'Tis the season for madness. Meetings, budgets, 2011 round-ups, 2012 planning, holiday parties, cookie exchanges - sleepless nights are in your future for the next month and the last thing you'll have time for is personal pampering. (Although if you can make the time, hi-five!)

My hair always falls short when I'm short on time. Luckily this holiday season I've built an arsenal of products and I recommend every gal follow suit.

For years Lululemon has been the golden child of Canadian retail with comfortable well-constructed - albeit expensive - yoga wear leading its charge. In the past few weeks, however, its brilliance has been muddled by controversy.

"Who is John Galt?" This question, the opening line from Ayn Rand's 1957 novel Atlas Shrugged has found its way onto Lulu's shopping bags and some shoppers are none too pleased. Rand's ideologies are controversial; among other things she promotes the idea of individuals living for their own self-interest, which stands in stark contrast to Lulu's promotion of community and collective responsibility.

Black Friday was out of control. I caught one YouTube video of a throw down over a two dollar waffle iron that made last weekend's H&M tussle look like child's play. At a Los Angeles Walmart, one woman injured 20 shoppers with pepper spray in a head-shaking attempt to get further up the line.

In light of this and the upcoming holiday shopping season, I thought I would share a few tips for trying to make the process as pleasant and injury-free as possible.

A California high school is proposing a new dress code that reaches far beyond its rights. Tulare Joint Union High School is set to prohibit students from "distracting hairstyles" (such as mohawks), facial piercings, and ripped clothing. Many students are understandably upset.

The Advertising Standards Authority has pulled a Miu Miu ad showing actress Hailee Steinfeld sitting on empty train tracks. The ad was deemed "irresponsible" for depicting a child in an unsafe location.

Kate wore jeans during her summer trip to Canada.

Kate Middleton stopped by an art therapy centre in London's inner-city last week and the children met her with a puzzled look. "Where's her dress?" they reportedly asked, claiming that, "she doesn't look like a princess." But what does a princess look like anymore?

     

I can only assume that Jay-Z was joking when he told People magazine that his unborn child with wife Beyoncé would be wearing leather diapers. However, this baby (rumoured to be a little girl) will no doubt be the best dressed kid in the nursery with or without leather if hot mama Beyoncé's style is any indication. Beyoncé's style has seen a major improvement over the last few years - since she expanded beyond the reach of her stylist mother, funnily enough - and this pregnancy has led to a serious spike in chic. I can't think of any other celeb who's been so successful at maternity style.

Customers lined up outside of H&M in Madrid.

After much anticipation, H&M opened its doors this weekend to rabid shoppers after its Versace collaboration. In Toronto they camped out overnight; in New York it was the same with one woman waiting an outrageous 22 hours to get her hands on the goods; and in the UK the H&M website crashed as eBay's began to flood with the items at their now-inflated prices. In Hong Kong, however, the sales turned violent after a woman beat up two security guards, sending them to hospital.

Available at The Narwhal Boutique in Toronto or online at Woolandthegang.com.

As tempted as you may be to wear your fuzzy slippers around work, it's not the most professional way to combat office chill. Instead, keep an oversized scarf at your desk to stay warm and on-trend at the same time.

Marc Jacobs Spring 2012

Christmas came early for one lucky thief who walked off with the entire Marc Jacobs spring 2012 collection yesterday. The items were en route from Paris to London for a press day when they suddenly went missing. The designer's PR team had to report the sad news to eager media members who were excited to see the collection close up: