After years of being single-handedly kept alive by Sir Paul McCartney, the two-fingered peace sign is back as a favourite of London’s young It crowd. Three years ago Paris Hilton used to get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to turn up at a charity event and wave like the Queen. That feels way too boom-time now. Show you care along with Pixie Geldof and sister Peaches, who like to accessorise with punky chipped nails, mussed-up hair and mini dresses. The key to getting this right is the mixture of rebellious attitude and hippy-lite. And don’t forget it’s one hand only. Photograph: Sipa Press/Rex Features
At Stella McCartney’s autumn/winter show models ventured down the catwalk with the most unexpected accessory of all: a smile. It has been long absent from fashion, but this season designers saw fit to cheer us up. Even the notoriously stony-faced Victoria Beckham has perfected her “smout” (a cross between a smile and a pout). Choose from a simple smirk to the full-on beam (if we can’t see your gums, you’re not doing it right). Michelle Obama is the unofficial patron of this look. Note that while Sarah Brown gritted her teeth to face the photographers during the G20, Michelle slipped us an optimistic smile. How refreshing. Photograph: Patrick Kovarick/AFP/Getty
The Apprentice is a hotbed of fashion action, truly it is. Margaret is rarely out of the season’s trophy jacket (someone get her a Chanel version and be done with it). This week, contestants Debra Barr and Yasmina Siadatan were the first of the wannabes to make a statement. They held hands. Not in the boardroom, but during their winning-the-task treat, a performance by Katherine Jenkins. Had they been studying the likes of Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway’s recent red carpet love-in? Or was it the catwalk finale performance of Vivienne Westwood and Pamela Anderson that spurred them on? Either way, linking pinks is the new air kissing. Photograph: Eric Gaillard/Reuters
Along with great hulking It bags and all their hardware glory, carrying your bag is totally over. Remember French Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld holding her clutch like a rabbit in 2007? Well, the next logical step is to take your bag, draw it close, and cuddle. Though laying it lovingly on your shoulder like Agyness Deyn does also works. Clutches should be dangled and chain handles should be twiddled around your fingers. Either way, the bag should hang insouciantly at your side, as if you’re trying to ignore it – even if you have spent several hundred quid on it. Photograph: Sipa Press/Rex Features
Men can’t escape this new bag body-language either. This month, GQ has made it quite clear that there are only two ways to carry a manbag, both of which sound like characters in a Guy Ritchie flick: the Grip or the Jack. Translation: hold with a tight hand by your side or throw over your shoulder. Apparently, wearing your bag handle across your arm like Victoria Beckham is totally not on for men. Photograph: Danny Martindale/Filmmagic.com
We expect clothes to create trends after the fashion show, but a catwalk walk becoming one in its own right? It’s happening, thanks to ridiculously hip French label Balmain. Its power shoulder certainly demands your body sits up, but with a bit of a nonchalant lean. Arms fall to the sides and swing. Legs stride. Gossip Girl star and style pin-up Taylor Momsen has perfected the moves. Photograph: Sipa Press/Rex Features
Seated front row at the Aquascutum show everyone’s favourite fashion crush, Alexa Chung was spotted doing the Anna Wintour exaggerated leg cross – it’s all in the twist – and tilting her body to the side to give the most flattering angle from which to be photographed. Perhaps it’s a way of preventing unauthorised knicker-flashing. Always accompany with acres of tanned and toned bare leg. Photograph: Tim Whitby/Getty Images
