This week, World MasterCard Fashion Week's spring/summer 2015 season brought us plenty of showstopping gowns (sure to eventually show up on a Genies or Junos red carpet), moody, avant-garde looks, and a few surprise celebrity appearances. (Forget Solange Knowles' DJ set at the Joe Fresh party Monday night - Laurence Fishburne was at Mikhael Kale!)

Some of the week's best looks took a turn for the futuristic - Brit Wacher sent models to the moon, Sid Neigum and Mikhael Kale made liberal use of industrial-chic materials, and Bowie-esque jumpsuits showed up in multiple collections. That seems especially appropriate, given soul-searching and state-of-the-unioning that's surrounded this Fashion Week about the future of the Canadian style industry. With this much design talent crammed into a week's worth of shows, I'd say the outlook is pretty bright (and space-age sexy).

From the quietly sophisticated to the showstopping, here, in no particular order, are 10 of my favourite looks from World MasterCard Fashion Week spring/summer 2015.

Hayley Elsaesser
WMCFW's regular designers tend to come up short on the whimsy and fun (unless it's Target, who are aware that happier people tend to buy more things), and Elsaesser's show of riotously bold prints rendered in neons and sequins, worn by models crowned in a craft store's worth of silver glitter, was a huge breath of fresh air. I would happily wear this sparkling hand-print dress - and I'll bet the Beckerman sisters, who were sitting front row, would too.

Beaufille
Beaufille's designers always draw inspiration from one historical era and one modern-day subculture for each show. The Beaufille girl always looks like she listens to Sonic Youth on her way to and from fencing lessons, and is generally not the kind of person you'd want to meet in a dark alley. This year's show was no different, featuring floaty pieces slashed with cutouts and anchored with their signature hardware.

Brit Wacher
Up-and-comer Wacher is already earning some famous fans (including St. Vincent) for her futuristic-yet-feminine designs. The designer delivered this week with a collection inspired by a journey to the moon and back: Asymmetric hemlines, Jane Jetson collars, structured shoulders and feminine, flowing skirts.

Hilary MacMillan
MacMillan's aesthetic revolves around classic, feminine shapes with painterly, attention-grabbing prints. She outdid herself again with her beachy spring 2015 collection - when the mercury breaks 33 C next summer, I hope at least one Toronto woman will be swanning about town in this sunset-orange maxi and crop top combo.

Mackage
Mackage's show was a perfect mix of classic pieces - trenches, pencil skirts - with the sporty-tech feel currently taking the fashion world by storm. Perforated, grid-like leather and shots of lemon, magenta and cobalt came together with sheer white fabric and khaki-green; it's the perfect wardrobe for the girl in charge on the go. This all-blue look wins my vote for its perfect skinny-slouchy cut.

Mikael D
As one-half of the former design duo Pavoni, Mikael D makes glittering, red carpet-ready frocks (Genies-bound Canadian actresses and Rosedale gala-attending types, hope you're paying attention). There were plenty of beaded, Art Deco-inspired showstoppers, but I'm partial to this Ziggy Stardust-inspired piece.

Mikhael Kale
Kale's shows are always a Fashion Week highlight - his designs are sleek, sexy and powerful, but with brilliantly left-field approaches to colour and materials. This season was no different - he layered a white-and-pastel lineup of usual moto jackets, pencil skirts and sheath dresses with clear vinyl, glittering brocades and shimmering silver fabrics.

Pink Tartan
Kim Newport-Mimran's been doing '50s and '60s-tinged, work-appropriate glamour for so many seasons, it came as a pleasant shock to see her send out bodysuits and fringed suede vests, followed by look after look of American Hustle-meets-Almost Famous '70s glam. The big closer was this fringed jumpsuit, which, admittedly, looks a bit Muppety in photos - but created some stunning movement on the runway,

Sid Neigum
The undisputed man of the week was Neigum, who won two design competitions back to back (and, in the process, managed to make incorporating Minnie Mouse heads into a dress look like haute couture). His usual trademarks, including heavy fabrics arranged into draped and sculptural shapes, gave way to origami-like creations like this look.

Thomas Balint
The gloomy looks and slack-rock tunes at Thomas Balint created a moody, sombre vibe, but I was struck by the cut, pattern-matching and finishing on his striped jackets (check out the pockets) - a clear peek into Balint's skill as a designer.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments.

Photos courtesy George Pimentel / WMCFW.

Brad Ross, Executive Director of Corporate Communications at TTC, is kind of cool. That's not a word you often tend to associate with something TTC-related. But with his eight beautiful tattoos, charming meta-watt smile, obvious love of music (he was even a big heavy metal guy in his youth), unabashed Kat Von D fandom, and enthusiastic social media presence, he is just that: kind of cool. He's the kind of fun, hip, person that Toronto could use more of in visible positions of power.

So, naturally, I wanted to talk to Ross about the city he calls home. Not just because he seems like a great guy. But because, after all, a man who works for the company that takes us all over Toronto, should know a thing or two about it. Here then is how Brad Ross would spend his perfect day in Toronto.

How would you start off your perfect day in the morning?

I'm really liking King East these days. I'm not sure if Corktown is the official moniker yet, but that whole stretch from River to Church has a nice feel to it. On a Saturday, we'll make our way to the Patrician Grill where only they know how to make bacon crispy when you ask for it to be, well, crispy. Trust me, it's a challenge for some. Then we'll head to the island. All on bike. Perfection. [A stop] at a picnic bench on Hanlan's Point.

You've made your way back from the island. Where do you head from there?

Joy's Bistro in Leslieville does a great lunch, and if the weather is co-operating, has some nice patio space to choose from. Afterwards? A bike ride through Cabbagetown is good for the soul. Little wrought iron fences and gates, gables, ivy, big door-knockers. what I like about Cabbagetown are the homes and gardens... just walking the residential streets. Place is a gem.

So you're all tired out from all that biking. Where do you go to spend the rest of your eating?

That's an easy one: The Auld Spot on Danforth. It's our regular. The staff and owners are super-friendly and a lot of fun. The food never disappoints. No better place to be on a cold winter night, frankly. Their Sunday prime rib is almost as good as nana used to make.

Do you have any favorite concert venues you like to hit up post-dinner when shows are happening?

Lee's Palace hands-down. Saw July Talk there in May. Amazing. And the beer was cheap, too!

Okay, perfect day aside, I have to ask: what's your favourite subway station and why?

I'll go with Bay. It's white tiles are the closest we have to looking like a Paris Metro station (one can dream!). Plus, of course,Bay Lower sits mere meters below. [It's] a wonderful, mysterious place to some [and] an empty, brake-dust laden station to those who get asked about it all. the. time.

What about favourite neighborhoods around a subway station?

Broadview. Four bus routes and two streetcar lines terminate here - a truly multi-modal hub! OK, that's the nerdy reason. But it's also close to the Don Valley and my stompin' grounds along the Danforth. A walk through the Playter Estates a block east will surprise some with the seriously beautiful homes that are tucked away here. A quiet calm descends, as the typical grid system of streets is briefly tossed out the window allowing for a meander. If that's your thing, get lost!

Since you're in the East End, any spots you especially love in that neck of the woods?

Sauce is a hidden treasure. Great, intimate atmosphere.

And what about places around the TTC Davisville office?

Some of us have been known to share the odd pint post-work. No special spot here - we've been to them all on more than several occasions - but occasionally the boss will suggest we hit The Rebel House down near Rosedale Station. Always a good call.

ESSENTIAL SPOTS:

Brunch:The Senator (breakfast, really).

Restaurant to take someone from out of town:Vesta. That'll teach them to drop in unannounced.

Pub:The Auld Spot

Museum or Gallery:Stephen Bulger Gallery. I have a few precious photos from there.

Bookstore:Book City on the Danforth

Clothing store:Brooks Brothers by day; concert t-shirts by night.

Movie Theatre:Varsity

Secret Toronto place you wish more people knew about:Crothers' Woods.

Previously: An insider's guide to Toronto with Sam James.

Plenty of Torontonians (myself included) will fiercely defend their right to call Toronto their place of origin, but like so many others transplanted in this city, there are some easy tells (and collective memories) if you spent your formative years just outside the city limits.

Here are 10 signs you grew up in Thornhill.

1. You crave bagels from Kiva's, burgers from Golden Star, smoked meat sandwiches from Centre Street Deli, pizza from the original Dante's, and the occasional fancy dinner from The Octogon. And you go back whenever you can.

2. You remember the massive burgers at Wimpy's when it was still just a single compact diner - not an Ontario-wide chain. And you remember when The Pickle Barrel served Jewish-style deli like kishka - not the bland pedestrian stuff they're slinging now. And you never go back because it'll never live up to what you remember.

3. You're still mourning the loss of Lime Rickey's (RIP) and Southbrook Farms. But at least you can still day trip to Southbrook's vineyard in NOTL.

4. You went to all ages concerts (most likely battle of the bands) at Thornhill Square. Part library, part mall - how suburban right?

5. You bought tye-dye, sweatpants and thick wool socks at Marky's Warehouse Outlet. (Which you wore in public - likely together.)

6. You reunite with old friends at The Britannia or the Tickled Toad. But only because you're too old now to hang out in a Mac's Milk parking lot.

7. You head north every time you need something new for the kitchen. Because there's no where cheaper in the city than Cayne's. You plan to register for wedding gifts there one day too.

8. You went to school with Craig Kielburger, Hayden Christensen or Anne Murray's daughter. You've got the yearbooks to prove it.

9. A Wonderland season pass was an enviable alternative to summer camp. That is, if you didn't spend summers at sleep-over camp.

10. You went on school field trips to Baker Sugar Bush on Bathurst at Highway 7. (Which has since been redeveloped into a subdivision.)

What signs did I miss? Add your suggestions to the comments.

Photo by syncros in the blogTO Flickr pool.

Free events in Toronto this week include Halloween, the first day many of us grasped the delicious concept of free. If you're too old for free candy (paying for that first root canal will fix that), No Pants Society is throwing a Dia De Muertos party, OCAD and Bloor/Gladstone Library will both screen Rocky Horror, and you can sing karaoke at the Gladstone. There's also free surgery, but I don't recommend that. I mean legally, I can't.

Voting in the municipal elections is also free - remember to get to the polls on Monday.

Here's how save up for necessary dental surgery (no benefits, so spooky) in Toronto this week.

MONDAY

• Toronto mayoral election
• Newmindspace - Business as Usual, Folks - a post-election street party (City Hall)
• BLOOR BROADCAST: TORONTO VOTES 2014 (Bloor Hot Docs)
• Rebels With A Cause Film Festival - Red Riot (York Woods Library)
• Gladstone Presents - Eyes On the Election Viewing Party (Gladstone)

TUESDAY

• The Rocky Horror Picture Show Movie Night at OCAD. With A Bar (OCAD)
• GHOST Stories Told Live (The Garrison)
• Luau Or Die (Horseshoe)
• Author event "Troubling Pain and Prejudice (Supermarket Restaurant and Bar)
• Rebels With a Cause Film Festival - Witness Within (York Woods Library)

WEDNESDAY

• OPENING NIGHT of the 7a11d International Festival of Performance Art [PWYC at night] (Artscape Youngplace)
• Spooky Tiki Speakeasy - Dia De Muertos Dance Party (Bovine Sex Club)
• Punk Rock Bingo - Hell-O-Ween Edition [PWYC] (Beaver)
• Pivot: R. Kolewe, Michael Lista, Mike Spry, & Jess Taylor [PWYC] (Press Club)
• Double Bill: Lina Allemano New York Trio TITANIUM RIOT [PYWC] (Tranzac Club)

THURSDAY

• Screening of HORROR Feature Film (Carlton Cinemas)
• Stuart Riz Poetry Workshop and Launch (Saving Grace)
• The Danny Show (120 Diner)
• WEIRD TALES: A Selection of New Animated Horror Shorts [PWYC] (TAIS Studio)
• The Crush Project Chubb Rubb Halloween Bash [PWYC] (Gladstone)

FRIDAY

• Church Street Halloween Parade
• Movie Night at the Library: The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Bloor/Gladstone Library)
• Free Surgery Offered On All Hollow's Eve (Mighty Brave Productions/ Dufferson Herman Arts/ Haus of Dada)
• The Smiths Tribute - Slapback [PWYC] (Holy Oak)
• 2nd Annual TCL Halloween Party: We Are French, Subject To Change, Mip Power Trio, Rotary Dial and Giraffe [PWYC] (The Sister)

SATURDAY

• Pumpkin Parade (Sorauren Park)
• Shameless Karaoke (Gladstone Hotel)
• 2nd ever costume skate party (Soybomb)
• ANONYMOUSHALLOWEEN AFTERPARTY (Coalition: T.O)
• Nobel Prize Fighter CD Release w/ Meeko Cheech, Rhinosaur, The Liquor Pigs, The Flu, Red Lines [Free with costume] (Silver Dollar)
• HALLOWE'EN SPOOKTACULAR: DRUNK LIPS/TUNGDA BROWNE/THE KISSY KISSY CARNIVORES [PWYC] (Handlebar)
• BYOB Zine Launch Party w/ Riot Porn, Pantychrist, The Lipstick Junkies, FUSS, Terrorista & PONY [PWYC] (Nowhere Gallery)

SUNDAY

• Burlesque at Cherry Cola's: Sinful Sundays One Year Anniversary (Cherry Cola's)
• Brains, Words & Voices - Toronto's only monthly poetry recitation contest [PWYC] (101 Niagara St)
• Hack The Planet - A cyberpunk rave [PWYC] (Smiling Buddha)

Also check out these regular free events

• Elvis Mondays at the Drake
• Foosball Battle Royale, Monday, Disgraceland
• Art Gallery of Ontario free evening, Wednesday, 6-8:30pm.
• IFOA Weekly, free for supporters, students, & youth under 26, Wednesday, Harbourfront Centre
• Skin of My Nuts Comedy Show, Thursday, Sonic Espresso Bar
• Canadian Opera Company's Free Concerts series
• While nearly all art galleries in the city are free to enter, it's worth noting The Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (MOCCA) is always PWYC.
• The ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) offers discounted tickets on Fridays ($10).

Do you want everyone to know about your kinda random free or pay-what-you-can event? Submit it to our event section. (You can also submit your for-money events here, greedy-pants.)

Photo by Jess Milns

Where to watch the Toronto mayoral election depends on who you are. There's bed, there's Twitter, and there's the sandbox at the local playground - but maybe you want to be with other human beings after hitting the polls for Monday's election. Around the city find people drinking away months upon months of pent up anxiety, and maybe someone who will notice your nails digging into your palms and offer some kind words.

Whether you want to hit Ford's campaign party or a good-riddance-Ford bash at Nathan Phillips Square, here's where to watch the election in Toronto this Monday.

OFFICIAL CAMPAIGN EVENTS

• Olivia Chow Campaign Election Night Party (Daniels Spectrum, 7pm, free)
• Doug Ford Election Night Party (Woodbine Banquet Hall )
• John Tory Election Night Party (Liberty Grand)

WATCH THE ELECTION

• Newmindspace - Business as Usual, Folks - a post-election street party (City Hall, 9pm, free)
• Bloor Broadcast: Toronto Votes (Bloor Hot Docs, 6pm, free)
• Gladstone Presents - Eyes On the Election Viewing Party (Gladstone, 7pm, free)
• Election Night #FordNation #TOpoli Trivia and Results Party (Beaver, 6:30pm, $2 to play)
• Election Day (Spirits Bar & Grill, 6pm, free)
• Watch live (Monarch Tavern)
• Watch live (Rock Lobster Food Co)

Then, does casting a ballot make you thirsty? Watch the #happyvotinghourTO hashtag on Twitter for beer deals around Toronto (so far Rock Lobster, Insomnia, and the Office Pub are among participants).

Know of an election party, special, freebie, or just a place to watch the drama? Let us know in the comments.

The Everything to do with Sex Show began, for me, with a pre-party at Oasis Aqualounge. Lots of hairy, cupid-like man bodies were on display, accompanied most often by jiggly, lingerie-clad lady bottoms. Noobs went on dungeon tours, and learned the ins and outs of ethically smacking one's partner. People lounged on vinyl beds, stretched out like felines, waiting for 11 p.m. to hit. For at the strike of eleven, the sexing begins.

We're warned on the way in that we will see nudity.

I had to hightail it out to make another engagement prior to 11, thankfully. But the show opener was a good sign of things to come. This is not a time for the pearl clutchers, nor the faint of heart, amongst us. Here are the top five things to check out at the fifteenth annual Everything to do with Sex Show in Toronto.

Check out aphrodesiac corner
If you're the optimistic type who is willing to ingest loads of avocado in wide-eyed hopefulness that it will make your junk function for a longer period of time, this is for you! You may even see a unicorn, too. In more reasonable news, this area will also teach you to make a romantic dinner for two, which might actually get you laid. It's worked on me (much to my later shame and regret. But that's what dating/sex is all about, no?)

Learn to have better butt sex, and more!
If you're the nerdy type who likes to take notes, check out the seminar series. It features speakers proselytizing on everything from how to squirt to orgasm via butt sex to how to actually be intimate with someone. I can assure you, watching strange couples hold one another awkwardly and become clearly aroused in public by the prospect of putting on a pair of black gloves and pleasuring their partner is very, very funny.

Shop around
This applies to both people and things. People on offer include an old man in just a camo thong and a sweet little grin, as well as a throng of middle-aged couples on a quest to learn about the aforementioned anal play. And if you need any sex apparatus whatsoever, you will find it in this seedy gymnasium full of fantasy. Waterproof blankets to avoid the dreaded wet spot, multiple spinoffs of the infamous Rabbit, and, I shit you not, rubber torsos of women ready for the humping.

People watch
This one should be a given. The best place to do this is likely in front of the burlesque stage, where people become unbelievably and visibly horny from watching women flit about in titty tassels. (Mad respect to sex performers of all kinds. That work takes skill, dedication and natural steaminess. It's just the audience I'm making fun of). Other bets include women with teased out 80s bangs shopping for sexy nurse outfits, invariably accompanied by men with the ubiquitous donut hairdo.

Get hired
In a city like Toronto, with its cutthroat competition across basically every industry and its criminal rent levels, making ends meet can be tough. If you like sex, you might want to stop by and interview for Cam4, where you can become a cam person and actually get paid to jerk off. This might work better if you're an objectively hot girl-babe, not sure, but can't hurt to go for it anyway.

The Everything To Do With Sex Show runs from now through Sunday at the Direct Energy Centre.

Leslieville - and its western cousin, Riverside - span Queen East from the Don to Coxwell. The "Leslie" of the name is George Leslie, who owned the Toronto Nurseries; in the 1850s, most of the neighbourhood's population either worked there or in local factories. Over the past 15 years, it's experienced a major renaissance, with an influx of restaurants, cafes, bars and shops catering to the local population.

Queen St. is the neighbourhood's most established drag, while Leslieville's eastern reaches, north of Queen, are in the process of transforming from industrial grounds to condos and shops. That's giving way to newly-minted destinations like Dundas and Carlaw - visitors might find there's plenty of action down on Queen to keep you busy, but don't be afraid to explore.

Here's how I'd spend a day in Leslieville, from morning until late night.

BREAKFAST AND COFFEE

Brunch is practically a competitive, full-contact sport in Leslieville. I find myself craving Lady Marmalade's to-die-for cheddar and spinach waffles, topped with bacon or avocado and served with chipotle sauce, on the regular, but there's also the gloriously enormous pancakes at Okay Okay Diner, and the menu of French faves at Bonjour Brioche.

Step two, of course, is an extra dose of caffeine to ward off the brunch coma. Dark Horse and Merchants of Green Coffee dole out the brew in Riverside; further east, there's Te Aro and Mercury Espresso. If it's a weekday and and I'm up for a bit of a treat I head slightly north of the 'hood to Pilot Roasters' hidden away tasting bar for a bit of education.

MORNING ACTIVITY

If I'm not super-full from breakfast (or brunch), one of the city's best-loved spin gyms - Quad East is just down the street (if I'm lucky, they'll be holding one of their live DJ spin classes). I might put my hilarious lack of upper-body strength to the test at Rock Oasis rock climbing studio. More likely, though, my nerdy couch-potato side will win out, and I'll poke my head into 3D Phacktory 3D-printing studio or the Atomic Toybot shop and gallery.

LUNCH

Leslieville has tons of grab-and-go options (perhaps for a leisurely mini-picnic in Jimmie Simpson Park)? For a cheap, healthy bite, there's Pulp Kitchen, where $10 gets you two of a smoothie, a salad, or a sandwich (weekdays only during the lunch hour). For something with a bit of meat on it, there's Completo's melt-in-your-mouth sandwiches and fries, fish and chips at Reliable or the hot table at Tommaso's Trattoria - a favourite among those who work in the local film industry. A newer option is Food Dudes Pantry, where the local caterer and food truck outfit cooks up takeaway dishes like grilled salmon, beef brisket and salads.

SHOPPING AND CULTURE

Between Common Sort and Value Village, Leslieville is a bargain-hunter's paradise. If I get sick of staring at thread-pulled polyester at le VV Boutique, I might head east on Queen to Gadabout and ogle their cocktail dresses instead - or swing by Good Neighbour for a taste of the Drake General Store east of the Don. This hood is also great for record shopping: I found a yellow Elvis Costello 7" once at Discovery Records, and I'm stoked about the new Tiny Record Shop inside Token.

The neighbourhood's also long been a destination for design, particularly vintage furniture - though the tide might be rolling the other way, as shown by Phil'z recent move out of the neighbourhood. I'd pop by GUFF to check out some more affordable vintage pieces (hello, vintage credenzas), Machine Age Modern for some more aspirational items, or go super high-end (and not vintage) at Avenue Road on Eastern Avenue.

MID-AFTERNOON SNACK

In my mind, Ed's Real Scoop holds the crown for Leslieville sweet treats; when the weather's nice, there's a line out the door. (My top picks: chocolate-chili gelato and toasted-marshmallow ice cream.) But if I'm hankering for something to chew on, I'll roll over to Bobbette and Belle for a slice of cake or one of their perfect macarons.

DINNER

You can't go wrong in this neighbourhood at dinnertime - the best options tend toward slightly classier-than-average destination dining accentuated by inventive cocktail menus. The Riverside location of Tabule has a loyal following for its Middle Eastern dishes and attentive service, while Chef Lynn Crawford does locavore cuisine over at Ruby Watchco and Goods and Provisions offer game dishes and oysters in a cozy setting.

For this northern-Italian kid (we practically have mushrooms in our blood), the pasta menu at Enoteca Ascari, which alternatively features truffles, hen of the woods, and porcini, is a must. And even though it's not a Leslieville-specific dish, I'm thrilled I don't have to cross town to get the fried chicken sandwich at the County General anymore.

DRINKS AND ENTERTAINMENT

The Opera House dominates the music scene in this neighbourhood, offering a solid roster of mid-size touring acts in a beautiful, if faded, old concert hall (though, for me, the $8 beers and thorough security pat-downs tend to take the shine off the experience a bit). I might see if there's something on at the Jam Factory, an events and art space tucked into a quiet Riverside side-street.

Boots 'N' Bourbon's line-dancing parties and bingo/chicken wing nights are a draw for local country fans; I, meanwhile, am game to endure the nu-country soundtrack if it means getting to munch on an order of their tacos. Generally, though, you'll find me at Hi-Lo Bar killing some craft brews with friends under the watchful eye of a giant Bruce Springsteen.

LATE-NIGHT EATS

During the day, Tango Palace is a favourite spot for caffeine-powered students and freelancers, but they also keep the coffee and cake going until 11pm or so. (Thank goodness - seriously, am I the only one who likes to drink lattes at 8pm?) Aft Kitchen and Bar slings indulgent BBQ treats (the prices are high-ish, but the portions are huge) until 1am; if it's that kind of night, I'll probably grab a smoked-peach vodka lemonade to wash it all down with.

Finally, Leslieville Pumps is a shining light all others have gone out; though their Southern-inspired menu items are taken off the table at 8pm, they keep a batch of Sri Lankan curry simmering until the wee hours.

Did I miss any? Let me know in the comments.

Photos by Jesse Milns, Matt Forsythe and Dennis Marciniak.

There were plenty of gems to be found on the runway this week at World MasterCard Fashion Week's spring/summer 2015 shows. There were also more than a few missteps: Fledgling designers letting their unfinished edges show, attempts at glamour that veered into tacky territory, and a few great ideas that unfortunately collapsed in the execution. And of course, sometimes, the greatest sin of all is just being boring.

In no particular order, here are 10 of my least favourite looks from fashion week.

Stephan Caras
There were some real highlights in Caras' all-gold-everything collection, including mod playsuits and Bowie-style onesies - and then there was this layered ensemble, which looks like a cross between Jack Sparrow and your granny's living room.

Elan & Castor
It's not entirely out of spec for a first-time Fashion Week show, but Elan & Castor's show was a little too raw - their boho designs were already created to be on the "deconstructed" side, but the garments were unlined and the airy (and occasionally snagged) fabrics just looked flimsy. (More successful: This striped-knit shorts ensemble - the ultimate in retro-cool beachwear.)

Klaxon Howl
The Queen St. stalwart had a solid show of '40s-inspired pieces for men and women, soundtracked by a live drummer - but this Hollister-worthy plaid shorts and sweater look was a bit of a snoozer.

Mackage
I wanted 99% of the Mackage collection (including the perforated-leather wrap skirts and bright moto jackets) to march itself directly into my closet. But those hot pants styled with long, fringed skirts made them collect between models' legs in an unflattering loincloth-like shape - a bandage skirt may have been more successful. (Also, one day we'll think about the years when every Canadian designer styled looks around white granny panties, and we'll all share a hearty laugh.)

Madame Moje
I feel like I've seen identical looks to this one sitting in the window of Queen St. fabric stores for the past 10 years. It's technically pretty, but not terribly inventive; also, I spent my week looking at pastel sheers and illusion lace, and by Friday night, it was starting to make me cranky.

HD Homme
Versace. Versace Versace. Versace Versace. Versace.

Mikhael Kale
Kale's show was another standout in the week's schedule, but the peeling-petal shapes at the waist of this dress and the mottled-pink underlayer colluded to form a slightly icky, body-horror-like effect.

Malorie Urbanovich
Urbanovich has been making some strong showings of her '90s-influenced collections over the past few seasons, but this one might have been better left in the thrift store; it came off as a touch dated and unflattering. (Though I did see a couple of fashion week attendees successfully rocking the magenta-and-red combo in the tents this week. A+!)

Mikael D
This cutout gown would have worked in theory, but the Ace-bandage colour and drapey, droopy cut gave it a rather unfortunate, St. Vincent face prosthetic-like effect.

Stephan Caras (again)
And, finally, we return to the Caras runway for the show's finishing look, an enormous, three-tiered disco bedskirt. It's a silhouette the designer has favoured in previous years for big, splashy, show-ending gowns - and it never gets any less overblown or cheesy.

Do you agree with my picks? Let me know in the comments.

Photos courtesy George Pimentel / WMCFW.

Formerly known as the I.M.A. Gallery, this student run centre from Ryerson relocated from 80 Spadina to the old Art Bar space at the Gladstone Hotel earlier this year. The idea is to get more eyes on the work of students in the Image Arts program, which focuses on film, new media, and photography. Not only does the location capitalize on the remaining West Queen West arts scene, but on the programming of the Gladstone itself, which has become even more of an arts hub with this new addition.

Read my review of Ryerson Artspace at the Gladstone in the galleries section.

There's no runway outside the tents at World Mastercard Fashion Week, but you wouldn't know it from the well-rehearsed poses of the arrivals (not to mention the chorus of snapping shutters that greet them). The street style scene at Toronto's fashion week is just another part of the circus - not to mention part of the fun. Mild weather meant attendees could leave the coats at home (unless, of course, it was a really fabulous coat) to show off edgy, streetwear-inspired looks.

Check out all the looks in our street style section.

The plot is thickening quickly around Jian Ghomeshi's sudden dismissal from the CBC. What began as a simple "leave of absence" for the longtime Q broadcaster became far more dramatic Sunday: The network announced they were severing their ties with him completely, saying they'd received information that "precludes us from continuing our relationship."

Ghomeshi quickly followed up by launching a $50-million countersuit against the broadcasting company - and, on Sunday night, posting this sure to be controversial statement on his Facebook page. The note alleges that a jilted ex girlfriend colluded to launch a launch a smear campaign against him, claiming that she was a "victim of abusive relations" with the radio personality.

This, you might say, is the textbook example of getting ahead of a story. Ghomeshi reveals that he "[engaged] in rough sex (forms of BDSM)" with the person in question, which he vehemently claims was consensual. He also says that he provided proof to the CBC of the consent, which immediately preceded his being fired from the broadcaster.

You can now expect a PR war between Ghomeshi and the CBC to ensue - one that will no doubt occur in lockstep with the legal battle that awaits. Read on for Ghomeshi's version of events, as posted to his Facebook page this evening.

------

Dear everyone,

I am writing today because I want you to be the first to know some news.

This has been the hardest time of my life. I am reeling from the loss of my father. I am in deep personal pain and worried about my mom. And now my world has been rocked by so much more.

Today, I was fired from the CBC.

For almost 8 years I have been the host of a show I co-created on CBC called Q. It has been my pride and joy. My fantastic team on Q are super-talented and have helped build something beautiful.

I have always operated on the principle of doing my best to maintain a dignity and a commitment to openness and truth, both on and off the air. I have conducted major interviews, supported Canadian talent, and spoken out loudly in my audio essays about ideas, issues, and my love for this country. All of that is available for anyone to hear or watch. I have known, of course, that not everyone always agrees with my opinions or my style, but I've never been anything but honest. I have doggedly defended the CBC and embraced public broadcasting. This is a brand I've been honoured to help grow.

All this has now changed.

Today I was fired from the company where I've been working for almost 14 years - stripped from my show, barred from the building and separated from my colleagues. I was given the choice to walk away quietly and to publicly suggest that this was my decision. But I am not going to do that. Because that would be untrue. Because I've been fired. And because I've done nothing wrong.

I've been fired from the CBC because of the risk of my private sex life being made public as a result of a campaign of false allegations pursued by a jilted ex girlfriend and a freelance writer.

As friends and family of mine, you are owed the truth.

I have commenced legal proceedings against the CBC, what's important to me is that you know what happened and why.

Forgive me if what follows may be shocking to some.

I have always been interested in a variety of activities in the bedroom but I only participate in sexual practices that are mutually agreed upon, consensual, and exciting for both partners.

About two years ago I started seeing a woman in her late 20s. Our relationship was affectionate, casual and passionate. We saw each other on and off over the period of a year and began engaging in adventurous forms of sex that included role-play, dominance and submission. We discussed our interests at length before engaging in rough sex (forms of BDSM). We talked about using safe words and regularly checked in with each other about our comfort levels. She encouraged our role-play and often was the initiator. We joked about our relations being like a mild form of Fifty Shades of Grey or a story from Lynn Coady's Giller-Prize winning book last year. I don't wish to get into any more detail because it is truly not anyone's business what two consenting adults do. I have never discussed my private life before. Sexual preferences are a human right.

Despite a strong connection between us it became clear to me that our on-and-off dating was unlikely to grow into a larger relationship and I ended things in the beginning of this year. She was upset by this and sent me messages indicating her disappointment that I would not commit to more, and her anger that I was seeing others.

After this, in the early spring there began a campaign of harassment, vengeance and demonization against me that would lead to months of anxiety.

It came to light that a woman had begun anonymously reaching out to people that I had dated (via Facebook) to tell them she had been a victim of abusive relations with me. In other words, someone was reframing what had been an ongoing consensual relationship as something nefarious. I learned - through one of my friends who got in contact with this person - that someone had rifled through my phone on one occasion and taken down the names of any woman I had seemed to have been dating in recent years. This person had begun methodically contacting them to try to build a story against me. Increasingly, female friends and ex-girlfriends of mine told me about these attempts to smear me.

Someone also began colluding with a freelance writer who was known not to be a fan of mine and, together, they set out to try to find corroborators to build a case to defame me. She found some sympathetic ears by painting herself as a victim and turned this into a campaign. The writer boldly started contacting my friends, acquaintances and even work colleagues - all of whom came to me to tell me this was happening and all of whom recognized it as a trumped up way to attack me and undermine my reputation. Everyone contacted would ask the same question, if I had engaged in non-consensual behavior why was the place to address this the media?

The writer tried to peddle the story and, at one point, a major Canadian media publication did due diligence but never printed a story. One assumes they recognized these attempts to recast my sexual behaviour were fabrications. Still, the spectre of mud being flung onto the Internet where online outrage can demonize someone before facts can refute false allegations has been what I've had to live with.

And this leads us to today and this moment. I've lived with the threat that this stuff would be thrown out there to defame me. And I would sue. But it would do the reputational damage to me it was intended to do (the ex has even tried to contact me to say that she now wishes to refute any of these categorically untrue allegations). But with me bringing it to light, in the coming days you will prospectively hear about how I engage in all kinds of unsavoury aggressive acts in the bedroom. And the implication may be made that this happens non-consensually. And that will be a lie. But it will be salacious gossip in a world driven by a hunger for "scandal". And there will be those who choose to believe it and to hate me or to laugh at me. And there will be an attempt to pile on. And there will be the claim that there are a few women involved (those who colluded with my ex) in an attempt to show a "pattern of behaviour". And it will be based in lies but damage will be done. But I am telling you this story in the hopes that the truth will, finally, conquer all.

I have been open with the CBC about this since these categorically untrue allegations ramped up. I have never believed it was anyone's business what I do in my private affairs but I wanted my bosses to be aware that this attempt to smear me was out there. CBC has been part of the team of friends and lawyers assembled to deal with this for months. On Thursday I voluntarily showed evidence that everything I have done has been consensual. I did this in good faith and because I know, as I have always known, that I have nothing to hide. This when the CBC decided to fire me.

CBC execs confirmed that the information provided showed that there was consent. In fact, they later said to me and my team that there is no question in their minds that there has always been consent. They said they're not concerned about the legal side. But then they said that this type of sexual behavior was unbecoming of a prominent host on the CBC. They said that I was being dismissed for "the risk of the perception that may come from a story that could come out." To recap, I am being fired in my prime from the show I love and built and threw myself into for years because of what I do in my private life.

Let me be the first to say that my tastes in the bedroom may not be palatable to some folks. They may be strange, enticing, weird, normal, or outright offensive to others. We all have our secret life. But that is my private life. That is my personal life. And no one, and certainly no employer, should have dominion over what people do consensually in their private life.

And so, with no formal allegations, no formal complaints, no complaints, not one, to the HR department at the CBC (they told us they'd done a thorough check and were satisfied), and no charges, I have lost my job based on a campaign of vengeance. Two weeks after the death of my beautiful father I have been fired from the CBC because of what I do in my private life.

I have loved the CBC. The Q team are the best group of people in the land. My colleagues and producers and on-air talent at the CBC are unparalleled in being some of the best in the business. I have always tried to be a good soldier and do a good job for my country. I am still in shock. But I am telling this story to you so the truth is heard. And to bring an end to the nightmare.

Photo by Ryan Bolton.

Photo by Oscar Mar in the blogTO Flickr pool.

Today in Toronto it's the mayoral election, and you're not allowed to read this until you vote for someone. Honour system enforced.

Now that you're back from the polls, on tap today we have many rewards for your efforts: free cider samples, Ex Hex + Speedy Ortiz at the Horseshoe, the International Festival of Authors, and the debut screening of graphic novel turned film, Toronto-love-in Snow. I'll start with election events, though (from anti-Ford parties to trivia nights) because you might need a hand to squeeze. For more places to watch the election, click here. For more events, click on over to our events section.

• Election: Newmindspace - Business as Usual, Folks - a post-election street party (City Hall)
• Election: Bloor Broadcast: Toronto Votes (Bloor Hot Docs)
• Election: Gladstone Presents - Eyes On the Election Viewing Party (Gladstone)
• Election: Election Night #FordNation #TOpoli Trivia and Results Party (Beaver)
• Film: SNOW: Film premiere and fundraising event (Revue)
• Comedy: outrageous xi: worst case ontario (The Central)
• Lit: IFOA (Harbourfront)
• Free Cider Samples: Go for Cornish Gold! (Bristol)
• Music: Ex Hex, Speedy Ortiz (Horseshoe Tavern)

Have an event you'd like to plug? Submit your own listing to the blogTO Toronto events calendar or contact us directly.

Photo: A R on flickr

Thanks to advances in technology, elections have changed a great deal Canada over the last hundred years. Tallying machines and electronic voting have made it (much) easier to find the winner, reporters are no longer required to huddle around telephones to file reports, and crowds of people no longer form outside newspaper offices waiting for information.

With today's vote in mind, here's a look back at federal, provincial, and municipal elections of the past in photos. Sadly, this time there will be no boxes of ballots or rooms full of election staff tallying votes like the good old days.

Crowd outside the offices of the Toronto Telegram offices on the night of the 1908 provincial election.

Reporters at City Hall on election night, September 14, 1926.

A team of election night staff tally votes on adding machines in 1926.

Liberal poster calls on voters to give premier George Drew the boot in 1948

George Drew billboard that same year. Drew won while Liberal candidate Farquhar Oliver placed third.

Adding machines used to count votes during the 1957 federal election.

More election staff counting votes, 1957.

Canadian Press reporters during the federal election of June 10, 1957. John Diefenbaker won.

Ballot boxes during the 1964 North York election.

Al Greenwood and Dick Roberts demonstrating procedure for deputy returning officers and poll clerks.

Election boards during the 1964 North York election.

A list of candidates on the 1964 North York ballot.

A hive of activity during the count for the 1964 election.

Workers in the North York Clerk's Office verify voter information over the phone in 1964.

Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.

Images: Toronto Public Library, B 10-36a and B 10-38a; City of Toronto Archives.

Like Scarborough and Etobicoke to the east and west, North York's originated as a collection of independent communities north of the Old City of Toronto. Post amalgamation and the former borough and city is a mostly suburban mix of conspicuous wealth, manifest poverty, and everything in between.

Over 200 years of settlement has produced a variety of delightful quirks. For example, did you know the city's "traffic brain" used to be in a bunker at Yonge and Sheppard, or that Don Mills used to have a curling rink shaped like a UFO? How about the incomplete platform at Sheppard-Yonge station?

Here are 10 quirky things to know about North York.

The city's traffic computer used to be located in a bunker at Yonge and Sheppard
When Toronto's $3.2 million behemoth of a traffic computer was delivered in 1963, this city became the first in the world to entrust the timing and control of traffic lights to a machine. The computer took up an entire room at Old City Hall and had to be specially air conditioned to keep it from overheating. In later life, the UNIVAC 1107 was stored at the city's police headquarters on Jarvis and finally an underground room at Yonge and Sheppard in 1979, before being retired.

North York Centre station was retrofitted into the Yonge line
When the Yonge line was extended to its current terminus at Finch in 1974, there was no North York Centre Station. The stop was added in 1987 by excavating around the subway tunnel. Evidence of the station's past as a nondescript section of track is evident in the thick support columns separating the north and southbound platforms. Unlike other stations, the supports are an essential component of the structure.

Yorkdale was once the largest indoor shopping mall in the world
There was nothing in Canada quite like Yorkdale when it opened in 1964. Built at the intersection of the 401 and Allen Road, the quintessentially suburban mall with its 6,500 parking spaces included branches of Reitman's, Laura Secord, Toy World, and Eddie Black's Camera Store, but more importantly it was the first retail development to unite the country's two leading department stores, Eaton's and Simpson's, under one (massive) roof. Novel features of the mall included an underground receiving tunnel and a conveyor belt linking the checkout of the Dominion supermarket with the parking lot.

Sheppard-Yonge station features a never-used platform
In the late 1990s, in anticipation of a future spike in traffic at Sheppard-Yonge, the TTC installed a centre platform between the two eastbound Sheppard line tracks. If the line is ever extended west to Downsview (as originally planned,) the roughed-in platform could be used to provide additional capacity. Right now it's dark and only partly-finished. Bloor-Yonge could use a similar innovation.

Don Mills used to have a spaceship shaped curling rink
It's hard to miss the Don Mills Curling Rink in aerial photos of the 1960s. The bright white dome at the corner of Don Mills Rd. and the Donway was the work of architect Douglas M. Hall. It served originally as a curling facility, but was later converted for use as a bingo hall. It closed for good in 1984 and was unceremoniously demolished in '86. Hall described his wood-framed masterpiece as "a flower at the end of the long stem of buildings."

North York Central Library is designed to match the Toronto Reference Library
Architect Raymond Moriyama's design for the Toronto Reference Library features a massive central atrium lined with dangling vines and hanging plants, tumbling out of planters. The North York Central Library was completed 10 years later to a similar design, minus some of the foliage. The central atrium with its staggered balconies is the most obvious visual connection. Moriyama is also responsible for designing the Scarborough Civic Centre, the Bata Shoe Museum, Ontario Science Centre in Toronto, to name a few.

Willowdale is getting a park named for members of Rush
Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson founded the legendary Canadian rock band with original drummer John Rutsey while students at Fisherville Junior High School near G. Ross Lord Park. The band wrote songs and played early shows in Willowdale and were honoured in the name of "Lee Lifeson Art Park," which was given the green light in August. The park is set to open in 2015.

Cummer Ave. is named after German settlers
Tee-hee. Cummer Ave. and by extension Old Cummer GO station is named for the Kummer family, early German settlers driven north out of Pennsylvania by the American Revolution. Jacob Kummer owned a large swath of undeveloped land between Sheppard and Finch and built a sawmill on the Don River. Later, according to Toronto Street Names by Leonard Wise and Allan Gould, the family opened a woollen mill and operated the Willowdale post office, unaware their name would cause guffaws centuries later.

Parts of the Avro Arrow were hidden at CFB Downsview
The fate of the Avro supersonic fighter program has become the source of countless conspiracy theories. The Arrow, the pride of Canada's burgeoning aviation industry, was built by engineering firm Avro at Malton Airport (now Pearson) starting in 1955. The jet was capable of astonishing speeds (up to 2,400 km/h, almost twice the speed of sound,) but the project was controversially cancelled in 1959 and the five completed planes destroyed. The nosecone and two wing panels from an incomplete sixth Arrow were spirited away to CFB Downsview and kept hidden. The parts are now on display in Ottawa.

Tim Horton is buried at York Cemetery
Tim Horton would be surprised, but pleased, to know that the coffee and donut chain he co-founded in the 1960s became a nationwide concern, but he would probably wonder why his image has all but vanished from the business. Horton, a popular Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman, tried unsuccessfully to launch a fast food empire in Scarborough, but later found traction with a different business partner in Hamilton, Ont. Before the business really took off, Horton was killed in a crash on the QEW in 1974.

Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.

Images: jp1958/blogTO Flickr pool, City of Toronto Archives.

John Oliver, the former Daily Show correspondent whose late night show has taken off in recent months, had some stern advice for Toronto voters last night. After running through some highlights (lowlights?) from Doug Ford's campaign, including his notorious statements about the Jewish community and his alleged reference to a Toronto Star reporter as a "little bitch," the host addresses our city as follows:

"Look, Toronto, I think I speak for the rest of the world when I deliver you this message. Please, please elect this man. Sure, his brother was fun, but at a certain point we felt bad for laughing at him. Doug Ford doesn't have a drug problem. He's just an asshole... So, please Toronto, I beg you, let us laugh at your asshole for another four years. Yours sincerely, everyone who does not live in Toronto."

Zing! Watch the whole clip below.

In the wake of Jian Ghomeshi's firing from the CBC and the radio host's subsequent version of the events that led to his dismissal, the Toronto Star has published a report in which three women allege that Ghomeshi sexually abused them, engaging in violent acts without their consent. Apparently the newspaper has been investigating the matter for months, but only ran the story after the radio personality published his controversial note to Facebook yesterday.

In that note, Ghomeshi refers to "a major Canadian media publication [that] did due diligence but never printed a story." Star Editor Michael Cooke explained his publication's decision in a brief article last night. "In view of Mr. Ghomeshi's extraordinary statement on Facebook on Sunday evening, and his high public profile in Canada, we now believe it is in the public interest to detail those allegations, which appear to have led directly to his sudden firing from the CBC."

The report outlines allegations from four women in total, three of whom claim "that Ghomeshi physically attacked them on dates without consent. They allege he struck them with a closed fist or open hand; bit them; choked them until they almost passed out; covered their nose and mouth so that they had difficulty breathing; and that they were verbally abused during and after sex."

When asked why they would not go public with their experiences, each woman told the paper that they feared an online backlash (as experienced by Carla Ciccone after her controversial XO Jane article) and "that a police report would expose their names and worries that their consent or acceptance of fantasy role-play discussions in text or other messages with Ghomeshi would be used against them as evidence of consent to actual violence."

The radio host has denied these allegations. Through his lawyer, Ghomeshi told the paper that he "does not engage in non-consensual role play or sex and any suggestion of the contrary is defamatory."

Photo by Ryan Bolton

It's hard to believe, but the Sun actually delivered this editorial cartoon to Toronto doorsteps yesterday. In the drawing, Olivia Chow is pictured in a Mao costume literally riding the coattails of Jack Layton's suit while zipping along on a skateboard.

"Because I am Chinese-Canadian, I must be a communist and have slanted eyes and glasses ... and since I am a woman, I must be inferior and therefore not good enough for the job of the mayor so I must rely on my deceased husband so it is both racist and sexist," the mayoral candidate told CP24 late last night.

Chow expressed understandable disappointment that stereotypes like this are still being tossed around today. "I remember getting that kind of attack in the 80s when I first became a school trustee... I thought those kind of racial stereotypes were long past us and then to bring up my deceased husband and to drag him in... it is just quite outrageous."

You can see the full cartoon and page spread (including Ford brandishing guns) here. The Toronto Sun has yet to comment on the illustration. Now might be a good time to remind everyone that today is election day. Exercising one's democratic rights is a good way to help ensure that controversies like this cease to unfold. And remember to take some time off the internet (and the newspapers) after you hit the polls today.

If the apocalypse happens in Toronto (zombies, a deadly pandemic, Doug Ford getting elected), we know what to expect: A ravaged AGO, the Rogers Centre converted into a massive shelter, and, of course, friendly signs from the City of Toronto, warning residents to beware the giant, child-eating spiders. (The CN Tower probably won't make it, in case you were wondering.)

This soothsaying comes courtesy of Fallen Toronto, a new calendar featuring post-apocalyptic views of the city by a trio of artists. Proceeds from the calendar, which is available via Kickstarter, will go to support Haphead, a sci-fi series shot and set in Toronto. (The premise: "Ten years from now, videogames are so immersive that teenagers learn lethal skills just by playing." You guys have got me curious.) You can pick it up in rewards packages starting at $30.

Check out more images below:

Art by Mathew Borrett (1, 2), Terry Lau (3) and Sanford Kong (4, 5).