Melbourne

'holding hands', designed by Dell Stewart and Adam Cruickshank (image courtesy of Craft Victoria)

Winter Swan by Irene Grishin-Selzer from the I Threw a Kiss in the Ocean exhibition at Outré Gallery, Melbourne, July 2010. (AUD $520)

Designer Dana Lenko has been injecting colourful cheekiness into Melbourne fashion for over a decade. The Lenko boutique, which moved from Melbourne Central into the lovely Cathedral Arcade a year ago, stocks local, interstate and international designers as well as the Lenko label.

"Ladies First" opens at 6pm this Friday night, 21st May 2010! The girls will come out to play, and show off an amazing collection of original artworks.

Curated by Melbourne's Tessa Yee, the show will be a unique and light-hearted exploration of the ways in which female artists represent their ideas of femininity - both the dark and the light, the naughty as well as the nice.

Melbourne's first Modish Creators Market kicked off last weekend and there were over 60 stalls at the market's Malvern Town Hall locale. Business partners and cousins, Kylie Loy & Kelly Jenkins, are the gals behind Modish. As well as running the market all day, they each had their own stall: Kylie's Tiges and Weince and Kelly's Cool Kids Creations.

"Saltwater IV" by Jade Oakley, 2010, 55 x 54 x 54cm , gouache, paper, polyurethane resin & stainless steel wire. Photograph by Anthony Pearse.

Campbell Arcade, in the Degraves Street Subway, is a must when on the hunt for something special in Melbourne City. It is located below all the lovely alleyway stores & cafes in Degraves Street, and connects the fashion strip to Flinders Street Station.

Not long ago, I spent a long weekend in Melbourne with my mum & sister. While I didn't make it to all all the shopping strips I would have liked (as I had to be 'diplomatic'), I did get to visit many of my favourite boutiques in the city - and take some pics to share with you!