The stores Melbourne has will
lead to a fashion love affair

There are many stores Melbourne has. It is now time for me to spill the beans on the best shopping spots in the city centre.

Let the love affair begin with the obvious - the department stores.

There are two major department stores in Melbourne; Myer and David Jones. They also happen to be side by side. You will find them in the Bourke Street Mall, the main shopping area.

Surrounding the stores are many other popular clothing chain stores including Portmans, Sussan and Sportsgirl. Other popular stores include The Body Shop, Bradmans for great bags and Thomas and Dunklings for jewellery.

Retail centres you will find close by include the GPO Melbourne. The GPO attracts the cool crowd who love designs by Lisa Ho, Zimmerman, Leona Edmiston, Wayne Cooper and Akira.

Melbourne Central is loaded with many excellent stores on many levels with one underground. Stores you will find include Armani Exchange, Review, Morrissey, Alannah Hill, Marcs, Oroton, Steve Madden, Calvin Klein, Dom Bagnato and Decjuba.

The latest edition to the shopping crown is QV with many of the international boutiques delivering fashions straight from the Paris catwalks to the stores here.

Designer stores include Christensen Copenhagen, Hugo Boss, Guess, Zimmerman, Wayne Cooper and Cactus Jam.

This last store has designs by Lisa Ho, Mad Cortes, Stella McCartney, Chloe and Karen Walker.

Let's not forget the Paris End of Collins Street where you will find all the top labels including Chanel.

Australia on Collins, Collins Place and Collinstwo3four are also excellent places to shop in.

Little Collins Street between Bourke St and Swanston Street has become a wonderful little street with many top Australian and international designers such as Arthur Galan, Pierucci, Jag, Bettina Liano, French Connection, Scanlan & Theodore, Jigsaw, and Canturi for jewellery. Mouche is also a sexy accessories store.

Further up Little Collins Street between Swanston and Russell Street is the mens domain with top designer stores including Arthur Galan, Aquila Shoes, Satch, Genae, tzar, Godwin Charli, calibre, Ted Baker and Galanti which has designs by Versace, Dolce and Gabbana and Roberto Cavalli.

Still further up this street between Russell and Exhibition Street is the Hero Building. It houses Mecca Cosmetica, Kenzo, John Cavill, Anna Thomas, Sarti Men's Tailors and Assin.

Assin is an edgy store that has items by Dior Homme, Comme des Garçons and Ann Demeulemeester.

Flinders Lane is not to be ignored. The street used to be the heart of the rag trade but is now home to many hip stores including Zambesi, e.g.etal and Christine.

Christine has eccentric pieces imported from around the world. Famous customers include Cameron Diaz and Linda Evangelista.

Cathedral Arcade which is on Flinders Lane houses Alice Euphemia. A store that has been promoting independent Australian fashion designers for more than 10 years.

Chocolate lovers will be in heaven when they discover Max Brenner and Koko Black which are chocolate cafes. The high end Haighs and The Chocolate Box will also be treasured finds.

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