Halston over-the-knee boots, £1000

Yes yes, we already know vertiginous is the new height in heels but just what lengths do we go to with our boots? \"Halston\'s suede over-the-knee boots are already one of our new season\'s best-sellers,\" confirms Sebastian Manes, Selfridges\' director of accessories. So there you have it. Knee-high is not high enough (although ankle boots are hot too). Looks like all the fuss over the re-launch of cult Seventies label, Halston, was worth it. When these luxuriously long over-the-knee boots appeared as the very first catwalk look with matching just under-the-knee cape, those signature Studio 54 Halston disco frocks became a distant memory. The man backing the 21st century Halston label, chose the right partner in Jimmy Choo ready-to-wear founder, Tamara Mellon. Rumour has it superstylist, Rachel Zoe, is brand consultant too. Long boots it is then.

halston.com 

By Julia Robson

Yves Saint Laurent Muse Two, £1080

Oh yes, some sequels are even better than the original. Remember YSL\'s ‘Muse\' launched two years ago at the height of celebrity ‘it\' bag mania and carried by anyone that mattered (Madonna, Jennifer Aniston, Demi Moore, Charlize Theron, Claudia Schiffer, Heidi Klum, Jessica Alba, Nicole Kidman, Lindsay Lohan, Kate Moss etc). In accordance with the austere, chiconomic times we now find ourselves in, YSL somberly offers us Muse Two; even more deliciously understated, with lock and simple handles, and totally in keeping with the season\'s tough woman vibe championed by Stefano Pilati at YSL. Most popular in glossy black patent as featured in the current Autumn/Winter 2008/9, Naomi Campbell (YSL\'s ‘face\'), Reese Witherspoon, Claudia Schiffer, Erin O\'Conner and Dita von Teese have already fallen under it\'s spell. Perhaps not surprisingly, Muse Two has a waiting list at in-the-know Browns boutique in London.

ysl.com 

brownsfashion.com 

Sass & Bide \'Black Rats\' leggings, £99

But mummy, I reeeeeeally neeeed these NOW! Funny how these low rise, wet-look, ruched, stretch leggings/skinny trouser hybrid have the power to unleash the terrible toddler that lurks within each and every one of us. Already a confirmed cult item for Autumn/Winter 2008/2009, these sold out the femtosecond (a million billionth of a second) they landed in Selfridges, London, this month, prompting an immediate waiting list. Other deliveries won\'t arrive until the last day in August so you are going to just have to wait. Aussie designers, Heidi Middleton and Sarah Jane Clarke - who began their highly desirable urban streetwear label from a stall in Portabello in 1997 before returning to native Sydney sunshine - rarely stray from the fashion radar. Most famous for signature skinny ‘strides\', this won\'t be the first time their take on lean and mean has kept us keen.

sassandbide.com 

Thomas Burberry leather trench, £554

If ever you needed proof clothing trends mirror whatever is going on ‘out there\', a glance at the Autumn/Winter 2008/9 catwalks would do it. The mass of black, wet look, glossy patents, shiny leather, dark lustrous silks, spray-on second skin leggings and oily finishes were all clearly inspired by the global obsession with rising prices of gas and barrels of oil. Balenciaga\'s sculptural patent coat is slightly too literal. Loewe\'s leather prom dress is certainly off budget for anyone who isn\'t the wife of an oligarch. Thomas Burberry\'s leather trench is bang on trend and sort of affordable being from its cool Thomas Burberry line. If it\'s a trench you want no one does it better than Burberry. And in a credit crunch investment is a great selling point. Designed under the watchful eye of Christopher Bailey using inspiration from both mainline and archive pieces, this is another item online boutique my-wardrobe.com has no doubt will sell out in no time.

thomasburberry.com 

Twenty8Twelve leather jacket, £360

This artful dodger-style shrunken leather biker jacket gave Joanne Watkinson, head buyer at online boutique, my-wardrobe.com butterflies when she first spied it. \"This ticks all the right boxes without even breaking into a sweat,\" claims the breathless fashionista.  \"It comes in this season\'s fave fabric, leather, is tightly cropped with exposed zips, and comes in black or blood red. I need say no more.\" She need not indeed. Distressed leather biker jackets have been a wardrobe staple of groovy chicks from Kate Moss to those mad-eyed Olsen twins for several seasons who wear them with everything. Inspired by Glasto just gone, clever Savannah and Sienna have wasted no time in scrubbing up the jacket most likely to be worn by grungy rock girlies, and transforming it into something luxury-loving townies might also lust after.

my-wardrobe.com

Yves Saint Laurent Trib Two boot, £1000

Yes, lightening CAN strike twice. The YSL Tribute pump started selling out the moment it arrived in store in Autumn 2007 bringing with it the trend for 5\" superheels, gargantuan platforms and peep toes, formerly worn only by Drag Queens and Pamela Anderson. Fuelled by a vast - and wobbly if wearing them- celebrity following including Beyonce, Gwen Stefani, Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguilera and Victoria Beckham, these knocked Lanvin\'s and Marc Jacobs pumps into the void and became the ‘it\' shoe. This season Trib (it\'s been abbreviated) shiny patent croc ankle boots, still with the platform and the vertiginous heel, are going to be HUGE. On the YSL catwalk the ankle boots were teamed with the latest trouser shape, high-waisted ‘pegs\' (remember them?). What else could make you look fantastic, freakish, fashionable and super rich for £640 a pop?

ysl.com

Mulberry \'Mabel\' in shocking pink, £595

How very dare you call Mulberry\'s Mabel an ‘old bag\'. Within just one season it has established itself as yet another winner in the Mulberry stable, on a par with the ubiquitous Bayswater and Roxanne. Its classic boxy shape is hauled into rock chick territory by the multiple zips. New for Autumn/Winter2008/9 is it\'s bright pop colours, which give it a fresh look, and it\'s many new sizes teeny, big and small. Although anyone slathering after the next big thing might be more tempted by the latest Mulberry offering, the Maggie - currently being touted around by Agyness Deyn (in gold Python) and Fearne Cotton (glossy green patent) and on various models in their new ad campaign - when it comes to the battle of the bags, Mabel wins. Pink Mabel\'s sell out as soon as they come in. The Mulberry store in Bond Street has a current waiting list of 30. Enquiries to bijoux online boutique site, My-Wardrobe, are almost exclusively about this little pink bag. Maggie Vs Mabel? Bah. No contest.

my-wardrobe.com

Givenchy ruffle blouse, £1075

For Autumn/Winter 2008/9, Givenchy designer, Riccardo Tisci re-worked the label\'s classic Bettina blouse into something high-collared, sheer, gothic, modern and romantic. All trademarks of the Italian stallion and spot on for the new season trends. As you read this you are looking at the blouse, which will possibly be the most-copied catwalk item of the year, ultimately ending up in various guises and forms in high street chains and market stalls globally. But that\'s not to say any will surpass Tisci\'s prototype. They won\'t, which is why every fashionista would love to lay her talons on this baby. With cascades of folds and complicated pleats tumbling down the front and a pussy-bow at the neck, plus added frills bubbling around the cleavage and sashes tied around the wrists, there\'s a heck of a lot going on here. And yet superfine silk and cobweb pastel shades make it look like something almost non-worldly. SO much more than simply a frilly blouse.

givenchy.com

RM (by Roland Mouret) The Cluny Dress

Dresses are still very much on the fashion menu and the man who seasonally delivers the frock equivalent of a golden egg, Roland Mouret, has apparently rustled up yet another outstanding plate du jour. Just how do you follow the Galaxy and Moon dress? With a geometric slither of tweed called the ‘Cluny\' of course, presumably not after George? One of two limited edition styles designed by Mouret in his RM line exclusively for Harvey Nichols (in London and Bristol), this lands instore in late August carrying a hefty price tag of £990. Despite this both are expected to sell-out quickly and become instant classic wardrobe pieces for years to come. The Cluny comes in a charcoal wool mix tweed and is super trendy and more difficult to pull-off being a off-the shoulder, one strap number, which follows womanly precision curves to just beyond the knee. Very VB. Are you going to tell her or shall I?

net-a-porter.com

A.P.C. tartan cape, £248

This is what you call a ‘need now\' piece because it embraces so many current trends and could instantly, effortlessly, update your wardrobe. It\'s tartan (HUGELY important), with a neat, austere sculpted silhouette (fiercely so) and gold, shiny buttons (big enough to matter). A.P.C. founder and designer, Jean Touitou, has built an empire re-working French peasant classics into chic, urban staples that can be thrown together in that miss-match way championed by Alexa Chung and Charlotte Gainsbourg. \"APC is one of the original stealth brands,\" Selfridges\' casualwear buyer, Aimee Brown tells us. \"It\'s always affordable and very stylish. This cape is one of my favourite pieces from the collection. Tartan check is such a huge trend and the cape is a key silhouette - so it\'s a great two in one fashion buy!\" Best worn over girly frock or skinny jeans and clumpy high heels.

apc.fr 

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