Catwalk inspired dresses for Prom

Sorry for not posting in a while. I've been traveling a lot lately. The good news is that I've been able to get runway inspired dresses for Spring. I've got stuff that were inspired off the runways at Chloe or Gucci's at a fraction of the cost.

Spring 08 Fashions in Milan's Windows

The world comes to shop Milan. They come for the name brands and their flagship stores. There's an intense competition to have all the newest goods and to display them to their greatest affect. I was in Gucci looking for a bag for a girlfriend. The bag had just come out in Vancouver and she was hoping to get it cheaper in Italy. The salesperson almost scoffed at me, apparently the style is old and not in production anymore. It was old news in Milan already

When I wasn't working I was shopping. When the shops are open, I'd be rushing into the stores to try on the fashions. Just like any girl with a fashion addiction, I focused on shoes and handbags. In the evenings when the shops had closed, I found myself still window shopping well into the evening. The colours for spring are vibrant yellows and pinks and the displays were exciting.

Here are some of the best windows I saw wandering around Milan. The amount of energy that goes into their displays are astounding. Most shops said their displays changed weekly, not just the clothes but the whole display! I visited LV, Gucci, Prada, Miu Miu, Cavalli, Dolce & Gabbanna, Dior, Fendi, Bottega Venata and Chanel (probably a lot more). All these shops are within one block of each other. Some brands like Gucci and Prada have 3 shops each on the same one block strip. The fashions are the most current items in Milan. Sadly, it'll be ages before we see it as normal fashions for us here in Vancouver.

Most of the pictures were taken in the Montenapoleone, Spiga, Duomo and Torino areas.

Click the slide show to see all 137 photos (yes there were a lot of windows!)

Project Runway Canada, my guilty pleasure

Everyone knows I have a reality TV addiciton. It should come as no surprise that my current favorite show is Project Runway Canada. I got addicted after seeing that first episode. In the next 4 days I went on to watch both season 2 and 3 of the Heidi Klum - Tim Gunn US version. Bravo has this amazing ability to produce smart compelling reality TV, I'm also a big fan of Top Chef. The Canadian version doesn't seem to have the same frenetic pace as the US version but it'll more than satisfy me until November 14th when Tim Gunn can grace my TV set again.

I love Next Top Model but it's really a show about catty girls giving (hahaha) "fierce" looks. Whereas Project Runway is really about the Fashion industry while ANTM is just set in the fashion industry. The fashions on the show doesn't bear much to reality of most peoples lives and the Tru Drama store certainly doesn't sell that category of fashion. However, if you're into fashion you'll appreciate your wardrobe a lot more after watching the show.

British Columbia seems very under represented in the show. While there seemed to be like 5 from Toronto we've only got 1 from BC. What's wrong? We on the left coast have more to offer than sweatpants! I'm all about the home town, so I hope Carlie Wong from Vancouver does well. She's really young but she seems to have it together. I didn't know until episode 3, but she is or was an assistant designer at Mac&Jac/Kensie. At one time we had some Kensie stuff but found it a bit on the plain side and of course when Jones NY bought them out, it really didn't make sense to continue with the line. Besides Carly I'm hoping to see much much more from likes of Stephen, Biddell, Shernett and Marie Genevieve. Stephen in particular cracks me up. I would love to see him try to beat up on Biddel!

One thing I thought was weird was that the main retail sponsor is Winners. Yes, Winners sells fashions, just not the current seasons fashions. So a chain that sells irregulars, overstocks and seasons past products seems odd as the accessories sponsor.