You may not be able to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, but one Nova Scotia woman has found a lacy purple bra does just fine. When Marissa LaPierre, 24, reaches for a bra, it's not to adjust the strap. The Kentville woman makes purses out of them, like the purple Delta Burke model that was the first one she ever made. LaPierre, who has a textiles degree from Concordia University in Montreal, calls her company Bra d'Or (bra of gold), a play on the Bras d'Or region of Cape Breton. She got the idea in 2001 when her brother, as a prank, took a bra, put the cups together and slung it over his shoulder. LaPierre thought it looked like a purse. Since then she's made hundreds of the hand-sewn bra purses, which she sells online and at a farmers' market in Kentville. She laughs at the reaction they get.

Dresses Dominate BCBG's Runway

The success of the dress continues.

At the Wednesday morning preview of BCBG Max Azria's spring collection, the first womenswear line presented as part of New York Fashion Week, one delicate dress floated down the runway after another. The best part: many were wearable.

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