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RELIGION - Whether you're into Christmas, Hanukkah, Festivus , the Winter Solstice, Yuletide or New Years the "in colour" this year isn't really a colour. Its silver. Move over red and green – neutrals, metallics and peacock shades are the hot holiday hues of 2008. This year’s decor is taking a cue from the runways. PARA Paints chose a royal-inspired festive palette of plumy purple, flat silver, icy white and cream and, the season’s rising star, cobalt blue. For traditionalists, deep blue paired with silver and white is stepping up as a wintry alternative for the now oh-so-passé combo of red and green. Metallics, including classics like silver, gold and bronze, are also popular again this season. Metallics in a not-too-shiny, midtone finish are particularly hot this year and mixing metallics isn't as hard as it sounds. For the more adventurous host or hostess you may want to embrace the monochromatic trend. A combination of white, cream and silver can evoke a war...

FASHION - American teenagers are being forced to cutback on fashion this holiday shopping season. Why? Because their parents are cutting back on spending, and this means allowances are being cut, parents are reining in on their children's credit cards and teens are being told to GET A JOB whenever they ask their parents for more money. All of this is the result of the current recession and credit crisis in the United States . THE GOOD NEWS: The holiday sales this season are EXTREME. All the companies are DESPERATE for cash, afraid of going bankrupt and are offering 70% sales or better. This means for those of us who do have spending money we can stretch our budget a bit farther and buy more clothes (or more quality) than we normally do.

FASHION - Last April 14-year-old Polish girl was dumped from Australian Fashion Week (AFW) after organizers bowed to public pressure to adopt a minimum age of 16 for its fashion models . The controversial decision to feature 14-year-old Monika Jagaciak in the major Sydney fashion event was reversed "in light of industry and community concern regarding the acceptable age for models". "Effective immediately, both male and female models participating in Rosemount Australian Fashion Week will need to be at least 16 years of age and must be represented by a model agency," AFW said in a statement. Monika, who was to have been flown to Sydney for the event which begins on April 28, has previously fronted a campaign for French fashion house Hermes and has been photographed in a white swimsuit being sprayed by a shower jet. Vogue magazine added to the pressure for an age limit of 16 to be adopted, saying it would not feature Monika in its AFW coverage. BUT WHAT ARE THE AGE ...

FASHION / POLITICS - Like Barack and Michelle Obama's fashion sense? You're not alone. Barack Obama is not just the next president of the United States. He's also the new face of fashion. Thanks in part to sightings of A-listers like Ryan Phillippe, Brad Pitt, Beyoncé and Kanye West wearing Obama T-shirts, as well as the constant and prominent display of the politician's handsome face on the big screen at the recent MTV Europe awards, his image has reached the status of an international pop culture icon. So it shouldn't be surprising that Toronto designer Kingi Carpenter, of the quirky label Peach Berserk, is making stuff emblazoned with Obama's face. Carpenter makes silkscreened hoodies, dresses, T-shirts, skirts and scarves... all with Obama on them. One woman even bought Obama pillows for her house. The designer, a self-admitted political junkie, follows American politics obsessively and is an Obama fan. But her inspiration for the Obama items arose out of C...

FASHION - Imagine if you will going to an H&M store at Toronto's Eaton Centre and standing in line for 12 hours waiting for the store to open... and then when the store does open a riot breaks out and people start fighting over the clothes. That is what on November 13th 2008. 210 people + Limited edition designs by avant garde Japanese designer Rei Kawakubo for fashion label Comme des Garçons = RIOT . Kawakubo, the founder of Comme des Garçons, is often credited with being one of the first to introduce a predominant use of black, asymmetrical hems and frays seams when she first launched the label in Paris in the early 1980s. Rei Kawakubo is untrained as a fashion designer, but studied fine arts and literature at Tokyo's prestigious Keio University. After graduation, Kawakubo worked in a textile company and began working as a freelance stylist in 1967. In 1973, Rei Kawakubo established her own company, Comme des Garçons Co. Ltd in Tokyo and opened up her first boutique in ...

FASHION - Ever wanted to turn an old t-shirt into a dress? Well, with a little help from a Fashion MacGyver (GiannyL.com) you can, and its not that hard. OR A BIKINI OR A BABY-DOLL SHIRT OR A MINI-SKIRT

CANADA - Using pounds and mounds of chocolate, 10 local designers created outfits – ranging from a hat, to a bikini , to a wedding dress to jeans – incorporating the decadent dark stuff for a runway show at the Carlu in Toronto on Wednesday night. It was the fourth annual Cadbury Chocolate Couture Collection that sees the confectionery company invite fashion designers to each create an outfit – under the direction of a chocolate artist – comprised of 70 per cent of the sweet stuff. This year's theme was the global passion for chocolate and each look referenced a different international culture. Some of the designers seemed to subscribe to the true chocolate aficionado's credo: go with gusto and eat the whole bar, and choose only the really good stuff. While some creations looked merely spray- painted with Dairy Milk, others seemed gleefully and wonderfully overindulged. Izzy Camilleri's African Queen was influenced by the continent's royal tribes, with a costume featur...