Pages and pages of pseudo-clinical diagrams have been painstakingly drawn to demonstrate that fat women should wear stripes going up and down, and thin women stripes going round and round. This may be good camouflage but it is not fashion. Barber's poles are rarely smart, and awnings less than elegant.

So sayeth "The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Good Taste". Now, a lot of things have changed since this book was published in 1958...some stripes have become our friends (the striped t-shirt or scarf always receive a warm welcome from me)...but I don't know what Alexander McQueen was thinking when he created this chevron striped skirt for his McQ line. Any bump, any bulge...essentially anything...will be magnified and blown out of all proportion. Why would you want to do that to yourself?