Twenty-five days of Christmas: Day #3

Holt Renfrew

Let me tell you a tale about a twenty-year-old boy who drove a Toyota Tercel. He lived with his hilarious aunt in Winnipeg, Manitoba and worked at Future Shop. He definitely made minimum wage there.

Come Christmas, he didn’t have too much money to play with for gifts and such so he decided to paint pictures for everyone. For his mom he painted an angel playing a harp and for his brother he copied Van Gogh’s Le Café de Nuit. He spent hours painting those pictures using watercolour techniques he learned from his high school art teacher. The pictures turned out nicely and were well-received.

His crafty ways paid off, though, and he found a few dollars left over to buy his new nephew an extra-special present. So, he braved Winnipeg’s cold weather (the coldest year on record, he seems to recall) and ventured forth to his favorite store — Holt Renfrew.

Everything seemed to sparkle and shine at Holt Renfrew — where else could a prairie boy see beautifully made clothing and smell expensive cologne? He browsed around a bit until he found the perfect gift for his nephew: a pair of satin court jester baby boots! What a perfect gift, he though. Not at all practical (babies don’t care about whether or not the shoe fits, perhaps literally in this case) and very whimsical. Bottom line was his nephew didn’t care one stitch about the gift, given his age, but it sure made the twenty year old who gave it feel very special. The end.

Afterward: Without prejudice, a few years later the boy saw the booties in his nephew’s parents’ garage sale for the low, low price of three dollars. Oh well. It was still worth it.

How long did it take you to figure out that the boy in the story was.... ME! Tricky how I did that, hey? Well I guess I used that little device to illustrate how much I love shopping and how special Holt Renfrew has been to me ever since those days living in that little house on the prairie. It’s always been a tradition of mine to buy special presents there, and this year is no different.

Two nights ago I attended a wonderful little party kicking off the opening of the Holt Renfrew Pop-Up Shop at 560 King Street West in Toronto. The temporary space — which is only open for a few days (details below) — was dreamed up by Barbara Atkin, Vice President of Fashion Direction for Holt Renfrew.  She told my glamorous friend and me that she’s had the idea for about ten years and that her vision was to create a welcoming space stocked with unisex items that anyone would love depending on their own personal taste. It really paid off — I could have dropped a small fortune there that night. But the best thing about the shop, to me, is the range of price points. You could go in and snap up an inexpensive tube of Kiehls lip balm (mango or pear flavoured!) or splurge on an Alexander Wang bag. Love that!

Gabrielle and me at the Pop-Up Party — I look so devious. Of course, Gabrielle looks amazing.

Barbara Atkin, Gabrielle and me — glamourama women always make me look 
and feel better

Go soon because it’s only around until Sunday, Dec. 6. Here are the hours of operation:

Thursday, December 3 — 2 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Friday, December 4 — 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Saturday, December 5 — 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Sunday, December 6 — 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.

To find the Holt Renfrew nearest to you, visit www.holtrenfrew.com