Here at Styledash, we have a hot, passionate little affair going on with cool and snug graphic tees. And some of our favorite come from Gabriella Davi-Khorasanee -- the founder of women's streetwear label Mama.

Known for her feminine and conscious designs, Gabirella has served up a whimsical line of seven nautical-inspired tees for her spring collection that come equipped with that slight bit of an edge that we've all come to expect and love from Mama. This time, the bite comes in the form of Blondie i.e., Debbie Harry.

Calvin Klein's white label has become so popular that the line is heading out on its own into five retail stores in the United States.The stores will have a stark design that will mimic the luxury minimalism we have seen from the line recently. The first five stores will be in shopping malls: The Beverly Center in Los Angeles; Cherry Creek in Denver; The Mall At Partridge Creek in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan; Natick Collection in Natick, Massachusetts; and Lenox Square in Atlanta and will open in November 2007. Each concept store will average approximately 10,000 square feet and will bring together merchandise from the categories available today under the Calvin Klein white label line of men's and women's better apparel. If the stores are a success there could be as many as 100 stores eventually.

As an article in WWD reports, opening signature stores is a growing trend among luxury fashion brands which one used to sell their wares primarily in department stores. This gets me thinking about the shopping experience as a whole. Let's say you are looking for a purse. Now if you were in search of a type of purse, say a brown leather satchel for example, then the department store is the obvious choice. But it seems that many people find themselves attracted by the aesthetic of a certain brand and therefore wind up wanting to know what that brand has new. This type of brand identity has led to the rise of not just the signature stores but also the store within a store designer-branded boutiques that many of the larger department stores have adopted.

Nordstrom may be selling their Faconnable brand of clothing. It may not be a brand you seek out but if you have seen it while browsing in a Nordstrom store or especially at their Nordstrom Rack discounted stores where it seems to often end up at sale prices. So far, company spokespeople have just said that they are reviewing options but an NY Post stores has projected bids of around $200 million for the line. Nordstrom bought the French clothing line in 2000 and the line is sold in their mainline stores and four U.S. boutiques as well as in 23 other countries. There are 36 Faconnable boutiques in Europe but Nordstrom hasn't really been able to make Faconnable work for them here in the States. The bidder is thought to be a private-equity firm. It seems like the brand should head back to a European-based company. My question for you is, as a shopper, will you notice, or care if Faconnable is no longer at Nordstrom?