'I'm not really a waitress' might be OPI's best selling colour around the world, however it is not the colours that tickle my fancy. I am a sucker for their tongue in cheek, playful, witty and outrageous names, who cares what shade of red or pink they are – they are irresistibly clever. I will often choose a colour based purely on the name and what it means to me as it gives me the perfect way to express myself.

This season all the wrongs in footwear fashion are suddenly right. Wearing hosiery with open toed shoes is a strong look and shock horror it is evolving into wearing socks with heels  as seen on the catwalks of Burberry, Hermes, Dior, Rochas, Westwood & Yamamoto.

I can almost hear the sharp intake of breath, and yes it is a shock to us all. Now I am not saying that we should all run out and adopt this look every day, but I do encourage us all to give it a go. It might just be the best thing since magic knickers, so don’t knock it until you try it. It is a look so wrong, it is right and by embracing the wrongness of this fashion fad you might just discover a whole new way to rock your favourite heels. Don’t be scared, breaking the rules is fun, besides every fashionista worth her Monolos knows that all fashion rules were made to be broken. Just because wearing hosiery with open toed shoes has been a fashion faux pas since the dawn of time, who says that rule is right?

This winter I have been rugged up indoors trying to stay warm, and I have to confess that I have taken to finding inspiration in the bottom of a bottle – a bottle of perfume that is.

Spring cleaning has begun early at my place and by clearing out hidden clutter in dresser draws I have happily discovered some long lost loves: my previously banished perfume loves and I am delighting in using them up right to the very last drop.

My old bottle of almost-all-gone Calvin Klein Escape transports me through the seasons to summers at the beach, warm sun and sand, dreamy tranquil moonlit nights – and right now I’d do anything to escape this dull wet winter. And so, with the tightening of my financial belt cutting off any chances of an actual tropical escape, I can at least smell like I just got back from holiday thus lifting my mood even on the darkest days.

We are approaching mid winter - It is cold and wet and just plain dreary, this means that we need to work a bit harder on brightening our days because the sun is not here to do it for us. Here are my top 5 style tips to lift your spirits.

My love for leggings might be late blooming but it is enduring. What is not to love about leggings? Well, a lot actually. They are skin tight, unforgiving and can be shamefully unflattering if worn incorrectly. However, respect the limits of the legging and you are on to a lasting, fulfilling and rewarding relationship.

Let’s begin with some fool proof legging ABC’s:

For thousands of centuries women have been raiding the closets of their men folk and this season is no exception:  

Example # 1 Hosiery: Men had been wearing hosiery for centuries, and then one day an enterprising young woman decided to try them on. Now you’d never know they were originally designed for men.

Example # 2 Trousers: In the 1800’s English woman Amelia Bloomer, invented a pair of long, loose woman's pants, which bear her name and were popular for leisure activities. We liked them so much we still wear the trousers today.

Example # 3 Ties: During World War One millions of women began wearing ties with their trousers or overalls as they took over the jobs traditionally held by men.

Ladies take note. Androgynous fashion is in.

Asked by STUFF recently to proclaim who is sexier at first glance – rugby or soccer players - a quick office poll reveals that it is soccer players hands down. However when you scratch the surface – it’s not really like comparing apples with apples is it? Because a large crisp & juicy red Jazz apple can’t possibly be compared to a small sweet pink and yellow Gala. Therefore forever ruining the term “to compare apples with apples”.

But let’s try:

“It’s time to put on make up. It’s time to dress up right…”; its time to avoid looking like a Jim Henson Muppet and get ready for ball season. You want to make an impact for all the right reasons, not for all the wrong reasons.

Dressing right means paying attention to the little things:

I recall being informed as a teen by a long-since-passed-on Aunt that I looked like a French prostitute in my black fishnets. Naturally - I thought they were the height of fashion at the time. So laughed her unsolicited opinion off. I wasn't ballsy enough at that age to ask when she was ever in France and what she was doing sharing fashion tips with pros while she was there. That interchange is a lasing memory of how limited peoples perceptions can be when it comes to hosiery.

Married life and all the daily mind-numbing irritations of parenting, aging or any other type of right-between-the-eyes reality have NOT stopped SATC II from being as fabulous as the TV show ever was. Yet sadly, it has become the movie that every movie reviewer loves to loathe. I'd like to be able to say "Don't believe the hype." but, in this case, it is quite the opposite....

Let’s escape winter and the recession for a moment shall we? All this talk of doom and gloom combined with feeling the sting of the winter cold snap gives us the perfect reason for distracting ourselves for just a moment with a little bit of glamour.

Enter the shoe. Behold its beauty and its grace, for the humble shoe has mystical powers.

Ice cream and fashion. Mostly these two things meet when I drop my icecream down my front in the dark at the movies...whoops....but good old Mr Whippy is a brilliant metaphor for style.