LIFESTYLE: OUR WORLD By Maximillien de Lafayette

CHECK THE LIFESTYLE SECTION: LISTINGS (NEW ARTICLES)

LIFESTYLE HEALTH SOCIETIES GOODS CONSUMERS BEAUTY COMMUNITIES NEW YORK FASHION TRAVEL/DESTINATIONS

LIFESTYLE HEALTH SOCIETY CONSUMERS NEW YORK HOTELS. VACATIONS

HEALTH: RESEARCH, NEWS, PRODUCTS

Top UN official: countries need to test pandemic plans, not just write them. Nearly 60 per cent of the world's countries now have pandemic influenza response plans - but plans need to be practiced if paper strategies are to be effective in emergency situations, officials of the World Health Organization and the United Nations warned Monday. The number of countries that have worked out plans has risen sharply in the past six months, Dr. Michael Ryan, director of the WHO's epidemic and pandemic alert and response, told a major international meeting on avian and pandemic influenza...Read full article

A little preparation can make joining a gym less intimidating. Walking or riding a bike may have been enough to keep weight gain at bay during the summer. But with colder weather and the holiday season on the horizon, other fitness arrangements could be in order. Before plunking down a good chunk of change on the first gym you walk into, there are a few things a would-be fitness enthusiast should know to make the process a little less intimidating. Wendy Grosso, a 33-year-old marketing manager for a software company, decided a few weeks ago it was time to join a gym. Over the years she has belonged to a number of fitness clubs, but had a hard time committing to a workout. "For some reason I just stopped going. Got lazy ... I had a young 20s body, whatever, right?" said Grosso. "Now ... I don't feel fit anymore."...Read full article

George W. Bush signs bill to regulate colored contact lenses. People who use colored contact lenses will have to get them from eye-care professionals under a bill that President George W. Bush signed into law Wednesday. The new law gives the Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate cosmetic and novelty contact lenses, even if the products do not correct poor vision....Read full article

Guidant releases product information in face of product recalls. Under fire for recalling thousands of its pacemakers and defibrillators, Guidant Corp. released a massive product report card Wednesday in an effort to allay concerns about its implantable devices. The 153-page document includes product-by-product lists that detail the longevity and failure rates for heart devices made by the Indianapolis-based company. The report came two days after Guidant said its third-quarter earnings dropped 57 per cent because of months of safety advisories and recalls that sent its stock price spiralling and put its acquisition by Johnson & Johnson in jeopardy. ..Read full article

Creativity, some scientists say, may play an important role in healthy aging. The singers' average age is 80; the youngest is 65 and the oldest 96. It's an odd medical meeting that features Rogers & Hammerstein and brilliantly colored paintings rather than, say, X-rays. What does belting out Oklahoma or putting oil to canvas have to do with brain health? Perhaps a lot, when the singers are active 70- and 80-year-olds and the painters are in the throes of dementia. Creativity, some scientists say, may play an important role in healthy aging; conversely, the ill can shed extraordinary light on just how the brain perceives art. "Even though our brains age, it doesn't diminish our ability to create...Read full article

HEALTH AND SPAS: Mystique Ayurvedic spa on the African coast. Here's a unique setting for an alternative holiday at the seaside - no diving or energy-consuming water sports, but a week of massages, yoga, and ayurvedic treatments, combined with an all-vegetarian menu where alcohol consumption is frowned upon. It may sound like torture if your idea of a vacation is to party all the time or experience thrilling adventures. But if you are looking for something more serene, a spot along the south coast of Kenya offers respite in the tropics of the Indian Ocean... Read full article

Stop bird flu at source, UN directors urges. Not enough being done to wipe out virus among wild birds and poultry

The world should temper its obsession with a possible human flu pandemic and focus more on wiping out the bird flu, UN officials urged yesterday. Canada and many other nations have been scrambling to stockpile limited supplies of anti-viral drugs and take other measures to combat a pandemic if and when it arrives...Read full article

ID Biomedical Corp. loses $35.6M in Q3, compared to $7.6M loss a year ago. ID Biomedical Corp. lost $35.6 million in the third quarter, compounding a year-earlier loss of $7.6 million, as the company which holds Canada's pandemic flu vaccine contract spent 228 per cent more on research and development...Read full article

LIFESTYLES AROUND THE WORLD: ETIQUETTE. SOCIETY. SOCIALITES. WAY OF LIFE

The lady pays the bill: illustration by Lorenzi in Fantasio, 15th Jan 1923 Fabulous places, people, times, eras and their lifestyles. Mon Dieu! To be and live in Paris during "Les annees folles", between the end of 1917 and 1934, especially if you were an eccentric artist, an intellectual adventurer, a frou-frou femme fatale, a genius or an independently wealthy American, willing to spend a lot of money on arts, dating and women. Ask Madonna, Paulette Attie, Penelope de Vassy and Louise de Chambertin. Really "real" America's la crème de la crème was there. The "real" American high society, the privileged class, the snobs (Although it was too early for the Americans to know how to be a snob), les bourgeois, wealth filthy characters, the hustlers with a style, the scandalous adventurous women, the schmoozer and the cruisers, the handsome gigolos, the champagne, the caviar, the kisses and the misses, sex, the drama and all the "chic" pleasures of the era. Hemingway was here.

Paramour Stein too. Why Paris - what made everybody want to come here and create, and drink, and dance, and paint, and write stories or invent them? Women? obnoxious, over-cultured and over-sophisticated Frenchmen? Bubbly champagne? Sinfully good wine? Nice plat de fromage? A nostalgia? A fantasy? A new social, political and artistic era? A modern Parisian revolution? Yes! Yes! All of the above! Paris was a magic. And the people who lived in Paris were fabulous and delightfully mad! Tout le monde etait fou et philosophe, meaning "Everybody was crazy and a philosopher." Mistinguet, Edith Piaf, Sacha Guitry, Leo Ferre, Charles Trenet, Fernandel, Patachou, Jean Cocteau, Jean Gabin, Marlene Dietrich, Aristide Bruant, Jane Avril, La Goulue, Zozo Baker, Ernst Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Picasso lived that magical era...Read full article

WHY MOVIES STARS, CELEBRITIES AND ORDINARY WOMEN POSE NAKED? By Maximillien de Lafayette. Brigitte Bardot: "Animals walk around naked and they have more loyalty than men. I have never been betrayed by my pets. But I have been cheated so many times by men and women who were fully clothed..."Josephine Baker: " I will strip by the name of God, if I have to feed those orphans...". WHY SOME WOMEN STRIP IN PUBLIC AND WHY STARS POSE NAKED? For one million reasons. And it has nothing to do with money, as many ingenious minds and rednecks believe or imagine. Kate Moss does not need to pose naked to make money. She appeared in full armored clothes on major glossy magazines covers. And she earns zillions, just by holding a product or looking at the camera. She does it because it is part of the fabric of the business. Almost 88% of stars and celebrities, including university professors, anchorwomen, women-wrestlers, top executives and moms posed in the nude at one time in their lives and careers for pragmatic, incomprehensible reasons, fantasy, celebrity quest, notoriety exposure... Read full article and see photos

NEW YORK SOCIETY, LIFESTYLE & COMMUNITIES

New York Unknown Amazing Facts About New York

New York High Society

The best of New York

NEW YORK FASHION BIG EVENT

New York Fashion: Luxury Meets Creativity. JAMIL KHANSA: Winner of the 2005 International Fashion Designer of the Year Award. Spring 2006 Couture Collection At the Couture Fashion Week New York...See the spectacular show

LIFESTYLES, CELEBRITIES, WORLD SOCIETIES, NEW YORK SOCIALITES FROM A TO Z. World Society and People Main Page

LIFESTYLES: THE BEST AND THE WORST

The Best and the Worst of the Year. Lifestyles, fashion, celebrities, stars, music, film, theater, books, decor, architecture, arts, gossips, gardening and all the gossips...The year witnessed two stars scale the ladder of global superstardom. In the laydeez' corner is Beyonce Knowles, who became a solo phenomenon thanks to a whole lot of rump-shaking. The all-conquering man is Justin Timberlake, who collected a fistful of MTV awards - and caused a ripple by dirty dancing with Kylie Minogue at the Brits. He was denied a solo UK chart-topper, but shared the spoils of the Black Eyed Peas' best-selling single by providing backing vocals to Where Is The Love? While their stars went stratospheric, other colossal musical forces saw their fortunes falter. Madonna, 20 years at the top of her game, released American Life to fans' delight and mixed critical reaction...Read full article

TIPS FOR DEALING AND SOCIALIZING WITH FOREIGNERS. CAN WE GENERALIZE SOCIAL BEHAVIOR AND ATTRIBUTES OF NATIONS AND PEOPLE? Can we generalize and stigmatize particular ethnic characteristics of a nation or a “people” to define what distinguished their ethnicity from other groups and social structures? In other words, would it be fair and intelligent to represent, describe and depict people, societies and countries according to suspicions, common beliefs and stereotyped clichés? Honestly, NO! However, political experiences and history taught us, that, to a certain degree of social veracity and historical accuracy, some aspects, facets, way of life, traditions, culture and social characteristics, including behavior (individually or globally) could be adhered to the description of the nature and psyche of a nation and particular ethnic groups. A world-traveler and a student of mass psychology and sociopolitical sciences would consider and view various nations and their nationals quite differently from those who have never left their homeland, read about people and nations in comparative history or effectuated transactions with foreigners. Read full article

WORLD LIFESTYLES: T he world of lifestyles, arts, taboos, culture, women, fashion, bizarre, risqué and entertainment in pictures. Lao Tzu was the first to say "One image is worth one thousand words." And so Did Marco Polo and Vasco de Gamma after having discovered unknown parts of the world. And to depict the unpleasant character of Popes, Michelangelo and Raphael froze their portraits in illustrations and pictures so future centuries and generation will remember those Papal characters. We see and understand our universe through photographsRead full article

New York high society . Most talked about in New York Manhattan high society in pictures...They are la crème de la crème of New York society. People love to be seen in their company, for they are famous, wealthy, sophisticated, chic, powerful, well-connected, fun...and mon cher ami, they throw the best parties in town. Sometimes, they are in print because of their contributions to charitable organizations, appearances they made at major social functions, controversy they steered up, in brief, they were written up in the paper for meaningful and justified reasons. But, sometime, silly stuff, gossips they create and vanity displays do the trick as well, for instance, "her husband bought her $4 million diamond ring", or "she is having an affair with monsieur x or monsieur z or all the alphabets", sometime, because he "continues to name everything after his name, hotels, casinos, TV shows and now a university..." or simply because he or she "insulted a rabbi" or created a Kaballah formula to grow hair where it is not needed. But generally, they steal the show and make people talk about them because they are good at what they do... Read full article.

LIFESTYLES OF THE ELITE, THE RICH AND THE HIGH SOCIETY AROUND THE WORLD. AMERICAN NOUVELLE SOCIAL ELITE VERSUS THE INTERNATIONAL ELITE. Brief Analogy: Differences and Similarities in their lifestyles, way of life, living, homes, culture, protocol, fashion, food, families, spending habits...Read full article

STYLE. ELEGANCE

THE ELEGANT LADIES

ELEGANCE AND STYLE. AMERICA'S MOST ELEGANT STARS AND QUEENS OF THE OSCARS. THE GLAMOUR LADIES. THE INDIE DARLINGS. THE ECCENTRIC GIRLS. SEXIEST AND DASHIEST DRESSES AND GOWNS.

BEST DRESSED STARS OF THE YEAR: The Hollywood set turned its back on somber shades and conservative cuts, and gushed about glamour once again. Flesh was certainly on parade -- though not necessarily in that censor-activating kind of way. Naomi Watts, Charlize Theron, and Julia Roberts all went with nude tones for the big event....

THE NON-ELEGANT LADIES: THE WORST DRESSED STARS IN AMERICA....T HE BLOODIEST, UGLIEST AND AWFUL DRESSES BELONG TO?...MOST AWFUL GOWNS...WORST DRESSED FEMALE STAR

EVE WORLD

WOMEN OF THE WORLD IN PICTURES: ISRAELI WOMEN VS. ARAB WOMEN.

100 MOST POWERFUL WOMEN IN THE WORLD.

CHANGING YOUR LIFESTYLE AND CULTURE

Changing your work culture and lifestyle: An increasing number of companies are reviewing their family-friendly policies. See how you can make a difference in your workplace. What you can do. Even if you work for a company with practices that feel like they're from the 1980s (all work, no play), chances are you're surrounded by a working culture that's at least open to the idea of change. What and how much you can do to change your working culture depends on what your job is, and who your employers are. If you're a junior clerk working for a lawyer whose family-friendly policies haven't moved on since Victorian times, you're obviously up against it more than if you're a senior manager just back from maternity leave in a company genuinely committed to change.

DEALING WITH YOUR BOSS. Negotiating your rights. Parents of children under the age of six (or disabled children under the age of 18) have the right to apply for flexible working and employers are obliged to take any such requests seriously and deal with them properly. But what' the best way to ask?

FOOD. DIET. EXERCISE

Fruit and veg stall FOOD AND DIET: PERSONAL AND NATIONAL HEALTH...EATING THE RIGHT FOOD...HEALTH AND GOOD EXERCISE...HOW TO CHOOSE GOOD VEGETABLES...HOW TO SELECT A GOOD PIECE OF BEEF...

WORLD OF MODELING

The 100 top models of the year: Super models make more money than a president of a university, a professor of astrophysics and a NASA scientist. The world of fashion is temperamental. It changes with the weather. And this is why we have winter fashion, summer fashion, spring fashion, etc. You got my drill. And as a result, new models surface and catch the light. Others come and fade away. However, there is a breed of models which transcends time and space...and seasons. Those are the clever super models who redefine and reinvent themselves. While at the top of the world, the super models catch the glitters and bitterly fight the competition. They become selfish, shrewd and manipulative. At the dawn of their career, they were young, vivacious and their looks appealed to the industry, the markets, the designers and the public. ..

BEAUTY AND NUTRITION

DIVA SECRETS AND TIPS. Diva On A Dime brings fashion makeovers to a whole new level when hosts Julia Grieve and Adrian Mainella set out on their weekly mission to help someone solve a fashion crisis. Their goal is to find the perfect designer look at a drastically slashed price and they do it all by shopping at discount and consignment clothing shops. Got that big wedding to go to with nothing to wear and almost as little to spend? No problem. Got a new executive job but your work clothes look like they belong in the mailroom? Relax. For as little money as possible Julia and Adrian are going to have you looking like you just got back from the ritziest shops in Paris. In short - you are about to become a Diva On A Dime! Read full article

Men want to be pampered, too. IT'S ALL ABOUT THE SKIN. Eye gels, anti-wrinkle creams, hot shaves are in big demand. It's not just style-conscious A-types who are spending time grooming themselves these days. The guy next door is buying accessories, treating himself to good food and drink and paying attention to how he looks and feels. So businesses are courting today's responsive man. We found two places devoted to male grooming and -- surprise! -- they carry products a woman would love, too...Read full article

Guys, it's time for your facial: Can you say spahhh? Men may find a footrub and pedicure is good for the Sole. Irene Lee's new spa on Pacific Boulevard, called Sole Room, offers treatments for men -- and women too. Every so often I surprise my husband with some item I've picked up at the health store -- a foot bath that vibrates at three different levels, a hand-held Swedish massager, a device made with rolling wooden balls, all intended to get me off the hook in the foot rub department. And every summer at our annual garage sale, I discover these rolling, buzzing, vibrating things on the Make an Offer table. He says it's because there's nothing like the human touch, that I have healing hands, the divine gift for foot rubs, and so on...

GOING HAIRLESS TO ATTRACT WOMEN? YAH RIGHT

Michael MacKay could be the poster boy for the age of Adonis. With his shaved and bronzed skin, finely sculpted pecs and abs, his brilliantly white teeth and spiked blond hair, MacKay typifies a new generation of young men for whom the look is everything. They are turning up everywhere -- in classrooms, gymnasiums...Read full article

HOME. DECOR

Idea sprung from a leak: A home built for spectacular ocean views was the inspiration for a high-tech system of detecting water damage

"By the time you see the damage on the outside, the problem has been brewing inside for years,"

Leaky homes do not a career launchpad make, unless the owner of that home happens to be a fibre-optics engineer with a flare for invention. Dave Vokey, with his wife Patricia Vokey, built a waterfront retreat along the shores of Satellite Channel in 1991. The house was the culmination of a years-long search for an island refuge. "We came to the Island over and over again looking for the right property," says Patricia. The property slopes toward an arbutus- and cedar-forested shore. Offshore, boat sails shine crisp white against indigo waters, with Saltspring Island's rugged silhouette as a backdrop. ..Read full article

Antiques security: Are your belongings at risk? Beat the burglars and take positive action to secure your possessions, with our guide to protecting your antiques. Documenting items: An inventory, or list of your antiques collection, will be invaluable for keeping a detailed record of each antique in your collection to prove ownership in the event of an insurance claim. New purchases should be documented in an inventory book, and photographed as soon as possible. Keep the receipts of anything you have purchased with your inventory...

Home: Autumn inspiration...Autumn can be a tricky season in the garden, so we've put together a wealth of seasonal ideas to inspire, inform and entertain you over the coming months. There's information on wildlife gardening, plant choices for stunning flowers and foliage and ideas for projects that everyone in the family will love...A place to call home...Even when there are big trees in or around the garden, there are unlikely to be many hollow trunks or dead branches, so natural nesting and roosting sites for woodland birds and bats tend to be in short supply.

Celebs find architecture sexy; that's the reality

Sexy! Provocative! Larger than life! All words used by producers to describe the players on a new "documentary-style series" -- one dares not invoke the 'reality show' label -- offering a snapshot of the divas and drama inherent to retail architecture. No, really. With design dilettantes the likes of Brad Pitt, Lenny Kravitz and Hayden Christensen among their ranks, architects have been anointed by the snake oil of celebrity and are enjoying new pop-culture status. Opening Soon: By Design, which debuted Tuesday on HGTV, aims to capitalize on this unexpected interest by spotlighting upscale store openings. From Fendi's flagship store in Rome, to Louis Vuitton on the Champs Elysee in Paris, the titan clash between art and commerce will play out in destinations across the globe. Opening Soon's executive producer Rachel Low says the promise of showing viewers some fabulous design will be the draw. "You get drawn into the story of the episode but at the same time, we want to tease you with some fabulous design," she explains. Pitt, for one, seems to be most attracted by the tease. The actor -- now collaborating with Frank Gehry on a $450-million redevelopment in England -- likens the uncertainty of architecture to "the life of the artist." Merklinger hopes Opening Soon will shed some limelight on that connection. "Celebrities have always associated themselves with designers," she says. "That's because [architecture] is very sexy, it's very visual, it's very avant-garde." Andrew Gruft, author of Substance Over Spectacle: Contemporary Canadian Architecture, isn't yet convinced that Canucks are ready to embrace his ilk as dynamic professionals, let alone reality-TV stars. But he's optimistic. "I think amongst young people, there is more interest -- they know what an architect is, they think it's an interesting field of work and they're into design," says Gruft, professor emeritus at the University of British Columbia. "Hopefully it's a beginning and not a blip." By Mitty Harris.

FAMILY. PARENTING. RELATIONS. WORKPLACE

Couple holding baby

FAMILY. PARENTING. The parenting challenge. Being a parent means creating a loving, safe environment for your children as they grow from baby to toddler, right through to the teenage years. You'll need different skills for each stage, but at all times your child will depend on you....

Couple hugging each other COMMUNICATIONS Communication is the key: Your daily routines, social life and even what you talk about with your partner will all be different once your baby is born. Like any great change, you'll need time to get used to it. Expect some ups and downs as you work out new ways of spending time together.

RELATIONSHIPS. HEALTH AND SEX

70 WAYS TO HAVE FUN AND HARMONIOUS RELATIONSHIP. In our busy lives, time can often seem in short supply so it's important that couples make the most of their time together. Here are some suggestions.

More graphic sex and violence scenes thrusting onto big screen

The film industry is undergoing a sea change in its approach to intercourse as sex scenes become borderline pornographic.

The silver screen is turning a brazen shade of blue as celebrity skin, full-frontal nudity and graphic sex acts become increasingly prevalent at mainstream movie theatres. The film industry is undergoing a sea change in its approach to intercourse as sex scenes become borderline pornographic. And as more directors fight to depict intimacy with the same rawness allowed to screen violence, experts predict celluloid sex will get even raunchier.

GETTING MARRIED? COUNT TO FIVE! 5 year mark key in marriages. Couples who make it to their fifth year of marriage are less likely to break up, figures from Statistics Canada indicate. "Before the first anniversary of marriage, there was less than one divorce for every 1,000 marriages in 2002,'' the agency said Tuesday. After the first anniversary, the divorce rate was 4.3 per 1,000 marriages. That went up to 18 per 1,000 after the second anniversary, 25 after the third and peaked at 25.7 after the fourth. After that, the risk of divorce decreased slowly for each additional year of marriage. Statistics Canada also said that fewer couples untied the knot in 2002, and they did it at a later age....Read full article

Your marriage probably sucks?! Seasoned marriage therapists estimate that upwards of 95% of marriages are unhappy and problematic. But still, most unhappy marriages don't lead to affairs. About one in four or five married adults admit to having at least one affair while married, and this month's Journal of Family Psychology reports on the differences between unhappy marriages that do or do not lead to affairs. Psychologists studied 134 distressed couples seeking marriage therapy -- 19 of which involved an extra-marital sexual affair. The couples were surveyed at length on the quality of their marriage (including strengths and weaknesses), their personalities, mental health and lifestyles. They were also assessed over the course of the marriage therapy for more understanding of the relationship...Read full article

Women who are educated, married or heavy are more likely to have low sex drives. Contrary to researchers' expectations, university-educated women are more apt to have low sex drives -- 48 per cent compared to 31 per cent among high-school graduates. They are also less likely to have orgasms during intercourse. Women who are educated, married or heavy are more likely to have low sex drives, suggests a Canadian study that explored links between sexual problems and social and personal factors. The research, which is published in the current edition of The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, found that 55 per cent of respondents had one or more of three concerns about sexual function: low desire, pain during sex and infrequent orgasm during intercourse...Read full article

DATING, STYLE AND DINING ETIQUETTE

THE DOS AND DON'TS IN DINING WITH A REASONABLY DEMANDING WOMAN. FOLLOW THESE 13 RULES TO WIN HER HEART AND MUCH MUCH MORE...OR BE A SCHMUCK AND SPEND THE REST OF THE NIGHT WITH YOUR DOG AND A FROZEN PIZZA!

HOTELS. TRAVEL. VACATIONS. DESTINATIONS

World's Best Hotels and Resorts. To all those who searched for exotic beauty, heavens on earth, majestic nature, divine serenity, extreme adventures, romance, forbidden whispers, succulent specialties, sinful luxury, scandalous extravaganza, outrageous decadence and cadence, family and warm ambiance...I think I found the world's most fabulous and unmatched spots on earth.I have it...a bouquet of hotels, spas and resorts which will transport you to another dimension, or could transport that "other dimension" to your life and make your fantasy a scary reality... Read full article

DESTINATIONS: Holiday 10 Best: Wild places. This week we’re taking you to some of the world’s wildest places to get you out of your comfort zone and into some non-stop adventure... Read full article

Top choices in Holiday 2006. The best locations at the best price.

EVERYTHING ABOUT TRAVEL. VACATIONS. GREAT IDEAS.

WHAT CONSUMERS SHOULD KNOW

A cartoon woman with a placard YOUR MONEY: Many consumers have trouble understanding how mortgages work and are baffled by lenders' jargon, a survey has suggested. Nearly six out of 10 consumers said they did not know what APR (annual percentage rate) stood for. In addition, 52% of 800 mortgage holders interviewed were unaware what APR they were paying....Full article

McDonald's fast-food restaurant in New York

McDonald's puts fat facts on food

Fast food giant McDonald's is to begin printing nutritional facts on the packaging of its burgers and fries. McDonald's said the labeling would include the fat, salt, calorie and carbohydrate content of its foods. Critics have accused the company of contributing towards rising levels of obesity and other health problems. Nutritional information on items such as the Big Mac, which contains 30g of fat, are currently only available in leaflets or on the company's website. ...Full article

Buying a property abroad

Buying property abroad is more popular than ever, with increasing numbers of people following their dream in purchasing a holiday home, a buy-to-let, or moving lock, stock and barrel to the sun. If you're planning such a move, read our guide before you buy....Full article

How to but toys

If you're thinking of beginning a collection of toys, there's a huge variety to choose from. Many collectors specialize in a particular area - such as clockwork toys, robots or cars - or in a particular maker, but others just collect those toys they really love. You need to be sure of your area of interest before visiting the larger auction houses because many sell different types of toy... Full article

Rug ANTIQUES CARE

Textiles: As textiles get older the fibres break down and they can be easily damaged. While we wouldn't advise DIY repairs on delicate items, there are a number of things you can do to look after your textiles. Handling. A textile may be more fragile than it first seems... Full article

FASHION

WORLD OF FASHION AND LIFESTYLES THIS YEAR: All the shows, new collections, designers, events and gossips. Despite the doe-eyed models, miles of muslin and yards of silk, the common man managed to catch and keep the spotlight at Brazil's biggest designer event, Sao Paulo Fashion Week. The watchwords at this year's event, were sales and jobs. An entire floor of the Sao Paulo Biennal Pavilion was transformed into a fashion salon, a polite word for a beehive of functional conference rooms where sales personnel for three dozen designers pushed this year's autumn and winter lines on big-buck buyers. Read full articles

PARIS FASHION WEEK: Stella McCartney, Chanel.

Eveningwear takes a romantic turn: COLORS, FABRICS AND DESIGN. Cocooning's out. Charity balls are in. The gala season is underway, a time when even the most desperate housewife wants to be a diva. For the past couple of years, that's meant "red-carpet dressing" -- trying to emulate the glamour of Hollywood awards shows with big sexy gowns, lots of skin and gobs of glitter. Why settle for looking like Audrey Hepburn when you could channel Charlize Theron? But seasons come and go, and this year even the red carpet is toning it down -- fewer slits, rife romance, more modesty. Some blame the war in Iraq, most blame sheer boredom with famously overexposed boobs, pecs and abs...

NEW YORK FASHION BIG EVENT: Luxury meets creativity. The outstanding fashion designers of New York. Their new collections.

Photo: Jamil Khansa is presented with the International Fashion Designer of the Year Award by Couture Fashion Week founder and producer Andres Aquino...