My friend made it into Holts' window

This post is long, long overdue. At the end of June, Holt Renfrew unveiled a new series of windows as a tribute to some of the best fashion bloggers in the whole wide world.

I knew about the Holt’s windows and the shout out to bloggers for a while and I owe a huge apology to my friend Anita Clarke of I want – I got for not posting this sooner. In fact, I probably took one of the first photos of Anita’s window before it was revealed. Anita invited me to her “reveal” party the night of the unveiling and unfortunately, I wasn’t able to join in the celebration.

Why should you care?
A tribute to bloggers demonstrates Holt’s awareness of the importance of influential blogs, customer reviews and word of mouth (online and off) for sharing knowledge about fashion, what’s hot, what’s not and where to buy. They didn’t stop at the windows, they’re also having a contest where you can vote for your favourite blog correspondents on Facebook using a touchscreen computer outside their Bloor St. store or your own devices.

Here’s a list of the other incredible fashion bloggers who made the cut:
• Scott Schuman
• Bryanboy
• Tommy Ton
• Jane Aldridge
• Garance Doré

Why should I care?
Well, way back in the fall of 2006, shortly after I started blogging, I got an email from Anita. We had never met in person. Outside of some PR and marketing folks who I had met briefly at two-part AIMS events and my friend Glen, I really didn’t know any bloggers. I certainly didn’t know any who were blogging about fashion or shopping.

Anita invited me to join her and a small group of friends who were heavily engaged in the local and international fashion blogging seeing. She invited to me to join them for an upcoming Toronto Fashion Bloggers’ Brunch, a group founded by the ever-so-talented Danielle Meder from final fashion. I haven’t looked back since. We’ve all remained friends and I owe it to Anita and Danielle for welcoming me into their community.

So to those of you who think us bloggers are a bunch of computer nerds hanging out in our basements, think again. ;-)

Related articles by Zemanta

• Scott Schuman: Street smarts (nationalpost.com)
• Holt Renfrew Reveals Fashion Blogger Windows (newswire.ca)

Speaking about blogger outreach...

I participated in a panel called “Building Relationships with Word of Mouth and PR Practitioners While Maintaining Credibility with Your Audience” at PodCamp Toronto. Keith McArthur moderated this lively discussion that also included Anita Clarke, David Jones and Matthew Stradiotto. Perhaps it will help you gain some new insights into what works and what doesn’t when it comes to building relationships with bloggers.

Read more...

Checking out Zola’s Dot Sale

I met up with Anita, Tiff and Nicole at Zola’s Dot Sale – it ended up being next door at Zola’s Last Call. Zola has their semi-annual warehouse sale on now too.

Believe it or not, I was the only one who came away empty handed. I couldn’t find anything I liked that fit. A week into the sale, much was already gone and most of what was left was shoes I’d seen around since last spring. There was a limited selection of designer clothing at great prices. I tried on two tops – one was too low cut for my tastes and the other didn’t fit properly.

Also, if you have any idea why they were selling lamps, please let me know.