As ye sew, so shall ye reap

style counsel

So far fashion shopping in 1998 has been a non event. It's a case of yesterdays bread - the clothes are stale, boring leftovers. But, fear not. Most of the high street stores have some spring stock in (this alone is enough to get any fashion fan into a frenzy brought on by clothing starvation), and, what's more, the pieces for sale are instant outfit pick-me-ups.

One of the biggest trends to emerge in the last four seasons is abstract embroidery on T-shirts, dresses and cardigans. Ghost, Clements Ribeiro and Matthew Williamson came up with covetable versions for spring and summer, and now, as with all trends which have been bubbling under the mainstream, it has decided to hit in a big way. In fashion we know something has "hit" when everyone - and I mean everyone - does a version of it.

Miss Selfridge have fantastic printed versions in hot and pale pink T- shirts for only pounds 20, available now. Worn underneath a smart jacket, the T-shirt will instantly update a winter look to a spring one. Born Free, the innovative T-shirt design company, has a rather fetching shirt in three colour combinations: black or white with pink embroidery, and red with black embroidery; all highly directional colour combinations for the coming months. Oasis have embroidery on skirts, dresses and T-shirts, as well as on this crepe cardigan. Kookai, Morgan and Whistles are also worth checking out.

The ultimate motif-type embroidered top is the one from Clements Ribeiro. Shown here in silver and black, it is available in dozens of colour combinations, eg khaki and black, and orange and black.