Coco Chanel, Jeanne Lanvin, Elsa Schiaparelli, and Madeleine Vionnet are all in Vancouver and ready for you to take notice.

Well, their couture creations are on display as part of “Museum of Vancouver’s Art Deco: Extravagant Glamour Between the Wars” exhibition. The 66 featured garments transport the viewer to fashion’s most decadent era. Among the glitzy European frocks are a few notable Vancouverites: a silk and silver lame evening gown marked “Donaldson’s,” and charmingly sweet navy polka dot dress from the Aurora Dress Company. It seems that our city was just as roaring as the more fashionably favoured metropolises. —Anya Georgijevic

Museum of Vancouver, 1100 Chestnut Street (Vanier Park), Vancouver, 604-736-4431, www.museumofvancouver.ca

If one more trip to Science World would make your hair stand on end permanently, switch up the indoor activities with this pair of children’s storytelling sessions (ages 3 and up) at the Museum of Anthropology.

As part of a special exhibit, the books are all on the topic of mud, glorious mud, so don your wellies and sink right in.

Sunday January 13 and Sunday January 27, 11 a.m., children under 6 are free.

For details, click here www.moa.ubc.ca/programs/index.php

Think a trip to New York is going to cost you an arm and a handbag? We've got the inside scoop.

see

When it's not playing host to Fashion Week, Bryant Park provides the perfect backdrop for another kind of black-and-white classic. Grab a spot on the grass, order sandwiches from 'wichcraft (delivered straight to your blanket), bring a bottle of wine (but don't advertise it) and cuddle up with your sweetie under the New York City lights. Our pick? Casablanca on August 13. Free movies run Mondays all summer long, at sunset. Between 40th and 42nd Streets and Fifth and Sixth Avenues, 212-768-4242. www.bryantpark.org

eat

Pssst!!!! Can you keep a secret? PDT (short for Please Don't Tell) located at the back of Crifdogs, is a speakeasy style lounge only accessible via a secret entrance in a vintage phone booth. Pick up the receiver and smile for the camera that's checking you out from the other side. Once you're buzzed in, grab a chair (there's a strict no standing policy) and chow down on deep fried hot dogs and tater tots that, oddly enough, go quite well with muddled fruit cocktails. Drinks are $11 but the dogs are street cheap, starting at $2.25. 113 St. Marks Place, 212-614-0386, www.pdtnyc.com

do

Free on Friday? If you are, then the MoMA is too. Every Friday from 4 to 8 p.m., the Museum of Modern Art waves its standard $20 admission fee thanks to Target Free Friday Nights. Don't be daunted by the line, it'll all be worth it once you get inside and see the Richard Serra retrospective, currently the hottest exhibition in the country. 11 West 53 Street, 212-708-9400. www.moma.org

eat
Pick up fresh jambon-beurre baguettes at Le Panier bakery across from Pike Place Market. 1902 Pike Place, 206-441-3669, www.lepanier.com

do
Walk to the new, free, waterfront Olympic Sculpture Park and picnic on the red mesh chairs placed among the white birch, dogwoods, pea gravel paths and manicured lawns. Take a virtual tour and read more here.

shop
You can't beat Nordstrom Rack for sharp discounts on men's Seven Jeans ($30), Kerastase shampoo ($24), Hanky Panky and Cosabella lingerie ($5), Michael Kors shearling purses (70 per cent off), and Lacoste shoes ($20)—and that was just last week. 1601 2nd Ave., 206-448-8522.

stay
The Fairmont Olympic is located right in the heart of the shopping district, and offers a grand lobby, large health club and an oyster bar. The Only One Way summer rate (from May 1, 2007) is $299/night. www.fairmont.com/seattle