Blog updates about maxi dresses two days in a row could only mean one thing: spring is so close, you can almost smell it.

In fact, my desk buddy Christie and I yesterday decided that we are no longer acknowledging winter in any way, shape or form. There will be no more purchasing of anything with long sleeves, anything knitted or anything in a fabric heavier than cotton.

Anyhow, I recently saw this Cooper St McQueen maxi dress advertised on the side of a bus (this is where I get all my best fashion inspiration) and it was love at first sight. The colours and pattern are so summery, plus it looks long enough for my liking - some maxi dresses tend to be too short on tall girls and end up sitting around your mid-calves, which just looks stupid.

Cooper St clothing is stocked nationwide at Myer, plus selected boutiques and the flagship store in Bondi Junction, Sydney.

By Caroline Warnes

I’ve literally just walked out of our regular Monday morning Lasoo meeting where it was revealed that “Cooper St Cirque Spliced Dress” was one of the most popular searches on the site over the past week.

This is rather bizarre considering that the most popular search terms are usually far more generic, like “Wii” or “Apple iPod Touch”.

This dress must really be something for people to be specific in searching for it, I thought to myself, so naturally I had to check it out as soon as I got back to my desk.

Frankly, I’m a little disappointed. Yeah, the dress is okay, but I was expecting something far more magical. It is reduced by 30% to $110, which makes it slightly more exciting.

If this style of dress is your cup of tea, you can pick it up from Myer.

By Caroline Warnes

If you love shopping online for a bargain, then you must check out this site which I stumbled across this morning - Fashion Labels For Less.

Although it isn’t the prettiest site in the world (or the easiest to navigate), it does have some decent savings on labels such as Seduce, Wish, Ladakh, Cooper St and Bebe Sydney. And at the end of the day, isn’t that all that matters?

Not all items are available in all sizes, hence the hefty discounts. But if you stumble across something you love and it’s in your size, you’re in luck. I love the Seduce dress pictured here, reduced to $99.95.

And stop by the under $50 section for some real bargains.

By Caroline Warnes

You may have already caught the TV ad but in case you didn’t… yes, in addition to the current mid-season sale, Myer is having a one-day sale today.

Today’s clearance offers 40% off a range of full-priced women’s fashion, including some of my favourite mid-range brands such as Cooper St.

I just checked out the Cooper St website to see what’s around at the moment, but the spinning effect employed to display the collection annoyed the hell out of me so I immediately closed my browser window.

I found some more of the collection on Viva La Frock and I do like the Little Red Riding Trench - I assume because this is new season it would be included in the one-day sale (damn not working near a Myer store, otherwise I would check).

My awesome powers of deduction (also known as the Google calculator) conclude that the $149 RRP comes down to $89.40 with the discount. That’s a bargain for a good winter coat.

By Caroline Warnes

A couple of months ago I wrote about this one-shoulder dress from Cooper St.

I love the design as well as the florals of the dress and remarked that it was pretty well-priced at $139 (full RRP).

Well, the one-shoulder dress pictured here Target’s Free Fusion range has a similar feel and is even more affordable at $49.99.

It would look great with some strappy sandals and a clutch bag for evening.

Want some more good news? If you buy any item from the Free Fusion range before next Wednesday, you can pick up a second item for half-price.

The perfect opportunity to stock up on some dresses for summer!

By Caroline Warnes

As soon as we get a day over 20 degrees I am at my nearest clothing shop rifling through racks of dresses.

Well, we had one in Sydney earlier this week and although it’s gone back to being chilly I am still desperately clinging onto hope that we are going to have plenty of dress wearing opportunities in the very near future.

Myer has some gorgeous dresses for spring in the summer fashion catalogue, including the absolutely gorgeous one-shoulder dress from Cooper St pictured here.

It’s a lovely chiffon number in pretty pastels and is on sale at 25% off the RRP until next Wednesday (for $104.25, which I reckon is all right for a dress).

You could dress it down for the day with flat sandals or wear it at night for strappy gold heels and jewellery.

I am going to resist the urge to use the shopping blog cliche “wear it out to cocktails” because really do most normal people go out to cocktails regularly? I think the last time I went out for cocktails was in around 1998 and the night ended disasterously in a situation that involved chugging straight gin out of a bottle. But at least I was wearing a nice dress.

By Caroline Warnes

I have this annoying compulsion that makes me buy a new dress for each of my birthdays. Even when I don’t need one. Particularly when I don’t need one.

That may not seem all that annoying to you, but trust me, it can be very frustrating when you spend $200 or more on something you only wear once. Even more frustrating is when your only birthday outing with the new dress is to your local pub or to a friend’s house.

That being said, my birthday is coming up in three weeks so once again I am on the hunt for a new dress. Well, why not? It can be my birthday present to myself.

Myer has become my favourite department store for women’s fashion in recent times and I’m salivating over the latest fashion range, especially the dresses (though maybe it’s more to do with the fact that Jennifer Hawkins is wearing most of them in the catalogue. She looks good in anything. In fact, she could wear a burlap sack and I’d probably consider buying it).

I’ve always wanted a Nicola Finetti dress, and the strapless number pictured here is pretty hot - not to mention it’s in my favourite colour, too. Although there are likely numerous better uses for my $309, at this point, well, I don’t really care. Though perhaps it may not be the best idea to hit the town in the same dress that Hawko wore in a national print advertisement as I could be setting myself up for a fall. Hmmm…

Moving on, I’m also a fan of the Cooper St satin dress in steel blue. On the plus side, it’s more affordable at $119, however on the minus side, satin can be the most unforgiving of fabrics.

You can see more of Myer’s latest fashions here.

In other news, Myer is currently clearing the quit stock from its recent stocktake sales. There isn’t heaps of stuff left to choose from, but you may chance a bargain find on women’s shoes and other items.

And the electrical sale is still on until February 18 - click here to see the full catalogue.

By Caroline Warnes