PICK OF THE WEEK

We thought we'd share an afternoon musical break with all of you, as D'angelo will be in concert tonight in Toronto!!!

INSTAGRAM

The title is pretty self-explanitory, but we're just going to go ahead and say it again: We're now on instagram!

Follow us at @simonsaystoronto, or show us how you wear your favourite Simon Carter pieces by tagging your instagram photos with #simoncartertoronto. 

Who knows, we may even be out, scoping the city for some street style looks to photograph and feature. Be on the lookout, and more importantly, be well-dressed. See you around!

LOOK OF THE DAY

FEATURED: RETAIL INSIDER

Two features in a row! What a week, it's been!

Today, our shop has been featured by Retail Insider, "Canada's go-to source for retail news."

Also featured in the article are one of our favourite pieces in the shop: the aspirin cufflinks.

We don't want to give too much of the article away, but we do think you should give it a read! Please check it out HERE.

Happy Friday, Friends!

FEATURED: SHARP MAGAZINE

Some of our favourite pieces in the shop were recently featured in a SHARP Magazine editorial. Aptly named "Flower power," the editorial features Loakes, ties, suits, and a whole lot of floral prints. Have a look at the rest of their spring favourites HERE.

LOOK OF THE DAY

Although most of you (like us) are probably back to the 'ole grind today, we thought we'd feature a casual outfit worthy of the long weekend, featuring threads from our friends at Outsider Denim.

It may not be fun to be back at work, but not to worry—the weekend's only four days away, friends! We'll all be back enjoying some time on the patio in no time!

LIBERTY!

Today is Liberty London's birthday!

Celebrate by partying-it-up this weekend with one of our liberty print shirts, like these ones:

DRUMROLL, PLEASE!

A big CONGRATULATIONS goes out to the winner of our watch giveaway: Renee Dem!!

Thank you for all of you who entered and liked us on Facebook!

LOOK OF THE DAY

In addition to today's "Look of the day," keep an eye out for an additional, special-edition blog post this afternoon where we will announce the winner of our IT COULD BE YOURS watch giveaway! Good luck and thank you to all who entered and liked our Facebook page!

MOTHER'S DAY

It's Mother's Day, and in honour of all of our sweet, caring, and selfless moms, we've put together a small list of gift ideas for the wonderful lady in your life.

BRUNCH:

Breakfast-in-bed for your mum, like you used to bring her when you were a kid might be sweet, but wouldn't a brunch at the Windsor Arms Hotel or the Drake Hotel be sweeter (and better than your home-cooking)?

SPA DAY:

Your mum has got a lot of stress in her life. We hear that raising children will do that to a person. Give her the gift of relaxation with a spa day! Spas like Elmwood Spa have Mother's Day packages that include manicures, pedicures, and massages.

JEWELRY:

Now who DOESN'T like jewelry? We've got bracelets and necklaces that we think your mom would love. Stop by the shop and check them out.

Whether you get your mom one of all of these gift ideas, make sure to make your mom feel special on Sunday!

WAS IT SOMETHING SHE WORE?

Alright, here's the deal: we know we've already covered the MET gala. However, as we were perusing VOGUE's coverage (Yes, we check out VOGUE after we've read through GQ.) we noticed something a bit suspect. And naturally, we just had to share it with all of you.

VOGUE daily's special edition best-dressed photo slideshow from the MET gala featured many stunning celebrities—all of whom were photographed with their respective dates.

Kanye West, who attended the event with Kim Kardashian, has been featured in many many (and we mean a LOT) fashion blogs and magazines with photos of he and Kim—which we believe is on account of them just not having any photos apart. We think it makes sense—they were there together, after all.

What we think is odd, however, was that when VOGUE featured Kanye, they blatantly cropped out Kim Kardashian. See for yourself:

Now, we're aware that she's gotten quite a bit of criticism about her ensemble, with people comparing her to Mrs. Doubtfire, as well as a floral couch. Even with all of that, we still feel we need to ask: was it really so bad that VOGUE needed to step in with the crop tool on photoshop to rectify the situation that was her Givenchy gown? 

Fashion sometimes means taking risks, and can we really fault her for giving it the 'ole college try? We'd like to hear your thoughts.

(We also think you should enter our watch giveaway contest! Details HERE.)

PICK OF THE WEEK: OUT OF THE BOX

Sneaker heaven: two words to describe The Bata Shoe Museum 'Out of the Box' exhibit. The exhibit is a historical documentation of the rise of sneaker culture from the 19th century through to current-day. Sneaker-heads and other footwear connoisseurs alike can take in a range of archived designs from shoe brand leaders as Adidas, Nike, Reebok, PUMA and Converse, as well as shoes loaned to the exhibit by rap legend Run DMC, and Dee Wells from OSD. 

We love a great pair of sneakers, just as much as we love beautifully-crafted dress shoes. This is an exhibit we don't want to miss.

MET GALA 2013

If you haven't already seen the (what we can only assume to be) millions of photos from the red carpet at the MET gala last night, we'd like to show you some of our picks from the night. We're not going to choose between the best and worst dressed, because this year's theme for the gala was Punk: Chaos to Couture. The essence of punk's "do-what-you-want" attitude, to us, means that all the celebrities who came out to the gala--regardless of what they wore, so long as they felt "punk"--meant they probably looked great and fit the part.

Who, in your opinion, were some of the standouts this year?

**Don't forget to enter our WATCH GIVEAWAY contest! Check the blog post below for details on how to enter!

IT COULD BE YOURS

That's right, folks! We're giving away (yes, GIVING. AWAY.) this beautiful watch, valued at $365, to one lucky reader! It can be paired perfectly with just about anything you've got hanging in your closet, and so we think you should have it. We've been in great spirits lately, what with the fantastic weather we've been having, so we thought, "Why not?" If you want to win it—and we're pretty sure you do—all you have to do is this:

1. LIKE the Simon Carter facebook page.
2. LIKE the contest post on facebook.
3. SHARE the contest post on your facebook wall.

That's it. Easy, right?

The contest will be happening all week, and we'll draw a name from all the people who have liked the page and shared the post on facebook. The contest closes on Sunday, May 12th, so you've got all week to enter. We'll announce the lucky winner on Monday, May 13th.

Good luck!

LOOK OF THE DAY

T.G.I.Bey

So, Beyoncé is still well on her way to taking over the entire universe. She's recently appeared in a series of ads for H&M, including a commercial that we think resembles a short music video. Check it out below, and have a look! (We would comment on the song, but quite honestly, we weren't really listening. We were a bit distracted.)

And here's a screen shot from the commercial for good measure:

And, one last one. Seriously.