Halloween's the excuse

It's Halloween: the only day in the year when you can wear tomato red tights, dark purple lipstick, a skull-print mini-dress and orange sequin devil horns, and no one will even flinch. (Except maybe those with some colour coordination skills.)

But even on that blessed 'who-cares-about-style, let's-go-crazy' day, people don't really dress-up. Not during the day anyways.

The only really amazing outfit I have seen today was worn by a Goth, and it was probably her every day style.

Granted, Halloween is a little bit childish. Once past the age to ask for sweets (and at 21, my trick-and-treat days are well over), there seems to be little point in dressing up.

Also, it's not a British tradition. And let's face it: it's more fun to go trick or treating in an American suburban Neighbourhood decorated with pumpkins, than in a London tower-block.

That said, it still remains a great day to try on the new Soft Goth trend.

If the heavy jewelery and the jet-black lipstick just don't do the trick (unfortunately some things look great on the YSL catwalk but not on us), it's good to make a note of it on the day when it's OK to look scary.

Even if it wasn't the intended effect originally...

Designer's Halloween: Have your Pick

It's Halloween tomorrow and if you still haven't picked your outfit, don't despair: the catwalks are full of inspiration, from scary to sexy romantic pieces.

Of course Gothic has taken as a trend this autumn, but Luella seems to have adopted Halloween as a fashion theme in its own right in her autumn/winter 2008/09 show.

Inspired by Pagan dress, puffy-sleeved blouses, pointy hats, orange tights and crepe hair are sure to make a magical impact this winter.

It's probably only a matter of time before the broomstick gets in style as well.

The collection makes you smile and does look like a trick and treat sassy hunt at times, but there were many wearable pieces to spot: the series of cocktail Gothic dresses with splashes of gold, worn with lace veils can really catch the eye in a snowy weather.

Whats more, the blue and coral red tartan shirts under mini black dresses make up a very sexy look.

It might be cautious to stay away from the elf hats as soon as the Halloween parties are over though. They are certain things that simply don't flatter, no matter how quirky they look on Alice Gibb.

For those who want a more 'classically spooky' outfit, Rodarte presented a whole range of cobweb tights, and a lot of designers showcased all things orange ranging from peach to tangerine to burnt orange.

Or you can go with Rosksanda Ilincic's satin floor-length gowns with geometrical cuts and wide-shoulder capes. Inspiring if you want to give the Dracula-lady look a modern twist.

Guide to surviving a Snowy London Birthday

October is quite a hard styling month for me: Halloween is on its way, just following my birthday. And this year, to top it all off, it snowed.

What to wear on a snowy London birthday day

Birthday are always hard to style, because unfortunately life doesn't stop to make the day special for you. And unfortunately Weekend birthdays only happen once every 6 years or so.

This means you still have to drag yourself out of bed, on a cold morning, and deal with the 9am rush-hour. You might think it's OK to be late for work on that special day, but your employer probably won't.

Consequently, the painful (but gorgeous) stiletto shoes you bought as a pre-birthday present to yourself, are not the best option.

Especially when fate decides that London will have its first October snow since 1934.

Birthdays make you the centre of attention no matter what

It's a little bit like bumping into the most gorgeous human being the only day that you are wearing the tramp-like, I-can't-be-bothered-today, outfit.

People spend the day asking you what presents you got and usually, the answer is "none yet". Which can make you even more frustrated.

You can't look like you have thought this through too much

It's Halloween in a couple of days and you don't want people to think you're a little early with the fancy dress.

But you still want to look good when everyone starts singing the dreadful, embarrassing, "Happy birthday" song in front of the whole class or office, therefore directing all usually-non-caring eyes on you.

Survival tips

Consequently, the best way out of birthdays and to take the day off sick, receive all the lovely phone calls and messages from unknown friends who had disappeared from the surface of the earth, and have some evening drinks (expecting presents as well as wine) with your funniest friends.

And the next day, when you have finally received that amazing birthday dress from a distant aunt with excellent taste, you can boast. Finally.