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Daphne Guinness sells off a dream wardrobe

A wardrobe clear-out for most people involves piling a few battered Topshop buys and some hastily-purchased Primark items into a carrier bag and strolling them down to the local charity shop. Meanwhile, the only superfluous footwear has been reheeled so many times the only way to avoid committing fashion crimes against charity shops is to throw them in the bin.

For Daphne Guinness, on the other hand, it seems to involve hiring a van, carefully cataloguing each item and shipping it off to be auctioned for charity.

Daphne, who used to be married to a Greek shipping heir, yesterday auctioned off 250 designer lots for the Womankind charity. Up for grabs was everything from sky-high Christian Dior wedges to an Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche dress. Meanwhile, assorted Chanel knitwear or hauls of 25 bags were up for grabs.

A pair of Alexander McQueen boots sold for £3,600, and a black-silk wrap over Dolce and Gabbana evening coat went for £5,000 - well above their estimates. The final figure from the auction has yet to be calculated, but the charity says they estimate the final donation could be as much as £50,000.

All the lots have gone, but you can still take a peek at them here, they are are quite frankly, fascinating and throw up so many questions.

First of all, how much time does this lady spend shopping to have developed such an enviable collection? How many rooms of her house are dedicated to clothes? We want to see the storage solutions - surely shoes like the one above deserve their own display cabinet? And if these are her cast-offs, can we see the items she's decided to keep?

If this has got you in the mood for bidding, you can log on to Prada.com, where they're selling off the prototypes of their Spring/Summer Collection. Sadly not for charity, but covetable all the same.

Master Lim to the rescue with the ultimate summer party dress.

We know we bang on a little bit about Philip Lim, the man behind the cocktail dress looking good at a party near you right now. But he and his dresses really are worth banging on about.  And today, finally, the showstopping final look from his Spring Summer show goes on sale at Net-a-porter.

The ultimate summer party dress, it's chic and minimal but floaty and sexy all the same. It's not exactly chucked away at £1,155, but it looks a whole bonus load more expensive, and mark our words: It. Will. Work.

www.net-a-porter.com    pic from www.style.com

Top 26 fashion millionaires

This Sunday, the much-anticipated Sunday Times Rich List was published. And amongst the steel magnates and footballers were those who make their money from the humble art of sewing. Below are the top 26 fashion millionaires in Britain today.

But what really caught our eye was that Dame Margaret Barbour made it onto the fashion list as the only new entry (of course she was already on the main one, being a Royal favourite).

Could this perhaps have something to do with last season's flurry of celebs donning Barbour jackets? Since the beginning of the year, the Queen's favourite outdoor coat has also graced the shoulders of city-dwelling trainee IT girls Alexa Chung, Peaches Geldof and Lily Allen.

Also, we were also interested to see that the most money seems to be made form high street fashion with Christine Ong of Mulberry languishing at number 22 and only £100million. It's a hard life.

1. Sir Philip and Lady Green, Topshop, Dorothy Perkins, BHS - £4,330m
2. Sir David and Frederick Barclay Littlewoods £1,700m
3. Bernard Lewis River Island £1,620m
4. George Weston Primark £1,000m
5. Peter Simon Monsoon £600m
6. Tom Singh New Look £464m
7=Richard Caring International Clothing Designs £450m
7=David, Ralph and Jacqueline Gold Ann Summers £450m
9. John Hargreaves Matalan £430m
10. Lord Alliance N Brown £380m
11=Karl-Johan Persson H&M £365m
11=Harold Tillman Jaeger £365m
13. Sir Paul and Lady Smith Paul Smith £260m
14. Susan Prescott and the Austin Family Ethel Austin £240m
15. Lawrence Stroll Tommy Hilfiger, Michael Kors £187m
16. Kevin Stanford Karen Millen £180m
17. Leon Max maxstudio.com £150m
18. Theo Paphitis La Senza £135m
19. David Reiss Reiss £125m
20. George Davies Next, George, Per Una £120m
21. Ian and Lennie McGeoch Mackays Stores £118m
22. Christina Ong Club 21, Mulberry £100m
23. Nick Wheeler and Christian Rucker Charles Tyrwhitt £95m
24. Johnnie Boden Boden £88m
25. Ray Kelvin Ted Baker £87m
26. Dame Margaret Barbour Barbour £85m (new entry)

We told you she was good - internet make-up artist Panacea81 gets a contract

Style beauty editor Helen Brown first brought Lauren Luke to your attention back in February. Lauren's an amateur make-up artist whose masterclasses have now had 8 million views on You Tube.

The 26-year-old, who is known to You Tube fans by her username panacea81, has been snapped up by Barry M cosmetics and offered a contract to help develop her skills with a view to becoming a professional make-up artist.

Click above to see Lauren's Summer Nights video, one of scores shot in the bedroom of her Newcastle home and posted on her own channel on the website.

And remember, you saw her here first (well almost, after a few million viewers)

Russkis on Skis

The ski slopes may have all but shut up shop for the season, but outrageous rumours of Russian decadence in Europe's most prestigious winter resorts endure. Forget helicopter drop-offs to Megeve's Michelin-starred restaurants and Kobe beef and vintage Krug picnics on the piste, Russian tastes seem to be somewhat less snowwhite, if the seasonaires - those who attend to the scandalous demands and bear witness to the mischief - are to be believed.

In Moscow, oligarchs assert their status by the number of body guards around them. On the slopes apparently, they do it with ski instructors - one recently apparently hired five instructors simultaneously just for himself. And if you have the skiing prowess of a dyspraxic baby giraffe? Simply hire out the entire slope and the sniggers just won't be close enough to hear.

I recently visited a deluxe Descent Chalet in Davos, Switzerland (the mother town to Prince Charles ' favourite resort, Klosters) - a favourite of the Russians. Its swimming pool room, complete with Jacuzzi, waterfall and giant jet stream, is secretly overlooked by a webcam. 'Does the view ever get x-rated?' I ask the chalet staff, who monitor activities. 'Only when the Russians stay' (well frankly, shame on the rest of Europe).

One waitress told of serving up the main course in one tres cher chalet only to hear a rapid knocking on the dining table. The cause? Only one of the oligarchs  being 'serviced' under the table by his attractive 'student friend' (read: prostitute) in between courses.

Talk about filthy rich.

Brunettes bag the billionaires, blondes get the barmen

It's official, if you're a brunette like Carla Bruni, you're more likely to marry a successful man than your blonde counterparts. Experts at LOVE@LYCOS the dating channel of Lycos.co.uk analysed the WAG's hair colour of the world's top 100 billionaires to determine if there is a predominant hair colour wealthy men seen to go for. The majority by a long way were brunettes, with 62% of billionaires marrying women with brown hair.

The results went on to show that fair haired ladies come in a poor second with only 22% of the world's top billionaires marrying blondes. Women with black hair lag behind in third place, enticing on 16% of the world's wealthiest, whilst carrot-tops come in last.

BRUNETTES MARRIED TO THE WORLD'S MOST SUCCESSFUL MEN

CARLA BRUNI                   WIFE OF FRENCH PRESIDENT

DARIA ZHUKOVA              GIRLFRIEND OF ABRAMOVICH

SARAH LARSON               GIRLFRIEND OF GEORGE CLOONEY

CATHERINE ZETA              MARRIED TO MICHAEL DOUGLAS

ANGELINA JOLIE               GIRLFRIEND OF BRAD PITT

So with wealthy men showing such a considerable preference for brunettes, it will be interesting to chart the number of women requesting a change of colour at their local hairdresser! (by Sara Hassan)

ps newsletter 04/04/08

mark ronson

mark ronson

chloe marshall

chloe marshall

chloe marshall

Meerkats are the must have fashion accessory this spring...

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single girl in possession of a good fortune must be in want of this season's hottest accessory. You might think you have already completed your spring / summer wardrobe, having invested in all things nautical, floaty and chaotic, but I urge you to think again. There is a vacuum in that voluminous bag of yours that neesds to be filled. Now, step forward the ultimate handbag charm - the meerkat.

Forget chihuahuas and pugs, meerkats are the real deal.

The furry creatures are soon to become the "it" Tinseltown companion. Paris has been spotted parading a meerkat in her customary oversized hand-bag in Melrose, LA, and it is only a matter of time before Lazy Lo, Nicole, Mischa et al follow suit.

Meerkats are no ordinary trophy pets. They require almost excessive attention and should be monitored at all times. As an owner of a particularly adventurous specimen - Rollo the Intrepid, I can speak from experience here. They are very sociable animals and this can get them into trouble.

Their tendency to wander off in search of conversation is notorious - Rollo has only just returned from living it up in the bars and clubs of Cavendish Square, London, over the weekend. I endured sleepless nights - fearing he had been katnapped - while simultaneously feeling secretly impressed by his bravery and spirit.

I will never forget being reunited with my most mischievous of meerkats. I couldnt wait to return Rollo to his sanctuary (his lookout perch in my bag). Never has a fashion accessory so ironically resembled "a symbol of unity and safety" [Tracey Emin].

So, let's immortalise the meerkat in handbags through the streets of London as well as on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square.

Adopt a meerkat at London Zoo, smuggle one into Blighty at Terminal 5 or, if all else fails, emigrate to their homelands of Botswana or South Africa. Your future as a fashionista depends on it...

[image from Turkey Whisperer.com]