I love attending the shOws.  This intimate fashion event, held over two days, features Canadian designers who show abroad.  This season, the four designers featured were Bellavance and CALLA on Day 1 and Jeremy Laing and Steven Tai on Day 2.  Missing this year is one of my favourites, Tanya Taylor.

It was actually very difficult to decide which one was my absolute favourite.  I liked Bellavance and Calla for their size-friendly looks (I’m short! It’s important that pieces won’t overwhelm a smaller body.  I think often, designers forget that until you ask them how they’d dress, say, an Olsen Twin or Natalie Portman).  On the other hand, both Steven Tai and Jeremy Laing had very artistic pieces that can be appreciated as a viewer, but would definitely not work on most people as CLOTHING – even if they were paired other items.

Bellavance: I was disappointed at first – many of the pieces were either black or white – a bit boring, in my opinion, and definitely not warm-weather friendly in terms of colour.  However, as noted earlier, the looks were very wearable and definitely size-friendly to many body types.  The designers and stylists were definitely thinking about “regular” wear and more “typical” body types rather than just showing “art” on tall, skinny models.

Calla: Pieces were much more colourful, very light, airy and spring/summer-like.  Love the shapes and how many of the looks will appeal to a diverse range of body types as styled on the models (without the need to be creative).  Especially when you are in a smaller space, it’s i

Steven Tai: Beautiful to look at as art, but styling-wise, not neccessarily wearable from a “regular girl” perspective as it was a little bit on the sloppy side.  Well, not wearable unless you want to make yourself look like an Olsen Twin (seriously, those girls are what, 5′ and under 100 lb?  Not a good idea to wear over-sized as it makes them look even tinier.  No wonder people think they’re too thin!  But hey, that’s their “brand” so what can we do?).  Perhaps one just needs to use his or her imagination a bit better to restyle for a more “normal” figure, thin or not.

Jeremy Laing: According to the press information, it was supposed to have a very early 90s hip hop influence (but definitely with a 2010s twist), and yes, I definitely recall looks like that from my middle school days.  I wonder why Jeremy Laing chose that particular style from the period while everyone else seems to lean towards grunge.  Those looks are not a personal favourite, but whatever floats your boat.

And as per previous events, attendees were treated to delicious light bites between shows and nice swag courtesy of P&G.  Products included tinted lip balms and lipsticks from Cover Girl, Pantene hair product as well as Gillette razors.