve read a lot of comments, reviews and blog posts about them, and they sounded so tasty and decadent, that I said to myself I have to try them. Laduree are, of course, everyone’s number one choice when it comes to macarons, but I am yet to find some Laduree macarons in Toronto. I hear there is a patisserie in Toronto that carries them, but I haven’t had the time to find the place and go there yet. Meanwhile, I thought to try some other macarons, so after a Google search this Friday I found a few places in Toronto that carry macarons. I work downtown Toronto, so the closest patisserie from my office that I found is located at The Bay store from 176 Yonge Street, steps away from my work, and it's called O&B Artisan. I went there during my lunch hour on Friday, and I got these absolutely delightful and decadently delicious beauties. They had five flavours, so I bought two of each. These macarons are made by Bobbette & Belle, which is quite a popular macaron place in Toronto. My family also liked them, and their high price is totally worth it ($25 for 10). On the other hand, they are so sweet (I don’t even dare think of the amount of calories they have), that you have one, and you have enough. Maybe that’s why they are so pricey, because you don’t stuff yourself with a dozen of them at once, you can only have one macaron at a time and you’ve satisfied your sweet tooth, even two at a time is too sweet and too much.



Today is Father’s Day in Canada, and my family celebrate our Daddy, John. Happy Father’s Day, sweetheart! My son Alex had a beautiful gift for his Dad which he made at school, a card and a photo frame, and my gift for Dad was a Christopher Bates black dress shirt.




Photo credit: Victoria West

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Swarovski Unveils the New Collection for Fall-Winter 2014-2015 in Toronto

Recently Swarovski invited fashion media from Toronto to preview the new collection of jewelry and accessories for the upcoming Fall-Winter 2014-2015 season during a fabulous event that took place at Gardiner Museum in Toronto last month (on April 30th). Gardiner Museum is a venue that hosted Swarovski events in the past as well, I attended one of them back in 2011. So this time I had the pleasure of revisiting the museum for yet another Swarovski presentation, along with a friend of mine. The new collection features both women’s and men’s jewelry and accessories, and it will be available in stores and online at Swarovski.com later this year, in August-September 2014.






















Photo credit: Victoria West