Flowers and wearable art at the Royal Flower and Garden Show, Melbourne

I don't have credits for these individually but all are from RMIT fashion school. As part of their contribution to the show students were asked to make a monument to water. There are some of the stronger pieces in my humble opinion.

Canelli Beans and dried noodles moulded on wire and glad wrap.

Reminiscent of both a ballerina and a reptile, this one is scaly and also feminine.

Lily leaves, bark, onions, berries and dried fruits and beans. The beans again forming a great corset surface underneath.

Australian native flowers, including Proteas, Gum leaves and Ivy. I would readily wear this if made from a more forgiving material, maybe in felt, for example, hand died with natural plant fibre, ooh that does sound good.

Lillies and bulbous plants were very popular at the show, and here they are used to add a definite 'wow factor' to the creation.

Here is a taste of other installation/floral artworks also on display. I think I would quite happily move into this study if I could. I love the Venus Fly-traps on the bookshelf, just brilliant.

Westwood says take it easy.

After catching up on the Fall (Autumn) ready-to-wear shows, specifically Vivienne Westwood, I say with confidence and excitement: androgyny, bright leggings, contrasting everything and a laid back approach is what you might see coming (I hope so, at any rate). I'm very glad of this, firstly because we're all too busy to spend hours meticulously putting ourselves together each morning, though admittedly this is what happens. And secondly fashion shouldn't be stressful.

Westwood's gals look as though they've had their blankets, drapes and shawls thrown at them and then been asked to shrug into them before promptly heading down the runway. This isn't a bad thing. I adore the way the silhouette is almost unspeakably sloppy, not the manicured, body conscious skin tight stuff we're used to. There are tight stockings there, and beautifully bright almost garish they are too. But what we see is the figure obscured by layers (and not the layers we're used to either) these layers go beyond a couple of scarves and cardigans (that were our usual Autumn fare)to include large pieces of fabric seemingly thrust on the models, to more curated pieces in which we see contrasting lines, patterns and weights of fabric just hanging out together.

Inspired by the Grimm fairy tales Westwood has chosen shiny, metallics as well as rustic knits which reflect some kind of re-imagining me thinks. The androgynous makeup, certainly, but the blurring of expected male/female dress could have been taken further with a few guys in there for good measure. Where were the be-skirted men this time? I guess it's been done to death. I never get tired of seeing cross dressing become more mainstream especially in runway shows.

HERE'S A SELECTION OF MY FAVOURITES: