When a colleague strolled into the building last week, our eyes were transfixed by her legs. The reason: they were encased in a wonderful pair of tights from Pretty Polly called Twin Towers. In shades of grey and white or orange and brown, they look exactly as their name suggests and are part of PP's New York Legs range which also includes Wall Street (a bold plaid), Park Avenue (10 denier in a shade of mocha) and Fifth Avenue (15 denier in Barely Black). All are available in Clery's of O'Connell Street at reduced prices, with Twin Towers costing £4.50.
Look out for the little, silver-door lapel pins which cosmetic company Avon is selling to raise funds for the ARC Cancer Support Centre in Dublin. The pins, modelled on the Georgian front door of ARC's Eccles Street headquarters, cost £1 each. According to Avon, the company's Crusade against Breast Cancer last year raised £40,000 to fund a counsellor for ARC. A pin can be bought from any Avon representative and for further information about the Crusade Against Breast Cancer, telephone 0502-42532.
`Cellulite is one of woman's greatest enemies," states a press release from Yves Saint Laurent. We're not sure this is absolutely the case, but the condition certainly seems to excite an awful lot of upset. So there should be a fair degree of interest in the company's Absolus Contours, due for release in mid-March. According to YSL, in laboratory tests a group of women using the product lost up to 3.5 centimetres around the thighs and five centimetres around the waist after just one month of treatment. Improved skin condition was also noted. Absolus Contours will be available from all Yves Saint Laurent stockists at £27 for 200 ml.
Four years after co-authoring The Power of Style, Annette Tapert has written The Power of Glamour, a look at 11 women who defined star quality in American cinema. A combination of wonderful photographs and entertaining text makes this an irresistible book. All the obvious candidates are here, from Gloria Swanson and Joan Crawford to Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich. That none of the subjects should be from any era later than the mid-century demonstrates just how much glamour has fallen from favour since the second World War. A certain nostalgia hangs over these stars, even if their lives were rarely as glamorous as they appeared to be.
The Power of Glamour: the Women who Defined the Magic of Stardom by Annette Tapert is published by Aurum, price £19.95 in UK