New denim brand Hiut is reinvigorating the local community in Wales. Tim Walker visits a growing grass-roots fashion label

Rod Blagojevich, the former Governor of Illinois, began a 14-year jail term in Colorado yesterday. The one-time golden boy of Democratic Party politics in Illinois was found guilty of corruption. His immediate predecessor, George Ryan, was jailed for the same reason.

What we love, we're not sure about, we're buying and can't wait for...

Fashion: A warm Current is blowing in

Sibling rivalry? You better believe it. That's what makes Toby a superb comedy sketch duo, says Alice Jones

Sibling rivalry? You bet. That's what makes Toby a superb sketch duo

I remember that we had left our backpacks at Zoo Station and that we were going to save our Deutschmarks by staying out all night. I remember, too, when at last we came into the crumbling old courtyard, that the music was extraordinarily loud – a wall of sound made out of euphoria and ecstasy, the herald of a new world order.

It has emerged that Beyoncé and Jay-Z applied for a patent application for the name of their daughter, Blue Ivy, on January 26 – just three weeks after she was born.

"You can dress up, or you can dress down, but you have to be chic," said my friend, Charlie, during last month's haute couture collections in Paris. And she's right. With the show season approaching, it's total spring/summer look at one end of the spectrum – think ice-cream colours and be-jewelled slippers. At the other, battered jeans and Converse high-tops, say, remain a time-honoured uniform. Either has to be carried off with a sense of style, however, or, my favourite word just now, what with its Seventies connotations: panache.

For those who over indulged at Christmas, January is often the time when people vow to eat healthier, sign up to a gym or take a seat in the doctor's waiting room – if they have really overdone it.

Paige Adams-Geller is the go-to woman for flattering denim. She shares her secrets with Harriet Walker

The accessories

Whether in the cut-throat field of politics or the fashion industry's corridors of power, this year they left our planet a better place. Celebrate 10 of the best, nominated by Independent writers

The owner of Hawkin's Bazaar today became the latest victim of the squeeze in consumer spending when it collapsed into administration, putting nearly 400 jobs at risk.