Aran wool is not a fabric one would normally associate with ballgowns. It is the knitwear of fishermen and aran knit patterns are thought to date back over 3,000 years.

Police arresting anti-fur protesters Tracy Reiman (left), an American; Anthony Jeffries (centre), from East Kent Animal Welfare, and Ingrid Newkirk, co-founder of Peta, a US-based organisation which opened a London office this month. They were held during a semi-naked protest in Regent Street, central London, yesterday.

Sir: I have noticed that in nearly all public buildings the temperature is adjusted to be comfortable for the employees who work there.

BOUNDARIES are being crossed. Last spring, the international catwalks showed multiple examples of fashion's new mismatching - items not usually worn together were put together in new, fresh ways. Then came summer and a general loosening up - the return of the fluid dress, the fusion of Eastern and Western styles, the fall of the shortie skirt (though thighs made brief appearances at haute couture in July) and more breaking of rules.

THE DRESS is the undisputed essential garment for this summer. The faded, floral dress, the chiffon, floaty dress, the nightdress worn layered over another nightdress in daylight hours and the second-hand dress worn with clumpy boots are already stamped as the fashion looks for summer 1993. For those who don't follow fashion slavishly, the other kind of dress - the one you love that comes out year after year the minute the temperature hints at rising - will be viewed as not just comfortable and easy this time around, but also as the height of fashion.

AFTER austerity, opulence. In the season that has inflicted gamines and waifs on us, with their bony, boyish hips and tiny little chests, in the evening, at least, fashion is still celebrating the survival of a few womanly curves.

IF YOU usually miss out on silk undies at Christmas because you do not fit in with conventional underwear sizing, the Bust Stop special size mail-order catalogue may provide a solution. The new company estimates that 11 per cent of women in this country take a bra cup D or above. Bust Stop's bras range from 30D to 32FF and up to 48GG. Styles include a silk bustier for pounds 37 and a silk Jacquard body for pounds 75, both designed by Catherine Fuller. For brochure and information, ring Libby Garside, 081-943 9733.

SHERWOOD, the lace maker, has pushed its pre-tax profits up by a quarter, helped by acquisitions and greater success in selling finished garments.

IMPERIAL Chemical Industries yesterday said it remained optimistic of going ahead with a pounds 350m asset swap with Du Pont of the United States, even though the European Commission's merger authorities are expected to block the deal.

Joy Ganjou (Juanita), variety artist and dancer, died 27 July, aged 80. A member of 'The Ganjou Brothers and Juanita' act, she appeared in the music and variety hall stages of the 1930s and 1940s. Wearing a skimpy silk costume and billed as 'Romance in Porcelain' and 'Poetry in Motion', she performed acrobatic stunts with her brothers. The troupe were among the highest-paid performers of their time.