Mind the Gap.

The final shipment of Gap Design Editions, featuring khakis designed by the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund winners, arrived in stores last week. This is your last chance to snag a little Wang, Swanepoel and Vena Cava for yourself... for under $100.

When I stopped by the Gap last weekend to pick up a pair of white jeans (yes, white jeans - their existence in the universe and presence in my closet to be discussed at a later date), I had no intention of falling in love with Alexander Wang’s cropped motorcycle jacket

I had seen it before: at a media preview at my office, at the Canadian launch on Bloor Street last month, and, finally, on the unquestionably cool backs of two of raddest dressers I know in the city, I want - I got & ice age heat wave. Not wanting to, you know, have the same jacket as Anita and Sarah Nicole (?) and convincing myself $98 was too much money (??), I put it back on the rack.

Wang is a young American designer whose rise to fashion fame has been fast and furious. He designed his first knits collection at 18 when he was still studying at Parsons; now his sexy LBDs are a fixture on the red carpet.

His signature combo of casual clean lines with a street wear edge can be seen in this jacket, with its cocoon back and metallic poppers. The second I put it on I knew I was lost. My mind started pulling clothes from my closet and constructing outfits that would only be fabulous if this jacket was there to wear on top of them.

“That jacket really suits you,” said the cute long haired lad who had been fetching me different jean sizes (and who was getting even cuter by the minute). “You’ve got this whole nautical thing going on - not many people could pull that off.” And then it happened. “Are you a style editor, or something?” Oh, they trained this one well!

Sold! To the girl whose job it is to report on everything stylish but who mostly feels like she just stepped of the ship and who was just ridiculously flattered by a 21-year-old boy whose job it is to flatter. Gullible or not, the jacket is now mine and I’ll be wearing it with a smile as I stride off the boat and into this strange New (Urban Fashion) World.

The Proof is in the Pudding...

...or the Pink Pumps.

I spotted a pair of Alexander McQueen's Pink "Love" Peep Toe Platforms at The Secrets of Seduction Fashion Show at the Wynchwood Barns, Toronto, last week. Like a deer in the headlights, I couldn't stop staring ...

And look at the model's nails. I know it's hard to focus on her hands, but look! Neon pink polish. See? See? Fluorescent colours are everywhere. Love it or loathe it, it’s officially a trend, people!

Oh, and the lingerie? I loved how Lejaby styled their models with cadet caps and whips and I could live quite happily in any of the pieces Elixir send down the runway. But honestly, the outline of those pink McQueen shoes had seared into my retinas and I could see little else...

Wearable Tang.

I grew up on an island off the west coast of Canada. We didn’t have shopping malls, magazine stalls or clothing stores but fashion trends in the '80s and '90s did eventually trickle into our classrooms: neon, acid wash, jelly shoes, hyper-colour…

“Off-island” shopping trips happened about twice year, so if we wanted to expand our wardrobe beyond older siblings’ hand-me-downs, there were only two “on-island” options: the Lady Minto Auxiliary Thrift Store or Mouat’s Trading Co.

In Grade 5, my best friend Katie and I thought fluorescent colours were the coolest thing since purple and teal stripes (Sooo Grade 4!). We went on a neon hunt and to our delight discovered a pile of pink plastic jiggers at the hardware store.

Not exactly the Chip & Pepper T-shirts we had hoped for but they did make rather dramatic dangly earrings. After a week or so of proudly displaying our industrious efforts, they mysteriously ended up in my brother’s fishing tackle box. And that’s where my experimenting with neon safely stayed -- until I saw the ’09 spring runway shows.

From Lanvin to Marni, models were positively blinding in head-to-toe DayGlo orange, electric blue and bright canary yellow, mixed and layered to distraction. Nowadays, I live comfortably in the neutral colours zone so I was shocked to discover that I actually liked the way it looked. A lot. And seeing the fall collections, these bold colours aren't fading away any time soon.

When a trend is resurrected, the Salvation Army is the first place I go because chances are I’ll come across a garment from its original decade. Lo and behold! I find a bright coral jumpsuit (double the trend!) made in Italy for $4. I was kind of on a roll - I also picked up an $8 top from Zara, a leather picture frame, two Ikea towels and an angora throw, all in too-bright tangerine

Bob Switzer, an amateur magician from Ohio, made the first neon paint in the 1930s. He was unloading Safeway crates from a train when one fell on his head, putting him into a coma. After regaining consciousness he was forced to recover in a dark room for several months - to pass the time he played with fluorescent minerals. When he returned home, he threw the minerals into a tub, poured in some wood varnish, dipped his wife’s wedding dress into the mixture and voila! DayGlo fashion was born.

So far, comments on my fluorescent finds have been mixed, from “Fabulous coral jumpsuit, darling!” to “Well, if you worked at the airport you could just use your arms to guide the planes in.” While I may not be walking out the door anytime soon in a neon green fur coat a la Michael Kors, as long as my tangalicious top keeps putting a smile on my face it will stay securely out of any tackle box.