Right, I'm over the worst of it. Made it through the indignity of the pedicure. Toenails Shellac-ed. Even fake-tanned my feet. Summer-sandal me up!

Actress Emma Watson raised eyebrows with her admission that she owns only eight pairs of shoes. The Independent's Assistant Fashion Editor thinks she's got it just right

British men have found a new outlet for their vanity – seeking professional help to rid themselves of their hairy “Hobbit feet”.

Wear, what, why, when?

To stand a chance of snagging a date with Emma Watson, chaps, don't wear flip-flops. In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres airing today, the Harry Potter star gave the lowdown on her personal turn-offs and what British men could learn from Americans in the ways of love.

My family are here to help me. I managed to get them Underbelly passes with their roles on. For example, Mum: Main Assistant. Brother: General Assistant. Brother's Girlfriend: Bonus Assistant. They help me with props and pep talks.

As if Tom Cruise weren't already suffering from Small Man Syndrome, pictures emerged yesterday of his newly estranged wife, Katie Holmes, wearing heels for what must be the first time since their union. On the Big Day itself, you'll recall, speculation was rife that Holmes had had to stand in a ditch to achieve parity of titchiness for the pair's wedding photo.

Get kitted out for the summer

On screen Sigourney Weaveris fearless and Amazonian. Arifa Akbar finds out how the off-screen version measures up

On screen the actor is fearless and Amazonian. Arifa Akbar finds out how the off-screen version measures up

Model: Emma at Union

When Nicholson Baker stopped writing about sex after Vox and The Fermata, I thought he'd lost his nerve; now he has returned to it with House of Holes, I fear he's lost his mind. What was so impressive about Baker's previous sexually explicit work (only part of a wide-ranging oeuvre) was that the transgression took place within a thought-out narrative structure. Vox, written entirely in dialogue, contained long male and female fantasies exchanged on a phone-line as they progressed towards mutual satisfaction (the book gained notoriety when Monica Lewinsky made a gift of it to Bill Clinton). The Fermata was a bawdy take on Wells's The Time Machine, featuring a narrator, Arno Stine, who stopped time to undress women without their consent - which he slowly realised was a bad idea.

From bonnets and bustles to swords and sandals, there's nothing more comforting on a dark evening than a box set of drama DVDs. After all, we Brits do make the best

Click on the image to launch our guide

Stilettos, platforms, flippers – they're all here in this footwear fetishist's heaven

They gave the world decent roads, indoor plumbing and some of the goriest spectator sports known to man, but now it appears that the Romans made a hitherto secret contribution to global civilisation by pioneering the wearing of socks with sandals.

Fashion has cast off any whimsical tendencies in favour of all that is pragmatic, or so the story goes.