Update

Royal footwear
How can a fun-loving royal on an official visit to the Caribbean express his inner hedonist without causing a stir?

For Prince Harry, his feet are the only available area for flair (that and friendship bracelets).

We applaud the choice of desert boots (£115, Russell & Bromley; they also come in tobacco and sand), but only a sloane would wear them with an anaemic shirt tucked into baggy chinos.

Harry clearly wants to be the cool royal, but a truly cool kid would style those shoes with an APC T-shirt and narrow Acne jeans or coloured chinos (from Carhartt or Gap).

One pair of shoes cannot undo years of social conditioning. But don’t worry, Harry. Cool kids can’t dance. Go get ’em, snake hips!

David Beckham 1998
In 1998, David was the new footballer on the block, and Victoria was the Spice Girl who didn’t sing. Then Becks unwittingly kick-started metrosexuality. How? By wearing a Jean Paul Gaultier sarong with black trousers and a tank top for dinner

in the south of France. By 2003, he was named the most influential man in Britain, transforming men’s attitudes to sex, love, babies and grooming — much to the delight of moisturising men the world over. Illustration by Erin Petson

If clothes could speak...

Kate Moss Supreme t-shirt
"It was never meant to be a big night out. Me and the boys just went down to the pub, but these girls that Gaz liked had heard about this rave down the road, and Dave had this wicked new legal high, so we was like, “Why not?” I was buzzin’, mate, buzzin’.

Got in a scrap with some last-season Givenchy tee, but I was like, “Whatever, mate — do one.”

Ended up coming round on the motorway underpass, with a love bite, no wallet and no shoes – but I had a mint night. Brrrrrap, brrrrrap." T-shirt, £40, by Supreme

Triumph launched its new lingerie range with live models in the shop window at Selfridges. As the girls filed through the department store before it opened, it was hard to resist this picture, taken on the escalator. By Tom Craig

(Pascal Le Segretain)

Another season, another string of fashion weeks over. And, oh, what a finale Paris gave us. Forget the recession; those Parisians showed us a return to decadence that saw Karl serve caviar portions the size of our heads and indoor go-karting with the A list at Kanye’s afterparty (helmets provided, of course — safety first).

Meanwhile, no expense was spared over at the Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs exhibition at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. It was one big love-in for Marc, who was dressed in a natty pink Comme des Garçons T-shirt dress (obvs). “Marc is very special and I really admire him,” Natalia Vodianova told us, while Robert Pattinson dragged himself away from his girlfriend, Kristen Stewart, to tell us he thought the exhibition was “beautiful — I loved it”.

Sadly, it all came to a bumpy end when everyone coming back to London got stuck on the Eurostar for eight hours — quelle horreur! Let’s hope the new decadence trend translates to Britain some time soon. And next time we’ll take the private jet, darlink.

At the Vuitton show, from top Natalia Vodianova and Antoine Arnault, SJP, Marc Jacobs and Gwynnie

(Dave Benett)

To H&M for a sneak peak at the new collection by Marni. We fought our way through the door into a fashion frenzy. Then we bumped into the ever-serene Yasmin Le Bon, her bag bursting with spoils, and paused for a chat. “I love Marni,” she cooed. “You have to buy something you love, and it may take years to figure out how to wear it, but eventually you will.” Such wisdom. What we really wanted to find out was if she has a walk-in wardrobe? “It’s more of a squish-in,” she confessed. Perfect practice for elbowing her way to the front of the queue, we noted.

What we wore to Paris... If you weren’t in vintage Christopher Kane, then top-to- toe matching was the trend at Paris Fashion Week. It’s the new mix’n’match, babes.

You’ll have had the Union Jack-emblazoned memo by now — this year, we’re all meant to be proudly patriotic. But it’s not only because the world’s top athletes are descending, or because our monarch has held onto her throne for the lion’s share of a century — it’s also because we are enjoying an interiors renaissance, and home-grown design talent is stronger than ever. The V&A has a new exhibition at the end of the month, British Design: Innovation in the Modern Age, celebrating big hitters such as Tom Dixon and Robin Day, and smaller names are attracting attention, too.

Steuart Padwick’s desks and dressers, such as this Fonteyn table (£349; steuartpadwick.co.uk), are cleverly considered, Katrin Moye is reviving the Albion art of ceramics with her whimsical bowls (£155; katrinmoye.com), and the new Conran Shop collection, including this jug (£35), features more pieces made here than ever before. This highlights what we do well — understated, functionally beautiful design — and puts the Great back into Britain.

There’s nothing more British than sitting down to relax with a cup of tea, and these stools mean you really can put your feet up.

Bring the countryside to baby indoors with Little Joule, the first nursery collection from a quintessentially British label.

Already well known for its quirky prints and pretty colour palette, Joules has branched out into baby interiors and scattered its signature prints across everything you might need for a well-decked-out nursery: supersoft blankets, bedding and traditional moses baskets, all strewn with tractors and farmyard animals for boys, and balloons, rabbits and cupcakes for girls.

A cot mobile featuring Larry the Lamb, Francis the Frog, Harry the Hare and Winnie the Horse is guaranteed to keep restless sleepers entertained, while practical nursery essentials such as nappy stackers should bring order to the chaos. Nursery Cosy Cot bedding set, £110, comforter toy, £12, and moses basket, £85

His and hers might still work as a monogram concept for your dressing gowns (well, if your style reference is along the lines of Hart to Hart), but when it comes to scent, the latest thinking is all about unisex. Tom Ford’s fragrances are pitched as one for all and all for one who can afford them — if you perceive some to be more feminine than others, that’s your call. His latest, Lavender Palm (right hand image from £125), a sort of earthy take on lavender, packs the usual Ford punch but refuses to be pigeonholed gender-wise.

At Estée Lauder, it’s a similar deal with Wood Mystique — a Middle East-inspired concoction of rose, jasmine and agar wood (middle image from £110, from Harrods, from April). It’s such a sexy fragrance, who cares who’s actually wearing it? Finally, there’s Viktor & Rolf’s Spicebomb (left hand from £60). Officially, this is a for-him fragrance, but the fashion duo love to cross-reference. This peppery, citrus smell is referred to as “a weapon of mass seduction”, so who dares (spritz), wins.

(Todd Williamson)

Hmmm, do we suspect that Mr Pitt’s hair colour is

no longer quite natural? Far be it from us to cast aspersions, but, whether real or touched up, there’s a good lesson on show here: if your beard hair is grey,

but you have no other grey hairs on your head, don’t

be tempted to bleach the facial stragglers. It’s time-consuming, you’ll have root issues before you can say “Legalise gay marriage”, and, clearly, it just isn’t necessary. Hairy contrasts are fine and dandy.

Avon’s Anew Clinical Eye Lift Pro IS a two-in-one product worth seeking out. apply the gel to YOUR upper lids for an instant lift — seriously, you’ll notice the difference — and the cream under the eye to counteract puffiness and crepy skin. It’s also packed with injectable-grade ingredients to boost collagen. Packaging is minimal, so chaps can use it in the changing rooms without being embarrassed. £13; avonshop.co.uk

(Frazer Harrison)

Marc Reagan, global manager of artistry at Bobbi Brown, has been teaching us some brow tricks.

First, apply foundation right up to the edge of the brow, otherwise any redness will be emphasised.

Powder gives a more emphatic finish — use a stiff brush to tap in colour, but don’t overload it.

Last: boys, you need to tame your brows, too. “It’s just good grooming,” Reagan says.

Forget the colour — “It’ll look too made-up” — but do trim and tweeze.

Even Daniel Radcliffe admits to that.

Our obsession with matching and complementing can mean, at times, our homes can become far too co-ordinated. The effect is often the interiors equivalent of wearing head-to-toe beige — bland. That’s hardly an accusation that could be levelled at the Turner Prize winner Martin Creed.

He’s transformed the Gallery at Sketch, the London restaurant, with an installation that fuses art, design and food, where every single table, chair, glass and piece of cutlery is completely different.

Mixing handmade and mass-produced items, antiques and contemporary pieces, the space will make you look at the stuff you surround yourself with in an entirely new way. sketch.uk.com

(HO)

For those office-bound blokes despairing of the nine-to-five and hankering after a more outdoorsy existence, this former shooting lodge in the Highlands is the stuff dreams are made of.

Set in 17.5 rugged acres with its own wood, with golf and fishing on hand, it’s the perfect place to man up.

Put the 11 bedrooms to good use and invite the guys over for a weekend of walking, watersports and whisky.

Sunday morning: ignore the hangover, pull on a new-season Burberry Prorsum parka and head to the hills for a brisk hike before lunch.

Offers over £795,000; savills.co.uk

Dining chairs — get them right and your life could be bliss. Think of all the great meals, hours of chat and bottles of wine to be drunk.

It’s not only about comfort; what you decide to perch on during meals says a lot about who you are. Purchasing dining chairs is a perfect opportunity to add personality to a room.

Why, then, do so many people go for those nasty, narrow, high-backed leather-covered versions that are everywhere on the high street?

The only thing they say that’s repeatable is “taste lobotomy”.

However, a classic, such as Arne Jacobsen’s Series 7 chair, is the perfect balance of bum-nestling comfort and cool Scandi design credentials.

Much imitated but never matched, it now comes in a range of wood veneer finishes, including walnut, cherry, elm and beech. Seating at its most sensible and slick.

Arne Jacobsen Series 7 chair in walnut finish with black metallic legs, £377; fritzhansen.com