YES PLEASE ...

Who couldn't help but stride about in a purposeful manner in a coat such as this? It is ridiculously well-priced at pounds 125 (80 per cent wool, 20 per cent nylon) and comes in sage as well as black in sizes 10-16. If you wear it with long boots or thick tights and flat lace-ups, all you need is a riding crop and a couple of big dogs. And the gold lace top and skirt are a fantastic buy for those great/dreaded Christmas parties coming up, and better than a little black dress any day (see below). They cost pounds 40 each and come in the same sizes. All three are available from Principles nationwide; call 0171-927 1443.

This week's No Thank You is aimed mainly at myself. The Little Black Dress, so they tell me, has had its day. Anyone who turns up at a party in one now might as well wear a placard saying: "I'm sad and stuck in the Eighties." Well that's as may be, but little black dresses are jolly useful. They hide a multitude of sins and hint at a dark, devilish side of you in a way no other colour can. Yes, I too long to turn up at a gathering wearing A Colour, and sometimes I do. But then the style has to be more carefully thought out, to ensure it is more flattering, and I get into a tizz about what shoes to wear. We should all, therefore, be out there looking at alternatives to LBDs. Except for me of course. Because I write about what you should all do, and then do what I damned well please.