Go western, young woman

There's no call to go over the top with this cowgirl thang, but a little touch of fringing won't go amiss this spring

THANKS to the likes of Alexander McQueen at Givenchy, Antonio Berardi, Valentino and Anna Sui, it is becoming deeply fashionable to look like a cowgirl these days. Antonio Berardi sent his models down the runways wearing bodices encrusted in rhinestones, and glitzy stetsons. At Givenchy, there were

yet more stetsons and lots of fringing on everything.

Predictably, the style press have advised not wearing the whole look: "a subtle fringe here..." perhaps, or "cowboy boots worn with your usual suit". Actually, I don't know anybody who would consider wearing this whole Wild West look from head to foot. Budding designer-clad cowgirls will need to have access to a lot of rhinestones to buy the entire look, and clever-dick cowgirls will no doubt spend hours sourcing original western accessories at markets. If you're neither of these, and you still want to have a bit of fun with this cowgirl thang, then these fringed leather ankle boots from Shellys are just the thing to bring a little bit of Wild West to your wardrobe. They cost pounds 59.99 (available in sizes 3-8) and you can get them in either black or tan (enquiries: 0181 450 0066). Temptingly useful as the black ones may seem, we prefer the tan ones because they'll look really sexy with jeans. Okay, a few people will have a giggle at them, but they are the very height of fashion and for sixty quid you can't go wrong, can you?