Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life review

If you're looking for a last-minute Christmas present for a fashion-loving friend, you can't go wrong with Justine Picardie's captivating biography of legendary French fashion designer Coco Chanel.

Full of glorious images, thrilling tales of passionate love affairs and a well-researched account of Chanel's rise to the top, and the battles she faced along the way, this book has put Coco firmly on my list of my female heroes.

Read my review here.

Next's fur clogs/is fashion melting my brain?

I'm no slave to fashion. I follow the trends - it's part of my job - but my style pretty much remains the same, with the odd experiment. Neither I am a killer heels kind of girl - I'm just not willing to suffer for style and therefore spend most of my life in boots or pumps. So, it is with these facts in mind that I find myself utterly confused by my fervent attraction to Next's A/W season fur-trimmed clog boots.

This is try-hard footwear - so on-trend that it hurts. Ever since Alexa Chung stepped out in Chanel's S/S 2010 prairie-girl clogs, they have been a constant in the fashion press's 'must-have' lists, being paired with everything from Seventies-style maxi dresses to denim hotpants. And with Karl Lagerfeld focusing on fur as the look for A/W 2010/11, it's no surprise that clogs are toughening up for the colder months.

So yes, bound to be a big hit with fashionistas, and already championed by fashion bloggers such as Emily O'Brien over at www.myfashionlife.com. But would I be able to walk in them? Most probably not for more than five minutes. And what would I wear them with? My black skinnies is the only item which doesn't conjure up ridiculous images in my fashion-addled-mind. More worryingly, does my lust for Heidi/yeti-hybrid footwear mean that I am turning into a stereotype? Is my flat soon to be filled with hilariously impractical shoes which appear to be feats of engineering genius?

I can't explain myself - I just think they're great, and at £55, affordable too. Am I going mad? Please, someone, reassure me.

The white stuff

Forget the LBD, this season it's all about the LWD, or Little White Dress. As collections focus in on all things pretty, a short white sun dress is a must-have item for spring/summer, with designers such as Yves Saint Laurent, Versace and Gucci among the many to show their take on the classic piece.

I'm of the persuasion that if you're going to do something, you may as well go all out, which is why Chanel's collection of ultra-feminine prairie-style LWDs are my favourite of the season. Lagerfeld's tongue-in-cheek 'roll in the hay' themed show framed the collection perfectly and showed us that we must accessorise the trend with wooden wedges and flowers in our hair.

Of course, few of us are lucky enough to be able to snap up a 'darling piece of Chanel', so here are three more affordable gems from the high-street.

Topshop, £45
New Look, £28
Lipsy, £50