There’s a new reason to shop in Le Château, and no, it’s not to reminisce about the prom dress we bought there in high school.

They’ve just launched a new collection, Le Château Studio, and the clean lines and simple cuts are a great reason to shop at this well-known Canadian retailer. Think skinny acetate trousers ($79.95), botanical printed t-shirt dresses ($89.95, pictured) and sporty silk tops ($69.95) that will take you from the office to cocktail stylishly and effortlessly.

Since we’re the kind of girls who like to dress high and low, these clean cut looks could nicely complement some great Jil Sander and Stella McCartney pieces or our mix-and-match go-to, J. Crew. —Alexandra Suhner Isenberg

Available at Le Chateau in Metrotown, 4700 Kingsway, Burnaby, 604-439-9415, www.lechateau.com

We couldn’t contain our excitement when we heard that Scott Schuman, The Sartorialist, was coming to Vancouver for a book signing at Vancouver's Secret Location. We sat down with him to chat style icons, hairstyles, and portraits.

Vitamin Daily: In your new book Closer, you talk about how people need to have style icons that match their body shape. Tell us a bit more about this, when you realized it, and how important it is for women and men to do this.
Scott Schuman: I think I went through the same things as everyone else. You see people like Fred Astaire and Cary Grant, and they look great, that's why they are fashion icons, and I would look at how they are dressed and want to do something similar to that. But it never worked for me, and never looked the same way on me. What you learn is that with someone like that, you have to be inspired by pattern combinations, colour combinations, you have to be more abstract. But then I ran into this guy Alessandro (Squarzi) who is a little bit taller than me but has the same persona, he has a stronger build like me and it was the first time that I had met someone who has a similar body type to me. And I thought, I could learn from him, about what works and what doesn't work. And I was more inspired by him and what was working with him, than I had ever been by Fred Astaire and Cary Grant. Even someone like Armani is built like me, he is more slim than me, but more my height. For most people, it is more of a personal journey. Hopefully I shoot a lot of different types of people, and hopefully people can find someone they can relate to.

Vitamin Daily: What's a big style mistake that you see when you are out shooting?
Scott Schuman: I don't know, I never really think about mistakes. I don’t really take the time to notice things that aren't working, I really try to notice the things that are working. I know it sounds weird, but it is the most obvious thing. I am a positive person, and I don't look at things in the negative way.

Vitamin Daily: Tell us about which city's good style most surprised you?
Scott Schuman: One of the places that I really like is Savannah, Georgia. Also, I was just in Poland in a place called Poznań, and one of things that I thought was really interesting is that for some reason that girls in that city have learned that even if you don't have a lot of money (in Savannah they are mostly college kids and in Poznań they are mostly middle class), it is a good idea to put your money where you are going to get the best results. And the thing I found that these girls did (in Poznań), was that they all had great hairstyles. They had really put their money into interesting haircuts, not crazy, but interesting. Which is brilliant.

When you think about it, you wear your hair everyday. You get a return from it every day. And you have a couple of different ways you can do it, you can wear it up, down, or with accessories. I thought that was a really smart move, and it hasn't really dawned on me that it could have that strong of an effect. I don't really have specific places, but that is one of the things that keeps me traveling, to find little nuggets of truth like that, that aren't about money or expensive things, but how you make something work that is manageable.

Read the rest of Alexandra Suhner Isenberg’s interview with Scott Schuman and get RSVP details for his Vancouver event on our Editors' Diary.

With all eyes on the Royals right now (come on, you had to look), we are pretty sure they are going to be staying in the spotlight/telescope for a while, which means their sense of dress, or lack thereof, may continue to trend.

The Royals love their headwear, so for fall we are going to be sporting some fine millinery, in the form of Claudia Schulz hats. Her super chic felt hats won’t be out of place at the pub, the races, or afternoon tea.

The Vancouver-based designer’s fall collection features a brimmed hat and a very chic version of the toque, but we are loving the wool cloche hats, particularly the Claude ($159) with a tiny brim that, when pulled over the eyes, may just offer a bit of anonymity. Which could be handy in case we get up to anything naughty on our next jaunt to France.

Claudia Schulz hats at www.claudiaschulz.com or at Walrus, 3408 Cambie St., Vancouver, 604-874-9770, www.walrushome.com

Every family has a black sheep. But now the term takes on new meaning with Icebreaker’s new Black Sheep collection for spring.

Words such as soft, silky, lightweight and elegant best describe this ultra-fine merino grouping, perfect for traveling, spring skiing (and straight to après).

We tested the streamlined Athena black V-neck sweater, ($224.99) cross country skiing in the Callaghan Valley where it kept us cool, then on the peak of Blackcomb in 80 km/hour winds where it kept us warm. And finally, out to dinner at Alta Bistro, where we still felt fresh as a flower.

Now, we’re happy to be the (well dressed) black sheep of the family. —Sarah Bancroft

Icebreaker TouchLab, 2089 W. Fourth Ave., Vancouver, 778-329-2710, www.icebreaker.com

The holiday season is the time to add a bit of the Midas touch to our outfits, so this December, go for gold.

Shoes always make the outfit, so we are starting with these glitter gold Miu Miu pumps, $630 from Net A Porter which will perfectly match No. 21’s sequined satin trousers, $886 from Luisa Via Roma.

If you haven’t had enough sequins yet, throw on this Banana Republic tank, $62, underneath this gold bolero from Anthropologie ($118.) The look can be accessorized with a gold purse ($69.50) and link bracelet ($144) both from J Crew, and Joe Fresh’s glitter belt ($8.) Complete the outfit with a coat of Deborah Lipmann Shake Your Groove Thing gold sparkly nailpolish ($22) and a touch of NARS’ Etrusque eyeshadow ($26 from The Bay.)

Even if you end up head to toe in glitter and gold, you’ll be way less tacky than a Christmas sweater. —Alexandra Suhner Isenberg