So you want to make like Marilyn Monroe? You don't need to start a hot and heavy affair with a president nor hit the (bleach) bottle. What you need is a needle and thread, some slinky white fabric and a copy of a new book, Sew Iconic: How to Make 10 Classic Hollywood Dresses by Liz Llewellyn (A&C Visual Arts, £14.99).

The early American reaction to Nicki Minaj's follow-up to Pink Friday has been "mixed" – which is entirely appropriate, given that the album itself has an almost schizophrenic character.

Winter in the Eternal City provides the best chance to soak up the history without all the hassle. At least that's the theory

'I'm very good at archery'

Vintage prints of the stars of Hollywood's 'Golden Age' will be on display at the National Portrait Gallery from 7 July.

The star of the hit film Singin' in the Rain , Debbie Reynolds' is to sell off some of Hollywood's most famous frocks when part of her collection of movie memorabilia goes under the hammer in Beverly Hills today.

Pyjamas have seen something of a revival these past chilly winters. Not the mimsy ones in pastel colours whose principal existence now is in the parallel world of modesty-conforming television bedrooms, but the full flannel, with stripes, cord and top pocket (for your hanky, of course). What could be more comforting and more secure (so long as you've tied the cord properly) while the ice grips and the wind whistles without?

As he nears retirement, Mr Shaw the insurance broker goes on his summer holiday and falls for a creature with "eyes a man could drown in". Their "strange affair" begins with a shock of mutual recognition in a field: "two strangers come face to face" and "an overpowering force shakes them". Shaw takes his new-found beloved back to the family home, an object of "devotion" as much as "affection". She wins over office colleagues, when she comes into work, with her "lovely personality". Her staff assessment promises swift promotion."Always well-groomed and never over-dressed", she also learns to play chess with a grandmaster's eye and a killer instinct. Her gift shows off "the grace of a dancer, the force of a juggernaut". Yet, for all her allure, this angelic being keeps a distance: "She combined great personal charm with an air of serene detachment". Then, one sad night, Caroline nudges open the door of her makeshift stable in Mr Shaw's backyard and disappears for ever.

Does anyone actually want to look like Audrey Hepburn these days," I asked a colleague last week as yet another soon-to-be-published volume extolling the virtues of the actor's style – So Audrey: 59 Ways to Put a Little Hepburn in Your Step – landed on the fashion desk.

Macs and trenchcoats have had some bad press over the years – associated with flashers, disreputable private detectives, Cold War spies and Inspector Gadget. Now, however the raincoat is firmly back on the fashion track as a unisex classic.

Dino De Laurentiis, the prolific Hollywood impresario who was behind more than 500 movies and left an indelible footprint on the way the industry makes and markets major films, has died. He was 91.