Mad Hot Wonderland Gala

This past Tuesday was the National Ballet of Canada's annual fundraising event held at the Four Seasons Performing Centre for the Arts. This year, Mad Hot Wonderland was themed after their highly successful production of Alice in Wonderland with the England's Royal Ballet.

Although the Alice has been sold out completely at the box office, guests were able to watch an excerpt of it, as well as dance pieces including Passacaglia, No. 24 and The Dying Swan.

Personally, I'm not a dancer, but I appreciate it so much. I have always loved ballet. So to me, the performance was incredible. The first two were more lyrical and interpretive, which was nice. The Dying Swan and Alice were more classical ballet, which was done beautifully.

After the performance was finished, we all went back outside where hor d'oeuvres, cocktails, and wine were being served in the completely transformed building. No longer did you feel like you were at the Four Seasons, but instead, a rather large tea party. There were long tables with hot pink tablecloths, brightly coloured teacups, and a display of the large caterpillar smoking hookah.

Guests themselves also contributed to the whole Madhatter's tea party feel as well. Many (including yours truly) donned beautiful headpiece, no two alike, and bold coloured attire was spotted everywhere.

What was even cuter, were the girls dressed up as Alice playing croquet on Osgoode Lawn.

Needless to say, I was very glad that I wasn't late for this very important date.

Did I mention that I made my own fascinator for the night? It's pretty nice. I love DIYs.

Like it? I'm going to give it away soon! Keep checking for details.

What's In Store for Galliano?

In headlines today, John Galliano's trial was held in Paris courthouse. Prosecutors had asked to fine him at least 10,000 euros ($14,000) for his actions. He was being prosecuted for the anti-Semitic comments he made at a Paris bar.

A friend of his took her cellphone and caught this all on video. Once it surfaced, he lost his position as Creative Director for Christian Dior - even after working there for fifteen years.

During his testimony, he said that he had no recollection of what had happened, and blamed his "triple addiction" of alcohol, sleeping pills and barbiturates. The designer is charged with public insults based on origin, religious affiliation, race or ethnicity" and could face up to six months in prison and $32,175 in fines. The verdict is expected at a later date.

Oh Galliano, why oh why would you do this to yourself? He is actually such a creative genius and had brought Dior to new heights - obviously without him, Dior wouldn't be what it is today, am I right? 

Fall/Winter'11/12

Even though he no longer is with Dior, he's still has his John Galliano line. I feel like his line isn't as flamboyant as his Dior collections, but it's still unique. It feels more ready to wear as oppose to the extravagant pieces that are strutted down the runways. Maybe that will all change now.

With his whole trial and court situation, I think people would still continue to support his designs. Don't get me wrong, his words were completely inappropriate and disrespectful, but at the same time, art is art right? When you see something that you like, and it's beautiful, it's hard to unlike it. Like the famous painter Picasso who was a complete womanizing and has been called a woman destroyer, but, I still appreciate his art very much (despite his reputation). 

"After every creative high, I would crash and the alcohol helped me," he said, adding that his creativity "helped make Dior a billion-dollar business."

That makes sense - I mean look at artists throughout the ages, so many create their best work when they're intoxicated. I guess it takes you to a whole new level and you observe things differently. 

Is this going to hurt his career? Probably a little bit. But I'm sure he'll be able to bounce back in no time. 

Remember when Kate Moss had that whole debacle with her cocaine scandal? Look at her now. She designed several collections for Topshop, continued to do spreads and be in campaigns, and recently announced, she's to team up with Rimmel for her own range of makeup.

What should he learn from this? If he's going to be drunk or high or involves himself in some sort of non-sober activity, he should stay somewhere where he isn't able to talk to strangers. 

Well, controlling his addictions will help too I suppose. 

A.L.C Resort 2012 Collection

A.L.C. is so far my favourite collection from the Resort 2012 season. Designer Andrea Lieberman includes nice tailored pieces as well as really relaxed pieces as well. I absolutely love the colour palette she chose - a lot of neutral colours, but then there's the mustard yellow, lime green, pastel blue and a feather print that was really unexpected. It's so chic and sophisticated, yet so effortless.

I actually can't wait to get my hands on some of these!

Versace for H&M

This morning, H&M had released the name of their next special designer collaboration. Ready? Versace! The Italian design powerhouse is going to be creating not one but two collections for the Swedish brand. 

The collection will reflect on Versace's heritage full with leathers, vibrant colours and exuberance at H&M prices! 

Women's collection will be dominated by dresses featuring studded leather and colourful prints, and accessories including heels and costume jewellery. The menswear collection will focus of sharp tailoring, including the perfect tuxedo, and accessories such as belts and jewellery for him as well. 

“Versace is one of the most important brands of recent times, and their collection for H&M will be glamorous and flamboyant – everything Versace stands for. Donatella Versace is sharing with us iconic designs from the archives. This is such a celebratory collaboration and is perfect for the party season,” says Margareta van den Bosch, creative advisor at H&M.

        

The Fall Collection is available November 17th in 300 stores as well as online for the Fall Collection. January 19th is when her Pre-Spring Collection is available exclusively online for countries with H&M. 

Mark your calendars! 

The Annual MMVAs

Unless you were living under a rock in Toronto the past weekend, you probably know that The 22nd Annual Much Music Video Awards happened on Sunday. I was on passing by the Much Music building a lot this week, and so much barricading and building and road blocking happened right at that little corner. It's hard to miss.

Regardless, I didn't head downtown for the awards this year (something about screaming girls and squishiness that didn't seem too appealing). I watched it at home like most of the people did across Canada.

And what's an award show without the red carpet fashions? 

Hits: 

To be completely honest, I am not a Selena Gomez fan. I think she's pretty, but I think that it's something about her not looking her age. She's 18 or so now, but she looks really young. Sometimes it seems as if she's a little girl playing dress up. This ensemble, however, changes my view on her (just a bit). It makes her look really sophisticated and chic. Not to mention, how well she mixed the two hottest trends of the summer - a nude and a bright. The dress itself has such an interesting texture to it, very different to all the nude dresses I've been seeing this season (as in mostly chiffon or silky). I absolutely love this number. 

Kreesha Turner's look is so simple, yet edgy and modern. Even though she is quite risqué with the top selection, the conservative navy and black colour choice balanced it out. It's a sexiness that doesn't go overboard. She's showing just enough that doesn't make her look too office-lady or too hoochie. The lace up booties are an added plus. 

Miss: 

Not too long ago, Avril Lavigne donned frilly frocks and long floor length gowns. Why did she rewind back to her punky teenage self? She's wearing a t-shirt that I'm sure she cut herself, and what's up with the leggings? This is a clear example of how lace is soon probably going to be a dying trend - the use of it here is just plain wrong. And those shoes! They look like sluggish monsters attached to her feet! Oh Avril, you have so much potential to be on everyone's best dressed lists, so why don't you? 

Kat Graham, looking good. But wait! Why are there so many random silver things? Oh, I get it, a buckle dress. Seriously, if this dress didn't have the buckles and the extra straps hanging off, this would've been a killer outfit. But look. The buckles are placed ever so awkwardly! Note the crotch buckle circle. And buckles on your chest can't be that comfortable either. She gets brownie points for trying something different, and most definitely, those gorgeous shoes. 

The colour of this dress on is really complementing on Alyssa Reid. It's a nude that doesn't wash her out. Now if only those black lines would disappear. Those outlines are creating a really unflattering illusion of her figure. They run sideways, so it makes her seem bigger than she actually is. So close, so close. 

To be honest, this year, I wasn't really wow-ed by the celebs choices (of course, with a few exceptions). Well, there's always next year?

China Fashion Week

Personally, I've never really looked at China as being one of the places to have fantastic fashion weeks. I guess I've always it in my mind that it would be very asian-inspired collections, and to be honest, since I was little, I haven't been a big fan of the asian-themed textiles.

However, after taking a glimpse of what they have to offer this week, I must say, I am baffled. Not only is it tres avant garde, but also very creative and over the top.

It's so risque. And fresh. It's so unexpected!

Sooner or later, China will be one of the 'it' fashion spots. When you think fashion now, I think of New York, Milan, Paris and London. Sooner or later, Beijing will be in that list too.

Let's give it another five years.