A winter favorite is getting its day in the sun this year.
Scarves of all styles and colors are topping tanks and tees for the last days of summer, glowing on their own before they're tucked into light jackets and winter coats.
Perhaps it's a nod to the cold seasons ahead. But before the chill sets in, long pashminas flow behind fast-walking New York professionals wearing all black. Small, floral silk pieces tied neatly at the throat keep necks warm so the rest of the outfits can comfortably soak up rays. Cotton stoles hang open over short-sleeved tops.
Venus Williams wore a scarf over a black T-shirt at the recent launch of her fashion line, EleVen. She pointed out that while she wore EleVen everything, the chunky, multicolored sash spun around her neck was the only item on her body not from the new collection.

A new fabric of financial support

You may not be able to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, but one Nova Scotia woman has found a lacy purple bra does just fine. When Marissa LaPierre, 24, reaches for a bra, it's not to adjust the strap. The Kentville woman makes purses out of them, like the purple Delta Burke model that was the first one she ever made. LaPierre, who has a textiles degree from Concordia University in Montreal, calls her company Bra d'Or (bra of gold), a play on the Bras d'Or region of Cape Breton. She got the idea in 2001 when her brother, as a prank, took a bra, put the cups together and slung it over his shoulder. LaPierre thought it looked like a purse. Since then she's made hundreds of the hand-sewn bra purses, which she sells online and at a farmers' market in Kentville. She laughs at the reaction they get.