WOMAN.ca's Best Dressed List

Celebrating Canada's Most Stylish Women

By Nicholas Mellamphy, Special to WOMAN.ca

Let me begin by saying, my choices are unapologetically mine. The women featured here are universally strong in their sense of style - exhibiting the adventurous vigor and tactile knowledge it takes to temper the fickle tides of the fashion world. These women are genuinely captivated by fashion, and therefore captivating to watch in fashion. As Canadians, we typically take the wallflower stance to dressing. Though a modest approach serves us well in many aspects of our culture, this winning line up has collectively made a remarkable impact on dispelling the reputation of a humdrum Canadian dress code. Presenting, in no particular order...

Suzanne Rogers

Always sure of a cell signal, Suzanne Rogers favours archetypal feminine silhouettes befitting her role as queen of an empire that includes Flare, Canada's leading fashion magazine. She's the ultimate Lady - consummately pretty and dressed for the occasion.

Stacey Kimel

Stacey Kimel's positive influence on the way haute couture fashion houses view the Canadian consumer is one serious coup. Her sartorial extravagance knows no bounds, but neither does her commitment and generosity to the social and cultural life of the city. Her playful sense of "high-impact statement dressing" always leaves party guests awaiting her arrival.

Kelly Barnicke

The title "Ladies Who Lunch" just doesn't cut it here. Kelly Barnicke is as committed to her charitable causes as she is to maintaining her iconic short skirts. A constant fixture at the Paris shows, she is as comfortable exploring a new find as she is in her Chanel.

Persia Dime

Persia Dime has singlehandedly brought a sense of LA glam to Toronto society. An avid accessories collector, Dime strategically brings out the best in her wardrobe with unique, spectacular pieces. Whether it's picking her kids up from school or posing for photo ops at one of her many social engagements, this is one fashion maven who speaks the visual language of fashion fluently and flawlessly.

Suzanne Boyd

Suzanne Boyd always knows the most right thing to wear at the right time. Fashion enthusiasts around town are happy to have her back on the scene, stirring up fashion moments wherever she goes.

Ciara Hunt

The Hello Canada editor-in-chief consistently nails the dominant fashion message of the season. She is not shy of wearing a dress more than once; she caused a media stir lately showing up at a Toronto party wearing the same Alexander McQueen dress as she had a week earlier. Her fashion alphabet goes everywhere from A. McQueen to Target, as she demonstrated at a recent ROM event.

Belinda Stronach

Belinda Stronach is as effortlessly cool in a new ball gown as she is in faded blue jeans, the kind of woman who can do it and wear it all.

Dr. Lisa Airan

Ours by way of marriage to Dr. Trevor Born, this perennially in-vogue socialite uses Toronto as a source to introduce under-the-radar brands into the New York scene. Moreover, Lisa Airan's killer style has made her a society section staple in the pages of Vogue. An early supporter of Canadian Erdem - she recently wore him to Anna Wintour's for dinner - Airan knows how every fold, seam and tuck will work on her body. Her insider intelligence gives her a leg up on more passive fashion players.

Nancy Lockhart

Effortlessly chic, smart and involved in many of the cultural institutions that make Toronto great, Nancy Lockhart favours classic pieces with a strong silhouette. With a whip smart ability to read seasonal trends without being dictated to, Lockhart always makes a compelling style statement when she enters a room. She's a study in elegance.

Eleanor McCain

Talk about East Coast elegance. Eleanor McCain knows how to work a couture collection as well as she works ready-to-wear pieces. She excels at putting a fresh spin on conservative classics. But every now and then, her instinct toward edgier ensembles leads to some of the more striking statements on the philanthropic red carpet.

Barbara Black

Controversial? Most certainly. But oh so deliciously watchable. Barbara Black's adventurous sense of style has been pushing the fashion boundaries at home and abroad for decades. Ms. Black has reigned as a fashion ambassador for chic Canadian women for as long as I can remember.

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Yasmin Warsame

Toronto's city streets are a veritable runway for Yasmin Warsame. With an endearing and almost savage confidence, she can wear anything and look fabulous. But it's her coy choices that open our eyes to her breathless style and wit. And it doesn't hurt that every label has a story. She's an ardent supporter of Canadian upstarts like Greta Constantine.

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Leslie Feist

This one time Broken Social Scenester knows her way around a thrift shop. The ever-fetching Leslie Feist has made a career of super cool vocals and is the undisputed Canadian Queen of Re-Appropriated Chic.

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Jessi Cruickshank

Ruling MTV Canada's The After Show in hot prints and cool emerging brands, Jessi Cruickshank's ingenue style guarantees there's no disputing she's the pretty one on the show!

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Later this summer, we'll turn our attention to men of style with WOMAN.ca's Best Dressed Men in Canada. Nominate candidates by posting a comment below or emailing our Editorial Director at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Photos Courtesy of George Pimentel and Amoryn Engel

Nicholas Mellamphy, Red Carpet Provocateur
		About the author:
		Nicholas Mellamphy has dressed socialites and celebrities from New York to Paris. He is at the vanguard of high fashion and shares his expertise on the luxury market with WOMAN.ca.
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Comments (2)

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Thanks for your great comment Anya.

I love that Loulou de la Falaise is being quoted on WOMAN.ca. That's serious fashion cred, all thanks to you.

Big Hug,

SP

Si Si Penaloza, Editorial Director , June 22, 2009

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Nicholas, you know I love you and for the most part I agree with your choices. The one thing I will say is that we all know the easiest outfits to put together are evening. One fabulous dress, a pro hair and make-up job, a strappy shoe and voila. What is difficult and requires a real artistry and what I don't see much of in Toronto, including from most of the women on this list ,is that wonderful, whimsical, unpredictable casual day outfit, put together just so, with a delicate balance of polish and ease, together but ever so subtly undone, that women in other fashion capitals have mastered. It's always slightly too much in Toronto. Too much make-up, too much botox, too 'done' hair, too white teeth, too much denim, too much lululemon, too classic, too much Holts. Loulou de la Falaise once said something to the effect of "no matter how finished an outfit is, one thing must always look like it's slightly unravelling".
I often follow 'The Sartorialist" on style.com and marvel at the impossibly stylish women that show up at the shows. Casual but unique, every single one, and so naturally sexy.
I want to see these women in their best attempt at style and chic on a Monday morning!
Big kiss,
Anya

anya , June 16, 2009

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