Perhaps I don't run with the right crowd, but a space like the Design Exchange at 234 Bay Street, just seems to go a bit unnoticed. The partner-in-crime and I happen to be members, and although I'm sure it enjoys visitors all day long and 7-days a week, I just don't think there are enough of them, because the site features so many wonderful exhibitions and is a quirkier cousin to all the other galleries-slash-museums in town. Not to mention, it's filled with art-deco-y goodness.

Can you tell I'm a fan?

The one event they host that really does seem to get the people out in droves, is their annual Black and White Gala. The hoity, usually black-tie event being held on Saturday, October 21st, will be bringing in a host of entertainment, divine food, liquid sustenance and this year, a slew of surprises seem to be in store. The night also calls for a silent auction, with all proceeds going toward new programmes for young designers.

The theme is "In Steel Blue", so less black and white, and more blue velvet and steel-toe boots are being called for, so I'm betting that it'll be an interesting crowd and an even more interesting sight. I'm also sure the night will prove itself to be a bit left of centre and a whole lot of fun.

Tickets aren't cheap and they are going fast, but the Design Exchange's Black & White Gala is one party you shouldn't miss.

(And if you do happen to miss it, be sure to check out the exhibitions some other time... I happened to be there two weekends ago and the Milano: Made In Design Exhibit was just grand).

It's confession time. The last time I wore an outfit based solely on the "shade" white, I was about 8 years-old, because that is how we used to rock it back in the day.

Then someone offered me a glass of grape juice. If you use your imagination for but a moment, you'll picture a short, curly-haired girl and a white outfit that wasn't quite as pristine white as it was when she put it on. (I hid it later, deep in my drawers thinking my mother would never find it. She did. It wasn't pretty).

Now that the boy and I became engaged just over a couple of weeks ago, it dawned on me that a white dress may be looming on the horizon for me. For a girl whose wardrobe has consistently been filled to the brim with blacks, blues and grays, this whole white business is just completely frightening. I'm going to have a good think about doing the whole traditional bride thing. But, for you girls out there who might be taking a trip down the aisle or hopping on a plane to Vegas, you may want to check out Toronto's "Most Fashionable Wedding Event" - Brides On Bloor first.

Running from October 20th to the 22nd at the Park Hyatt, Brides On Bloor will feature over 45 of Toronto's most lauded wedding professionals and has a schedule packed with speakers and ideas and a chance to win a luxury honeymoon. These people must have the patience of saints to deal with the bridezilla phenomenon that seems to overtake a portion of the female of the species the moment a ring gets slipped on her finger, but they are also very good at what they do. I'm thinking I may be safe from this epidemic, but it is very early in the game yet. However, I may go incognito and visit the show... for research of course.

Photo Courtesy of K. Gaitens

The thing about me is that you can usually hear me approaching before you even see me.

I have this thing you see, this thing that makes it nearly impossible for me to leave the house without some sort of trinket dangling from either my neck or an armful of bangles, bracelets and chains adorning my wrists. Yeah, I'm that girl - some call it an obsession; I call it an affinity. And this girl cultivates this affinity quite simply at the little shop at 686 Yonge Street called Propaganda.

Owner Regina Sheung stocks items that stray just a wee bit from the everyday and caters to those girls who don't heed the magazine trends too closely and for those who respect and enjoy their own personal style. Not to mention the fact that she is one of the friendliest purveyors of trinkets, handbags and a small collection of clothing that you'll ever have the luck to meet.

The store is chock full of lovely and not-so mass produced goods, so you'll be sure to be the one of a kind girl that you are through and through. My caveat with Propaganda? I can't seem to leave without buying something.

When I was much younger, vintage dressing amounted to little more than heading down to Kensington market and finding those items of clothing that I knew would make my mother's eyes roll back into her head with disgust and shame. Understandably, my sartorial aims were assuredly different in my very early adolescence as to opposed to what they are today, in my very early something-or-others.

Vintage dressing today, however, has become somewhat of a more distinguished affair now that you're finding more and more of the stylish set harkening back to yesteryear to rummage through the anthropologic remains of fashions-past. One shop that specializes only in designer vintage is the supremely quaint
The Cat's Meow, located at 180 Avenue Road.

The Cat's Meow boasts a shopper's dream of vintage designer ready-to-wear and couture and accessories by the likes of Prada, Vivienne Westwood, Hermes, Burberry and scads more. The shop is devoted to making vintage modern and will undoubtedly charm you away from thinking that the plaid jumper and torn jeans that you spent $15 on is so the bee's knees. I think this place would even make my mum think twice about buying "clothes that strange people wore."

I'll come clean.

I'm a spendthrift. I don't have much of a backbone when it comes to the things that catch my eye. Impulse is a word that I rely on - and although I should try and restrain myself, I know that no harm ever came out of me having 7 too many handbags. Well, I do have a storage problem, but let's move on shall we?

Now, I never feel guilty about my purchases, I just hem and haw and say I'll reign myself in, but when new the new season of fashion is being flaunted in every corner I look, it just becomes too much. And now, with Threads 2006 coming up on September 28th at the Revival, I know I better watch myself, lest bankruptcy is something I look forward to.

Threads 2006 is a charity fashion show which this year is in support of Dress Your Best which is a fabulous cause that provides those who are looking for work the clothing needed to enter the workforce and add to one of the components that makes for a successful interview.

"DYB gives each client an average of 5 outfits - 20 to 30 articles of clothing - including shoes and various accessories. The clothes and accessories are meant to provide the client with a complete quality wardrobe for interviews and ongoing employment."

And so, Threads holds an annual charitable fashion show that is organized by a team of young Toronto professionals who are in support of the cause and want to lend a hand for a great event. Each year a different not-for-profit organization is chosen and 100% of all of the proceeds generated from the show are given to that year's charity of choice.

So, what to expect on that night? A whole host of performers to entertain the crowd, the Fall lines from Chulo Pony, Dagg and Stacey, House of Spy, Preloved, plus many others will be strutting down the catwalk and I'm pretty sure that the crowd, the music, the clothes and the cause will all make this a most fantastic night.

And if you want to max out the plastic and plan out your entire Fall wardrobe while supporting a great cause, the 27th person to email me at bianca@blogto.com wins a pair of tickets to the show, courtesy of Elina at Threads 2006.

If you've been keeping your ear to the ground or rather, have an obsessive streak that involves subscriptions to approximately 7, yes seven fashion mags and a penchant for the pricier ones at the International Presse like me, you're pretty keen on the fact that New York Fashion week is in full swing. Although New York, Paris and Milan get all the attention, it dawned on me this weekend after having a conversation with a couple of friends, that there is a large number of people in this city of ours who aren't aware of Toronto's very own fashion weeks. Yes, I said weeks.

Toronto Fashion Week is set to walk October 16 until the 21st and will play host to a dizzying array of Canadian talent. But, settling itself comfortably in between the Canadian mainstay, another design event is set to shake things up a bit. The Toronto Alternative Fashion Week, or [FAT] as it is affectionately known, will run from October 17th to the 19th. The three day event aims to braid a handful of mediums to highlight the happy bedfellows that fashion, music and art make. The Toronto Alternative Fashion Week was one hell of a good time last year and everyone is welcome to take part. The fashion shows are all over the city and are all free, the music and art shows are also set to open across the city, but will cost a bit more than nothing. You know you want to go, I'll see you there.