The Globe and Mail - Karen von Hahn Columns

The return of sweater girls: Blame it on Gossip Girl

Sat, 16 May 2009 00:00 EDT

kvonhahn@globeandmail.comWhat's always buttoned-up and yet famously relaxed? The cardigan sweater, of course. And if that little opening riddle wasn't puzzling enough for you, how about this one: So dependably dowdy has the sweater's reputation been over the years that, this spring, the humble cardi has emerged as fashion's new It item, proving the stylist's rule that nothing can ever be too uncool to become the next cool thing.

Mobama's mantra: The First Mom is a mom first

Sat, 9 May 2009 08:18 EDT

Thanks to Michelle Obama, being a mom first is suddenly okay

Mobama's mantra: The First Mom is a mom first

Sat, 9 May 2009 00:00 EDT

kvonhahn@globeandmail.comNo matter how long you've been at it, being a mother is a constant balancing act. Yesterday, for instance, instead of handing in this column on time, I spent the day running around preparing for my daughter's return from university: buying groceries, putting out flowers and fluffing up her room. Then I headed off to pick her up at the airport and, after lugging her suitcases into the house, whipped up a fabulous, complicated dinner of her favourite dishes.

It is what it is, so put your arms around it

Sat, 2 May 2009 07:46 EDT

The latest catchphrases are, seemingly like every other piece of cultural detritus in this burst economic bubble, a byproduct of the business world

It is what it is, so put your arms around it

Sat, 2 May 2009 00:00 EDT

kvonhahn@globeandmail.comChildless thanks to a sleepover, my husband and I went for a leisurely blunch the other day (my friend Roger calls it ''blunch,'' as it's usually more lunch than breakfast) and our server was wearing the latest word in T-shirts.

Henry VIII: the comeback king

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 00:00 EDT

kvonhahn@globeandmail.comThere must be no such thing as karma. Either that, or it has no bearing on the present-day star quality of Henry VIII. By all accounts, the real Henry was a horrendous brute (Dickens summed him up as ''one of the most detestable villains ever to draw breath''). And yet, 500 years after his accession to the throne, he's being celebrated like a rock star on a comeback tour.

Purveyors of tat beware: Consumers are onto you

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 00:00 EDT

kvonhahn@globeandmail.com''Growing up in Toronto in the 1960s,'' a reader wrote not long ago, ''I enjoyed shopping family-run businesses. I would forego the better-known chains and save my money for just one pair of exquisitely handcrafted all-leather Italian shoes. I would cherish them, care for them and enjoy them every time I wore them. And they lasted for years. In fact, I wish I had kept them. I would have still worn them today.''

Purveyors of tat beware: Consumers are onto you

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:52 EDT

Is our tendency to 'save' by gorging on ever more and cheaper goods part of why we have an economic crisis?

Rotting ruins, lost hopes? Darling, tell me more!

Sat, 11 Apr 2009 00:00 EDT

Worry is a bit of a leitmotif lately, but I have a new one. I've become concerned that I am growing obsessed with the recession. Certainly the sheer volume of bad economic news is starting to develop its own sick fascination. This morning, for instance, I woke up to news of missile launchings and a deadly earthquake, but the most gripping item in the paper was about the sellout crowd partying in the California desert at the Spring '09 REOMAC conference.