Results tagged “thebay”

       

Fifty years after making her debut, Barbie celebrated her semicentennial birthday with a worldwide array of products, fashion shows, and parties. In Toronto, the brand partnered with The Bay to create one of two Barbie Signature Shops in North America. Large, pink billboards near The Bay added hype to the March 16 unveiling of the “traffic-stopping” store windows and retail destination, but the resulting display leaves much to be desired. Perhaps the stylists were confusing a minimalist intent with its barren outcome, or maybe Toronto Barbie is the newest victim of the economic crisis. Either way, the low-budget effort is evident and consistent with a brand that has seen its global sales drop 21% in the last quarter. Comparing this to Shanghai’s six-storey, pink and fuchsia flagship wonderland, you start questioning how all of the girly imagination and fantasy evaporated from this city.

We can only hope that these sanctions succeed where the concerted efforts of the United Nations have so often failed. Still, we wonder what this poor baby grand piano did to deserve such harsh treatment. Shoppers in the Bay's Yonge & Bloor store seem to be respecting the sanctions—sternly enforced by a half-dozen stanchions—but it's only a matter of time before some ne'er-do-well tries to slip a tuning fork or music book past the blockade.

It’s not quite Halloween yet and here’s the Bay already giving us warning that Santa, or perhaps just a close facsimile, is on his way—ten days ahead of the official November 16 Santa Claus Parade. Given the economic downturn, perhaps it takes longer to pry people’s money from their pockets.

When media tent chatter turns to irony in Fashion Week, we're not talking t-shirts. We're talking about how the biggest buzz is more about international "it" models (like Amanda Laine, Elmer Olsen's latest star) than local designers. Or about the funny-strange feeling it gives you to write about buying clothes while reading headlines about bank collapses and home foreclosures. Or about shivering through a show comprised of nothing but hot-as-white-sand swimwear.

Photo by Patrick Metzger.

Founded in 1888, Whaley, Royce & Co. quickly billed itself as "Canada's Greatest Music House." Initially manufacturing a wide range of instruments, the company focused on brass and drums from the 1920s onwards under the Imperial, Sterling and Ideal brands. The company maintained a publishing arm until a fire in 1969 destroyed its stock.

The late 1960s were a time of throwing off the shackles of traditional societal gender norms, including the rules surrounding who could wear lace pants. Unisex clothing popped up on runways mid-decade, reaching suburban malls by the time today's ad appeared.

When searching for a new place to live, what is the first thing you look for? Location? Lifestyle compatibility? Enticements? A blank slate to shape in your unique style? Groovy wallpaper?

Depressed by the current deep freeze? Here’s something to make you feel warmer – next week, the boys of summer (or at least the pitchers and catchers) report for spring training for the Blue Jays’ 30th anniversary season.

While trying to decide whether to be dazzled or mildly offended by the LED installations currently ornamenting The Bay's Queen Street store, Torontoist was taken aback to find that the dire predictions about a possible ripple effect have already become (partially) true, in that another building further south on Yonge has followed its lead by adorning its facade with its own light display – albeit one without the relative class of The Bay's.

We're a little late with this week's music listing--blame the election! Er, okay, maybe someone just got immersed in learning a bit of Flash and let it slip. It won't happen again.