Welcome to Melbourne, Fashionistas. This virtual guide begins in the heart of Melbourne’s central business district, a maze of streets, laneways, alleys and pockets of fashion goodies for us all to enjoy. The only challenge the shopper faces is, how do I get there? The best way is to plan ahead. Start your day with espresso.

Degraves Street is located here and the best place to kick-start your day, with quality espresso and breakfast from any one of the hole-in-the-wall espresso bars. If you’re lucky, you might see an editorial shoot right by your table …

Walk due North to the end of Degraves to the corner of Flinders Lane. Look LEFT.

A moments walk, cross the lane and you’ll find the Sydney-to-Melbourne expansion of the Incu empire. Don’t worry, Tangent’s been in touch and we’ll hear from them rather soon. Incu Melbourne stocks menswear, jewelery and knicknacks for the moment … but fair warning, you may walk out with a treasure from Henrik Vibskov – like this blogger did (guilty).

Upon your exit turn LEFT down Flinders Lane. A few alleyways down you will find Manchester Lane.

And you’ve arrived at the Claude Maus boutique. Claude Maus is a Melbourne-renowned, chic and sophisticated label. Tangent recommends anything in silk. Once you’ve cleaned out all of their stock walk due North towards Collins Street here. Turn LEFT and cross the street.

The Block Arcade is very hard to miss. It is located on Collins Street here and houses the Mimco boutique, the Hopetoun Tea Rooms (a good one for visitors from afar), Haigh’s Chocolates and Kosta Boda. Walk thru the arcade, turn left at Haigh’s and make a sharp right and you’ll find another little Melbourne laneway gem.

Block Place is filled to the brim with tiny cafés and restaurants. Watch out for the maître d’s – they’ll have you over a barrel for a six course lunch and you won’t even know it. If you make a b-line for the end of the alleyway you’ll come out at Little Collins St here.

Just to the RIGHT and across Little Collins is the Royal Arcade. Walk past the café at the entrance and you’ll find an infamous doorway, below.

Through the doorway you will find this stairway (to heaven).

On Level 1 you will encounter the Marais boutique. Allow at least 2 hours in here if you feel feint at the sight of Viktor & Rolf, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Lanvin … sorry, I’m getting a little short of breath. On your exit, turn LEFT up the stairs.

Need I say more? One more level and you will find the Somewhere boutique. You can see the Tangent blog article here for more info. If by this point you haven’t died and gone to fashion retail heaven go back downstairs to the arcade and turn LEFT towards Bourke Street Mall here.

Bourke St Mall in all its glory. Cast your eyes LEFT and you will find shopping mecca, Melbourne’s GPO.

Inside you’ll find a treasure trove of Melbourne, International and Australian labels, and boutiques such as …

Acne, Fat & Alpha 60, plus if you venture upstairs to the Mezzanine you’ll find my favourites Belinda and last, but certainly not the least … the Limedrop pop-up store. Make sure you drop in before they pop-out.

That’s enough for now. We’ll continue rather soon.