Update

Flat out

Above: Henrietta ballet shoes, £180; frenchsole.com

Bring out your ballet flats, madam: they’re back, they’re beyond and they mean business. “They aren’t the preserve of Sloanes,” says Wardrobe Mistress. “They’re cool, comfortable and brilliant for slimming the ankles. Wear with tight jeans.

Puppy love

Above: large hoops, £25, and gold hoops with heart pendants, £39, by Victoria Young

Take one cool stylist (Victoria Young) and one of the hottest jewellery sites known to cyberspace (myflashtrash.com), and the best earring collaboration of the season is born. We say “woof” to these oversize hoops.

Words: Laura Weir and Richard Gray. Shopping: Flossie Saunders

Beauty news

Stick it to ’em

Above: Lily Loves stick-on nails, from £7, by Elegant Touch; superdrug.com

Lily Allen loves a bit of nail art. “I’m obsessed with nails; I have them done about four times a week,” she tells me. So are her nails in good nick? “My natural nails? I couldn’t tell you, I haven’t seen them for about a year. They’re probably quite bad.” Her fans seem pretty nail-obsessed too, I tell her. One recent post garnered 19,033 likes. “Is that a lot? I don’t know what is a lot and what isn’t,” she says, giggling. “I’m not really a ‘like’ counter.” Well, yes, it’s pretty good going. But the question she gets asked the most is: how does she change her baby’s nappy with them? So, how does she? “Well, you end up using your hand in a different, more flat way. I can’t really explain it.” A bit like feet in high heels? She giggles again. “Yeah, exactly. The only thing I can’t do is put on fiddly earring backs.” With this much dedication, it “seemed like a fitting thing” to team up with Elegant Touch on a collaboration of stick-on false nails; it’s her first beauty hook-up. The designs, from the London skyline (LDN, top right) and the colourful leopard prints (Knock ’Em Out, above right), to bejewelled black and grey (Hard Out Here), are named after songs from her albums: “I like to think of a theme to link everything together.” Go on, channel Lily and get your claws out.

I woke up like this

It’s the new Instagram beauty craze: face-mask selfies (see backstage at Haider Ackermann, top, and Joan Smalls, above). Get in on the act with Bioderma’s new Hydrabio Moisturising Mask (£15) for a quick restorative boost to the complexion, or Crème de la Mer’s new Intensive Revitalising Mask (£105) for some serious skin tlc. Social media optional

Can't live without

Above: Aromatherapy Associates Relax Deep Bath & Shower Oil, £40

“When friends have trouble sleeping, I recommend Aromatherapy Associates Relax Deep Bath & Shower Oil. The ingredients work together to totally relax you. It helps me to destress quickly.”

Eau de phone?

Has screen-and-sniff finally arrived? Well, not quite. But that day is edging ever closer with the launch of the oSnap app. At the moment, it’s pretty convoluted — you’ll need to visit an oPhone hotspot or buy an oPhone to download your scent — but it’s progress.

Words: Edwina Ings-Chambers

Jewellery news

We are enamoured

Above, clockwise from left, Neverending ruby ring, £2,050, by Jade Jagger for 1stdibs.com. Small white gold and enamel safety pin earring, £130, by IAM by Ileana Makri; net-a-porter.com. Honfleur Aphrodite manchette, £860, by Freywille. Strata ring, £900, by Hattie Rickards Blue enamel charm, £55, by Pandora. Neverending sapphire ring, £2,250, by Jade Jagger for 1stdibs.com.

“I’ve always loved enamel,” says the jewellery designer Jade Jagger. “I think it has been underplayed because there was a lot of cheap cold enamel that came out that detracted from it.” For her new Neverending collection for 1stdibs.com, out on Wednesday, she used hot enamelling, which is done on 18ct gold, to create seriously stylish but elegantly ethnic pieces (the white enamelling work was done in India). Enamel is also a way of creating coloured jewellery, rather than using stones. The designer Ileana Makri says it’s a really modern material with contemporary edge — “and I love the shine it gives”. For other contemporary options, try Pandora’s charm beads and Hattie Rickards’s neon rings, or for a timeless piece of fine enamelling, there’s Freywille, the Vienna-based company that’s totally enameltastic.

Modern twist

Above, anticlockwise from left, Pompadour Split sapphire ring, £3,645, and micro-pavé ring, £3,970, by Maison Martin Margiela, from Mouki Mou. Gold and diamond rings, from £530 each, by Kirsten Goss

In the mood for a reworked classic? Try Heritage by Maison Martin Margiela, which has given traditional fine jewellery the typical Margiela deconstruction: split stones, broken bands. Or, check out Kirsten Goss’s misshapen 18ct gold and diamond rings — the initial-stamped versions are a modern take on the signet ring.

Happy hours

Tick-tock, tick-tock: it’s time for a whole new raft of fashion watches. From left: Olivia Burton’s designs feature nature sketches (£75; oliviaburton.com). This limited-edition chrono (£279), by Michael Kors, marks his second year of collaboration with the World Food Programme. The US brand Caravelle has just launched here (rose gold chrono, £130). The British brand Shore Projects offers day-to-day chic with straps that can easily be changed (St Ives, £115).

Stuck on you

There’s a new way to fake it: temporary jewellery tattoos. The stealth hit of the summer comes courtesy of Flash Tattoos (flashtat.com), a US-based label. The styles cover anything from bangles and necklaces to body and ankle chains — apply them alone or incorporate them as part of your jewellery stacks. They last up to six days. From £20; saltresortwear.com

Words: Edwina Ings-Chambers

Shopping news

What women want: slogan sweater

Above: sweater, £250, by Bella Freud

There is nothing tougher to wear than a slogan top. A sweater emblazoned with the word “Cliché” is a sweater you will wear half as often. The exceptions to this rule are Bella Freud’s merino-wool signature sweaters, which have a select following (including K Moss) and somehow manage to be cool, timeless and smart. Ginsberg is God is probably best left to the hipsters, but Loving is a classic anyone can carry off with trousers, a leather skirt, even shorts. It’s a neat way to glam up a boyish casual look.

Words: Shane Watson

Lucy loves: Lanvin

Above: coat, £2,695, shoes, £410, fur pompom cap, £445, and bag, £625, by Lanvin

Alber Elbaz is on a roll. If you are looking for a winter coat, then check out his pre-fall collection. Everything — the bags, shoes and jewellery — is genius. Then, in January, his fabulous resort collection will hit the shops, and that’s amazing, too.

Words: Lucy Ewing

Men news

The need for tweed

Primark may be known for many things — quick, affordable fashion for the ladies, the odd bit of homeware, and cracking tights (or so we hear) — but up until now, it hasn’t registered on our radar as a go-to destination for classic men’s tailoring. Its new collaboration with Harris Tweed looks set to change all that with a four-piece collection made of the pure-wool cloth, dyed, spun and hand-woven in the Outer Hebrides by the team of 130 craftsmen. The £85 price tag for a slim-cut jacket and £30 for a waistcoat make this the lowest-priced Harris Tweed collection ever.

Big hitter

Above: from £70; lyleandscott.com

There’s more to the heritage golfing brand Lyle & Scott than a plain polo and some plaid. As one of a series of collaborations to mark its 140th anniversary, it has teamed up with the Scottish designer and master of colour Jonathan Saunders for a range of brilliant knits. Just make sure to get your mitts on them before your missus does.

Perfect plums

Above: Below the Belt Grooming, from £7; btbgrooming.co.uk

To the gym changing room and the refreshing of a gent’s downstairs doings. A friend of Style has been testing Fresh & Dry Balls and calls it a “wonder cream” and “the best thing in the world for healthy swingers”. Likening it to liquid talc, he adds: “It keeps your bits box-fresh all day long.”

Words: Richard Gray and Michael Hennegan

Living news

On the bright side

Above: Driftig crockery, from £2.50; ikea.com

Though we know a trip to the Swedish megastore isn’t everyone’s idea of fun, a stealth visit to your nearest Ikea would be totally worth it to pick up a set of this beautiful crockery. And while we’re keeping everything crossed for an Indian summer, if the sun fails to get its hat on, at least your table will be drenched in glorious colour. Looking more like an interiors line from a luxury fashion house, the Driftig range starts at £2.50. So, straight in and straight out, and no dawdling by the tea lights — you don’t need them.

Just add water

Dress up your drooping buds with a vase to be proud of.

From left: Cactus vase, £36; conranshop.co.uk. Alba Flower Me Happy vase, £65; liberty.co.uk. Versailles Fluo Amphora, £119, by Seletti; amara.com

Fashion fiesta

Above. from left: Mirta dress, £54, shoes, £39, brown socks, £4, and bow clip, £4. Grey jumper, £39, and midnight-blue desert boots, £39. All by La Coqueta Kids; lacoquetakids.com

Every little girl loves a flamenco dress, and although lurid man-made fabrics and superfluous ruffles may only be suitable for occasional fancy dress, there are other ways to treat your kids to a little Spanish style. La Coqueta’s collection, all proudly made in Spain, reworks traditional Spanish shapes and detailing in high-quality fabrics and yarns. Guaranteed to make your little ones the nattiest niños in town.

Words: Claudia Baillie and Olly Paton