Style shrinks: Does Nicole Scherzinger still have the X Factor?

(Rex Features)

The Hair

Gemma Hayward: What is it with high ponytails at the moment? First Cheryl, then Leona, now Nicole. I don't like it.

Hugh Montgomery: Very striking – we await the mid-season replacement of Nicole with wild-card judge "Nicole's high ponytail" with interest.

The top

Gemma: Has Nicole landed herself a seat on Richard Branson's spaceships? Is she channelling the Jetsons? Either way, this is more dated than futuristic.

Hugh: Good on her for turning up to an art opening wearing an abstract representation of The X-Factor: pinched, flinty and decidedly off-key.

The shoes

Gemma: Totally underwhelmed by this chunky display of leather, presumably masquerading as interesting. The look is so ubiquitous that it is, of course, anything but.

Hugh: Given her status as a middling Robo-R&B diva, those bondage heels are simply too inevitable.

The trousers

Gemma: There's an awful lot of techno-stretch in these high-waisted trousers, which make Lewis Hamilton's other half look incredibly thin. The big show-off.

Hugh: She may have made herself super-statuesque with these skintight trousers, but what thought to canapé-ingestion?