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Ready to Wear: Boot-cut jeans are nothing more than a lazy, middle-of-the-road look

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:00:49 GMT

Ubiquity could arguably be fashion's ultimate goal. At its most banal the industry's purpose is to sell clothes, after all. More loftily, changing our perceptions of dress, particularly on a grand scale, is the sartorial Holy Grail.

Virginia Ironside's Dilemmas: Will I ever be free from bouts of severe depression?

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:00:48 GMT

Rosehip - Make your skin zing

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:00:28 GMT

A few miles south of Chile's capital, Santiago, vats of oil tower over the dusty, potholed road. This is the pressing plant where one of skincare's truly magical ingredients is processed: Rosa Mosqueta rosehip seed oil. Chilean gold.

Beyond the little black dress

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:00:21 GMT

The party season divides people into two camps: those can't pour themselves quickly enough into something sequinned and clingy, and those who see it as a burden, pressuring them to part with their jeans.

Early test found for Alzheimer's

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

A multi-tasking test can help avoid confusion between symptoms of depression and early Alzheimer's, research suggests.

IoS graphic: Child character

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:01:45 GMT

Road Test: BMW XI

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

BMW says the X1, its new compact SUV, has no rivals. You might find that strange; I certainly do, because I can think of several. But BMWs aren't as other cars, we are told. The rivals I have in mind are not "premium". They are to be traded up from, not compared with.

Car Choice: A spacious Alp-mobile that you can take anywhere

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Jonathan New has just bought a chalet in the French Alps and requires a 4x4, left-hand drive car. In the winter months the road to the chalet is kept open but compacted snow will be around most of the time. Jonathan's budget is probably between £10,000 and £12,500, but he does not want a "flashy 4x4".

Bespoke boom: Demand surges for handmade shoes

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Bespoke shoemakers are cashing in on the growing demand for exclusive, good-quality women's shoes, fuelled by celebrity devotees such as Kate Moss and Freida Pinto. With sky-high heels de rigueur on Britain's streets, women are resorting to expensive measures to make their feet stand out from the crowd.

Comedian reveals unsavoury truth of food production

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

With his gangly frame and thick-rimmed spectacles, Alex Riley makes an unlikely assassin. Unfortunately for Britain's £182bn-a-year food and drink industry, his wisecracks about its unsavoury practices in a new BBC TV series are little short of deadly.

Tough love: The good parents' guide

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

A generation of liberal parents has striven towards a utopian ideal: raising their children in a non-confrontational household, unfettered by strict rules. But a new study of 9,000 households found that children whose parents favoured this laissez-faire style of parenting were less likely to develop vital life skills – such as empathy, self-control and application – by the age of five than those whose parents took a traditional "tough love" approach.

Academics attack Professor Nutt over 'incorrect statements' on drugs

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Some of Britain's leading drug experts yesterday launched an attack on Professor David Nutt, who was sacked as chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) after he argued that alcohol and tobacco were more dangerous than cannabis.

Winter warmer: Need a sophisticated, yet no-fuss bloom to give your frosty garden a colourful lift? Bring on the hellebores...

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

It sometimes feels as though there is very little colour in my garden over the winter, though I currently have a tide of orange growing up the back fence, where some late nasturtiums suddenly decided to germinate in early September. But their tropical colour will be a thing of memory come the first frost. For real midwinter jewels, I will never do better than hellebores, which flower from around Christmas through until March.

Onion squash and chickpea soup

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

50ml/2fl oz extra-virgin olive oil
1 red onion, finely sliced
1 dried red chilli
1 small bunch of sage
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
1 onion squash, sliced in half, deseeded and sliced into one-inch chunks
16 small plum tomatoes
Sea salt
1 tin of Italian plum tomatoes, chopped
250ml/8fl oz water
350g/111/2oz chickpeas, soaked and dried
1 small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
60g/21/2oz grated Parmesan

Looks good on paper: Trompes l'oeil, tartans, skulls...the return of wallpaper is complete, with subtly outrageous designs to suit all pastes

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

The trends that influence the way we decorate our homes may move at a less frenetic pace than those that influence our clothing but, if anything, that makes them all the more pervasive. While most of us are fairly forgiving of individuals' sartorial eccentricities (it doesn't do to be too slavishly fashionable, after all), when it comes to other people's houses there is often frighteningly little mercy in our condemnation of anything that runs against the grain of collective contemporary taste. An avocado bath suite, for example, dusty fake flowers, or co-ordinated leopard-print soft furnishings are all more or less guaranteed to elicit snooty grimaces.

Typhoid, tyranny and tax havens: The truth behind America's trendiest drink

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Open all night long. Dimly lit, with rows of sleek, modern terminals, the internet café in Fiji's capital, Suva, was packed at all hours with teenage boys playing boisterous rounds of videogames. But one day soon after I arrived, the staff told me they now had to shut down by 5pm. Police orders, they shrugged: the country's military junta had declared martial law a few days before, and things were a bit tense.

On the agenda: Harry Brown; Radley; Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre; Masterchef; Ctrl.Alt.Shift

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Suka at the Sanderson, 50 Berners Street, London W1

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

There should probably be a rule preventing critics from reviewing restaurants on their birthdays. After the age of 35, no one enjoys celebrating these occasions. It's just a grim reminder that you're one step nearer to the grave. In my own case, the way in which this anxiety expresses itself is to find fault with everything. My wife could give me a suitcase stuffed with £50 notes and my only response would be to examine the fastenings and say, "Where did you get this? Shepherd's Bush Market?"

New tricks, new treats: Skye Gyngell's onion squash recipes

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Halloween may be over but the season for pumpkins and squash is not; these sweet-fleshed vegetables will be with us until the end of the autumn. There are many varieties, each with their own, subtle taste, and a glorious array of colours. The bright-orange onion squash – so called for its shape – is my favourite. Its flavour isn't particularly sweet, but it is deep and rich. It won't disintegrate during cooking, and works beautifully with roast lamb or chicken. Do leave the skin on – it's almost the best part.

Pickled onion squash

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Pumpkins are surprisingly delicious when pickled. I make three or four jars around this time each year. They are good with baked ham, or can be incorporated into a salad with chestnuts and cured meats.

Baked onion squash

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

This dish has its origins in the south of France. It is very rich and very indulgent, but lovely on a cold autumn evening. A salad of autumn leaves is perfect to balance its creamy flavours.

Box office boost shows 3D is here to stay

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Once regarded as a quirky fad for nerds wearing cardboard spectacles, 3D films are enjoying a mainstream renaissance and this time the medium is here to stay, entertainment industry experts say.

Obesity causes 100,000 US cancers every year

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Obesity causes more than 100,000 incidents of cancer in the US every year, the American Institute for Cancer Research said in estimates published Friday.

Vintners approach fickle Chinese market with caution

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Mainland China's wine imports have soared more than ten-fold in the past few years but foreign producers hoping to cash in on the boom are warning the market is fickle and not for the faint of heart.

Gene therapy beats back brain wasting disease

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

A breakthrough mix of stem cell and gene therapy halted a lethal brain-wasting illness in two young boys, and could prove effective against other genetic disorders, researchers reported.