FROM THE RIDICULOUS TO THE SUBLIME; fashion for life.(Features)

Byline: MIMI SPENCER

Apparently, we'll all be wanting an add-on peter pan collar in about two months' time. Hilarious, isn't it? I'd always thought peter pan collars were for toddlers, Grayson Perry and, you know, Peter Pan. But I hear they're about to be hot-to-trot, on account of the spring collections being full to the brim with whimsical little gestures such as this. Right now, like you, I wouldn't touch one with a bargepole. I'd rather wear nothing but Nutella and run down the road singing 'Nessun Dorma' at the top of my lungs. But pretty soon, being an impressionable type (a crucial attribute if you're into fashion), I suspect I'll wake up and think, 'Hey! Would you look at that? I really fancy one of those dear little add-on peter pan collars from Carven; [pounds sterling]72 seems a very reasonable amount to pay. I'll wear it on Thursday when I go out with the girls, and they'll coo and stroke it and be impressed and envious in equal measure.' Such is style, my friends.

Other things I have come around to lately, and unexpectedly, include the 'pochette', which is a glorified and slightly poncy term for a zip-up pouch in which to keep your vitals. More than a purse, less than a handbag, just big enough for lipgloss, phone, debit card and a [pounds sterling]20 note (and, in my case, a packet of the Bassett's Cherry Drops to which I have recently become partial). I have also just warmed to the idea of the Tonytail - which is basically a hairband that looks like it's made of your own hair. Again, I know it sounds hideous, like something you'd drag out of the plughole. But I noticed Victoria Beckham wearing one just before Christmas, and then went trawling the internet to find one of my own. It looked chic. Bardot chic. It looked pretty and glossy and just the thing to keep my crazy mane of hair under some sort of control. And now? Love it!

The same curious shift happened recently with the concept of a dress watch. I have never worn any kind of watch - not since I had a Sooty and Sweep Casio back in the days when I still struggled to tell what the long hand was up to. Ever since then, I have relied on an innate faculty for timing. (I have a sixth sense for knowing the time. Ask me. Go on. It's 10.30, isn't it?) Anyhow, I have travelled watchless through life all these years, occasionally sneaking a sideways look at my mobile phone just in case. But now I really want a watch. Not any old watch, but a dress watch; something a bit bling, preferably by Chanel. Or Michael Kors. Swoon.

This, of course, is all about psychology. The piquant juice of desire. It's what makes fashion tick. It's what moved us from crinoline and corset to beehive and bumster and beyond. By some plotless alchemy, the ridiculous becomes the enchanting, the idiotic magnetic. Once I start believing in that peter pan collar, I'll let you know. Either that or listen out for 'Nessun Dorma' coming soon to a street near you.

E-mail Mimi at mimi@you.co.uk

CAPTION(S):

one of pan's people : alexa chung

victoria beckham works the tonytail