It may only be December 8th, but I have miraculously managed to already finish shopping for everyone on my holiday list. Beside being a huge weight off my shoulders, having it all wrapped up also means that I actually get to enjoy being in stores around the holidays again.

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Some of us were left drooling, earlier this week, when we spotted the teetering, space-age platforms/heels that were unveiled by Alexander McQueen at Paris Fashion Week. His bejeweled platform-clog amalgamations were the first thing I noticed while browsing a slideshow of images from McQueen’s runway show (see image #3). I imagined myself walking into Orchestra Hall this evening, waving hi to Judy Dayton as I strutted along in these bad boys—a bold statement meets a mighty workout, by anyone’s measure.

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When the documentary Unzipped came out, I had to scour the small town I grew up in to find a copy. It was 1995 and still a few years before words like YouTube, NetFlix, and amazon.com would become a part of popular vernacular. The Douglas Keeve-directed film, which follows designer Isaac Mizrahi through the process of creating a fashion collection, was my first real look inside the fashion industry. It provides a witty peek into the life Mizrahi while he searches for muses, refines fabrics, and fits models. Unzipped removed the veil on the fashion industry and what it really takes to create a beautiful collection—even if it was, as one critic at the time put it, “a line of Eskimo fashion knock-offs.”

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If you’ve ever wondered what happens behind the scenes at a fashion magazine, here’s your chance to sneak a peek: A new documentary called The September Issue follows the most talented, influential staffers of Vogue magazine as they work on the September 2007 issue, their thickest to date. All the while, the camera catches glimpses of their scared, skinny 20-something underlings bobbing and weaving to get out of the way.

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Macy's Glamorama, the year's best fashion and music show, is just a few short weeks away! While I have yet to decide on what I'll be wearing, I've already received a preview of the fashions that will be coming down the runway at the Orpheum Theatre. A week ago, I dropped in on Macy's fashion and trend corespondent, Laura Schara, to take a look at what she is pulling together for the show.



Make sure to buy your tickets for Glamorama now.

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There are some serious perks to having a job like mine, and even though I would consider myself in either the "out-of-the-loop" or "could-care-less" camps when it comes to celebrities, I would be lying if I said that I don't occasionally get excited when certain stars come to town. 

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As part of my preparations for the July Lifestyle feature on curly hair, I got to interview one of my heroes: Lorraine Massey, a legendary curly girl, hairstylist, entrepreneur, author, and even a socio-political agitator of sorts. I first learned of Massey circa 2002—that’s when one of my gal pals passed along her then-new book, Curly Girl. Part manifesto, part beauty manual, it was the first time I’d encountered someone who felt as isolated as I did about my unruly locks. It also marked the end of my daily shampoos, as well as a new era for curl self-acceptance.

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Top Twin Cities architects will converge on the beautiful Hotel Ivy in Downtown Minneapolis this Thursday evening, and the time is perfect to see and hear about some of the best new homes around. The scene is the RAVE Awards, produced by Mpls.St.Paul Magazine and the Minnesota chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

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Star of The Hills, fashion designer, and now author, Lauren Conrad, was at Mall of America yesterday for the signing of her book, L.A. Candy. While I was originally supposed to do a video blog with her, her handlers decided last minute that we couldn't shoot any video.

Le sigh.

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In today's New York Times Thursday Styles section, Eric Wilson wrote on of the most succinct stories I've ever read on how trends are created. If you've ever seen The Devil Wears Prada, you might remember Miranda Priestly's lecture directed at Andy Sachs's ignorance in regards to the fashion industry:

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