Sunday, February 28, 2016

Saks comes to Toronto

The new Saks Fifth Avenue in Toronto opened last week.  Ken was psyched to check it out.  Boy, is it ever fancy!  The pedestrian walkway between Saks and the Toronto Eaton Centre got a facelift.  Those are real plants, and the light fixtures are crystal chandeliers.  Oh la la!


You thought that Holt Renfrew (Canada's homegrown luxury department store) was upscale?  Saks takes it to a whole new level.  There were designer brands that I'd never seen or heard of before, and I hope they have defibrillators on site because sticker shock is going to give someone a heart attack.

I recommend clicking on these photos to see the big versions of most of them, for the details.  

See this unassuming little handbag?  Check out the price tag.  $ 2,710.00!  (That's Ken's manly hand.)


The mannequins are unimpressed.


There was the requisite perfumery, complete with one vendor who would assist you in mixing your own custom perfume blend, if you couldn't find anything you liked among the hundreds of pre-packaged options. 


The bottle on the left is a sesame-based scent.  That's different.


In keeping with high fashion's commitment to promoting unreasonable standards of beauty, the mannequins were approximately seven feet tall. (And size zero, of course.)


Men's shoe section: $500 flip flops.


Women's shoe section:  $1000 for unwearable heels.


Shoes made of plastic: $330 I can't even.


Dolce & Gabbana's O fell off, and couldn't be quickly replaced because a customer ran off with it.  Maybe they thought they could sell it for a profit on the street.  


There were eye-catching light fixtures in almost every department.  This was my favourite.


Finally, there was a ton of bling.  Diamonds everywhere you turned.  We were given a demo of the Happy Diamonds watch, which must be seen in motion to be fully appreciated.  So much sparkle - very flash!  What time is it? *checks wrist*  Oh, it's time for diamonds, again.  (It's always time for diamonds.)

If you have a personal assistant to keep track of the time for you, you could instead buy this bracelet for $50,000.


And that concludes our tour of Saks Queen Street.  No purchases were made, although I did quite like a pair of diamond pavé hedgehog-shaped earrings.  They were $8,000.  OMG.  However, we had a good time!  It was an intriguing adventure. 

8 comments:

Ginny said...

I cut through the Saks near my office building every day. I usually don't take the time to stop and look around because I'm in a rush and everything costs too much but they do have some crazy displays. Right now the Boston one has some weird paint splatter thing going on with mannequins. Must be their spring display.

Vanessence7 said...

Congrats on your new Saks! :D Isn't it fun to window shop and dream a little? lol

Years ago, as a teen, I worked at a Neiman Marcus doing gift wrap for Christmas. Don't know if you have any of those up there. They are a competitor for Saks. Some items you see, you wonder who in their right mind would pay that much for it. Some people really do have more dollars than sense, and for the life of me, I can't figure out how they got it!

Time for diamonds - that was cute, Spark. :D Guess I need a new watch!

DarcKnyt said...

"It's always time for diamonds." Spoken as a genuine lady of finery, Spark! :)

GREAT photo essay. I can remember a time when I wouldn't have blinked at those prices or those fashions. Now I not only blink, I tear a little. $500 flip flops? Srsly?

:)

Jameil said...

That was thoroughly enjoyable! Shockingly, those platform heels are probably easier to walk in than slightly lower stilettos because of the platform.

Granny Annie said...

I would feel like I had to dress up as if I were going to the royal ball just to walk inside the store. Thankfully I am now retired and raising chickens and free to be a bag lady if I choose.

Abby said...

Wowza, so that's how the other half lives? Looks like a fun place to just go and gawk. Thanks for the tour, that was fun!

Lynn said...

Sounds like a fun excursion! $500 flip flops - shaking head.

LL Cool Joe said...

What a beautiful walkway!

I am impressed by Ken's immaculate nail. :D

I do love the light fixture, now that is stunning. The shoes and bags do nothing for me I have to say. :D