Roots x Douglas Coupland Collection

Last Tuesday night I attended my first event in ages. Although the invitation arrived in my inbox just the day before, it was hard to pass up and the buzz about the Roots x Douglas Coupland collection has been electric. So, I skipped the visit to the eponymous pop-up store and went directly to Roots’ flagship store on Bloor St. and headed upstairs to see what all the fuss was about.

The space looked incredible. I didn’t recognize anyone except for David Suzuki, who paid a quick visit and chatted with a few attendees. Minutes later a few friends from the fashion blogger community showed up Kimberly Lyn and Tricia Campbell, who introduced my to the lovely Tanja Zelko, Roots’ own online voice whom I’d been following on Twitter for ages.

As for the collection, Douglas Coupland’s vision interpreted on Roots’ merchandise is lively, colourful and comes in a full-range of standard Roots’ clothing and gift items. My favourites are the Douglas Coupland Kanga Hoodie and Douglas Coupland Motherboard Square Scarf.

Roots did a very cool thing by offering their Facebook fans access to the Roots x Douglas Coupland collection in mid-June (two weeks before it was available in bricks-and-mortar stores). It’s been selling like hotcakes ever since. And I did visit the pop-up store at 680 Queen W. today – it closes July 25 so get their fast if you want to check it out. Love the pop-up store concept but the Bloor St. location is where it’s at if you want the best selection of the Roots x Douglas Coupland collection.



One suggestion I have for Tanja and the event team at Roots is next time, either offer your guests a special discount during events like these and giving guests a little takeaway to remember the event and share with their friends. Tanja was wearing a Roots x Douglas Coupland black leather wristband. Just like this red one but in black. It retails for a mere $8 (and costs Roots less to produce). While visiting the pop-up store I saw a box of posters – that would have done the trick too. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t go to these events expecting discounts or swag, but a little takeaway for the small number of people who attended the event would have gone a long was in helping to spread the word offline.

Have you seen the Roots x Douglas Coupland collection? If so where? What do you think of pop-up stores?

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Bargainista’s visit from Little Kitchen

About a month ago I was on Facebook and saw my friend Alexa Clark won a dinner for four prepared in her home from a company I’d never heard of called Little Kitchen. They give away a dinner for four to one of their Facebook fans through a random draw each month.

I’d never entered a Facebook contest before but with Alexa’s pedigree, I figured if it was good enough for her, it was good enough for me. Speaks volumes for the value of recommendations from friends doesn’t it? So, I entered and next thing you know, I was the next month’s winner. Whoohoo!

Chef Matt Kantor spent the evening at our house last night. He designed the menu, prepared, served and cleaned up one of the most enjoyable meals we’d ever had. Talk about hidden gems. Little did I know Little Kitchen had a chef trained at the Culinary Institute of America at the helm. You can check out our dinner pics in the slideshow and watch for my interview with Matt coming soon.

Marks & Spencer busted

Marks & Spencer took out full-page print ads in several publications across the U.K. yesterday. Why? They were apologizing to women for a surcharge (approx. $3.50) on bras with DD cups or larger. (Read the full story in today’s Globe.)

There was such an outburst, Britain’s largest clothing retailer succumbed to public pressure and back-peddled on their policy. For example, to date,16,600 women joined a Facebook group called Busts 4 Justice in protest. Kudos to Marks & Spencer for listening to their customers. They decided to publicly apologize (hence the ads) and are offering a 25% discount on all bras for the next two weeks.

All this got me thinking about consumer activism and what we’ll tolerate when it comes to paying a premium on clothing (and footwear) according to size.

Don’t get me wrong, I instinctively thought there was something wrong with Marks & Spencer’s policy. But we pay a premium for larger sizes all the time. No one balks at stores specializing in clothing larger or taller women. Think about those stores charging higher prices for kids’ clothes as the size increases.

What do you think? Did Marks & Sparks cave too easily to pressure from a Facebook group or did they do the right thing? If you had been offended by a similar policy, would a public apology combined with discount be enough to restore your support? If not, what would it take?

Christmas wishes

In this week’s baby bargainista column, Jenny wonders how she’ll maintain the magic of Santa for her daughter because the only toy her little one wants doesn’t exist.

My Christmas shopping has begun, and I’ve already hit a major snag in my plans for what to place under the tree.

My 4-year-old is obsessed with this new animated show on CBC, Animal Mechanicals. The show features five transformable (and of course, adorable) characters, Rex the Dinosaur, Unicorn, Komodo, Sasquatch and Mouse, who live in a colorful “snap-together-take-apart” world. In each episode the Animal Mechanicals must overcome a variety of small challenges that require them to use their unique “Mechana” abilities.

Number one daughter has determined that the only thing she wants from Santa this year is Rex, the Animal Mechanical dinosaur. I’m only too happy to oblige – but unfortunately, no toys exist for this little-known animated series!

Perhaps as a parent I’ve been overly conditioned by the Disney merchandising machine to expect that every new show or movie will have accompanying toys on the shelves well before the holiday season. I thought surely some toys must exist somewhere (Japan? China?). I was genuinely shocked when my online searching only turned up multiple pages (including a Facebook group) populated with pleas from other parents desperate for these non-existent toys.

Usually I decry the commercialism associated with children’s entertainment; today, I find myself uncharacteristically wishing that Animal Mechanicals was made by Disney or Nickelodeon or another large conglomerate instead of a small, independent Halifax animation studio.

Now, I’m sure she’ll be excited to open any presents and happy with anything she’s given. I only wish well-meaning relatives and caregivers hadn’t filled her absorbent little brain with assurances that Santa can do anything, make anything, and bring her anything she wants. I hate the idea of disappointing her even a little. Maybe it’s time we told her the awful truth: Santa doesn’t have the licensing rights to make those toys.

Life was so much simpler last year, when all she wanted from Santa was a teddy bear!

What’s your child’s Christmas wish? Are you having any trouble sourcing the perfect gift for your little one(s)? Let us know in the comments!

Wear BlackBars for instant anonimity

One of the first rules for parents who travel without their kids is to make sure and bring home gifts. But what does one buy in Kingston that you can’t buy at home in Toronto?

Well, thanks to Tommy Vallier, I didn’t have to think too hard. You see he and Francis Wooby helped guide guests at Podcasters Across Borders (PAB) around Kingston. I had no idea that included helping with gifts for the kids too – it did!

Tommy showed up for the pre-conference not only with bags for everyone but also with a cool pair of glasses called BlackBars from a Minotaur, a local gift store. For $10 a pair, I knew they were so ridiculous the kids would love them and I couldn’t resist.

If you’ve ever had flickrphobia (you know, when you’re afraid of having your mug appear on someone’s flickr or Facebook page) then these glasses are for you too. ;) BTW, they can also be purchased online at http://www.stupidiotic.com.

What’s your favourite ridiculous gift?

photo credit (top photo): David Bailey MBE on flickr

Smart Set’s fashion & sourcing director gives me a wardrobe suggestion

A while ago, I was asked to participate in a project for Smart Set. They wanted me to help them launch their new brand and fashionatplay.ca – “a site demonstrating one of the key principles of the brand – that Smart Set is a place where fashion lovers can mix, match and accessorize ’til their heart’s content”.

For participating, they’d send me a $75 Smart Set gift card. To be honest, I hadn’t stepped into a Smart Set since I was about 14 but I’m open-minded and accepted the offer. Besides, I’d be nuts to turn down free clothes and $75 goes a long way at Smart Set.

My assignment: send in a photo of a clothing item in my wardrobe that defines me. In addition to the gift card, Smart Set’s Fashion & Sourcing Director, Lindy Omassi would put together an outfit just for me.

No brainer – I sent in a photo of my new black pants.

Lindy suggested the following:
• Belted striped blazer - $50
• Wood necklace - $16

I breezed through the store one day and saw the blazer on display. It was cute but not sure it’s what I’m going to by with my $75. What do you think?

I think I may hold out for a bit. You see, I need new jeans and Smart Set has partnered with Parasuco for a new line they’re introducing this summer. I also really like the purple top they’ve partnered with black pants on fashionatplay.ca. I’ll be sure to let you know what I buy with my gift card. Stay tuned.

Check out Smart Set’s Facebook fan page and/or download the Fashion Cube application, just make sure to have your photo ready if you wanna play.

Tip of the Week – REM gets social and streams new album for free

REM has always done things a bit differently than the other major bands and performers. When it comes to sharing music, they seem to have a good grasp of what their fans want.

Mr. Bargainista is an avid music fan but other than music, news, the odd video and business transactions, he doesn’t spend much time on the ’Net. I’m usually the one showing cool things to him. So when he told me that REM was going to release their next album, Accelerate for free on Facebook, I was both pleasantly surprised and intrigued.

REM will be streaming Accelerate using the social networking application, iLike. Fans will be able to listen to and share the entire album using iLike, Facebook, iTunes and several other social networking sites for free on March 24 – one whole week before Accelerate’s April 1 release date. The iLike launch will include all 11 original tracks and an exclusive behind-the-scenes video of the making of the album.

Connie Crosby pointed me to the NinetyNights video promo they started on January 1. Every night from now through March 31, REM is releasing a video in HD for one night only. Fans are able to embed the video on their blogs, link, share, and download the videos for free. Have a read of the usage policy – fans can pretty much do whatever they like with the files.

Tonight is Night 75 and I’ve embedded Mr. Richard for your viewing pleasure:



What do you think of REM’s approach? Will you be listening on March 24?