Feeling liverish, as your granny used to say? The good news is that this is the one time of year when it is nothing short of uncouth to consider wearing anything remotely fashionable and, even more so, tight-fitting and/or fabulously transformative.

Here’s a text message I received last week. “Hi Susannah. Clive here. It’s Iris’s birthday and I wondered if you had any ideas? She seems to like everything you like! Heading to Dover Street Market at lunchtime (don’t tell her, obviously). Clothes. Jewellery. Anything. Many thanks.”

The daughter of Anglo-French musical royalty, Charlotte Gainsbourg was destined to be a performer – and now she's in the hottest arthouse film of the year. So what does the actress and singer have to be shy about?

Everyone loves an animal print.

Of all the festivals, it's at Cannes where the A-listers really show their style. Susannah Frankel on the red carpet triumphs and disasters

Chic shopping options, as selected by Grant Thatcher from <a target="new" href="http://www.luxecityguides.com">LUXE</a> City Guides

There's a fine line between shopping with healthy enthusiasm and displaying signs of out-and-out addiction. For me, this is tested most regularly by the desire to own more pairs of jeans than is strictly necessary. Strange to relate, then, that the discipline with which I have chosen not to invest in denim this season is unprecedented.

"I'm writing a new column called 'Susannah shops'," I told my other half last week. "But you don't," he replied, which just goes to show how effective my sweeping through the front door, carrier bags in tow, never catching his eye and shouting "It's not for me" must be. Most of the time that's a lie. Obviously. I certainly wasn't buying the Rick Owens' fine-knit harem pants I came home with most recently for anyone else.

The new collections are currently in full flow and if, in recent times, the overriding rule has been to eschew intimacy in favour of high-profile, blockbuster presentation – generating as much publicity as possible being fashion's Holy Grail – that may be about to change.

Conceived almost 200 years ago by a Glasgow chemist with an interest in rubber and turned into a fashion icon by stars such as Audrey Hepburn and Steve McQueen, the Mackintosh became the venerable British brand that lost its way. Next week, it seals a remarkable comeback with its first stand-alone store.

The designs at Zara appeal to women of all ages, tend to be flattering, and are also smart enough to be worn in the office

While the very idea of "intellectual" fashion is likely to bring out an even a half-intelligent woman in hives, there are certain industry heavyweights who regularly come up with designs that provoke a certain amount of thought at least.

Fashion detox. You've heard the puff. It's January: time to go through your wardrobe and get rid of anything you haven't worn for the past three/six/twelve months depending on how profligate you may or may not be.