Fashion Monday with JJ Lee

Hunt and Gather is a one-woman boutique run by Nathalie Purschwitz. She's a former fine artist who has found self-expression in couture and coining clever fashion formulas. Her emphasis is on unique ... one .... or two'ishes-of-a-kind. I wanted to find out what's behind the ideology of her style but first I asked Natalie about why she picked Vancouver's Gastown to establish Hunt and Gather.

Is there life after reality TV? Carlie Wong thinks so. Carlie - who left far too early from Slice's fashion-design-to-the-death, Project Runway Canada - didn't leave the fashion designing to just the show's winner, Evan Biddell. Last month, she put together 32 looks for Toronto's L'Oreal Fashion Week. All the dreeses were made by her industrious hands and they're back-in-black gorgeous. Hear from this promising Vancouver designer on Monday, April 14 at CBC Radio One Vancouver's On The Coast. If you using the radio tune in at 5:50 PM on AM 690. Or listen live by visiting CBC Radio One Vancouver .

( image courtesy of Viola Blanca/Shane Ward) from STRAIGHT.COM Femme tie girls show boys how neckwear should be done This spring body-hugging, white shirts with structured collars will be paired with black shorts or skirts. Expect the tops smartly opened down by two, even three buttons. Women will be tempted to fill the space with cleavage, jewellery or, may it be suggested, with a Femme Tie ($60 at Hum Clothing, 3623 Main, and at Urbanity at 207 Abbott Street). They’re crafted of silk organza by Katherine Taylor. Taylor is a textile artist based in Montreal who, under the Viola Blanca label, smartly turns her art into beguiling fashion by making ascots, ties, and scarves that double as belts under her line... READ the rest in THE STRAIGHT .