Analysis of an exceptionally well-preserved Roman coin, which went on show in the UK last week, paints a grim picture of Cleopatra's fabled beauty. Far from possessing the classical looks of Elizabeth Taylor, the Egyptian queen is shown with a shrewish profile while Antony suffers from bulging eyes, a crooked nose and a bull neck.

A little digging under the surface of the Size Zero debate at the London Fashion Week could debunk a more contemporary beauty myth. Despite concerns over models starving themselves to death in order to 'look' right for the catwalks, many fashion designers still claim their clothes hang better on thinner models. (The line between fashion victim and catwalk queen never looked thinner. ) Concerned that fashion was being overshadowed by the row about thin models, UK organisers decided not to follow Madrid Fashion Week by banning the size-zero models. Instead, they wrote to designers to request that they only use healthylooking models aged over 16.

In a plot twist worthy of the hit TV show Ugly Betty, fashion diva and 'Thinspiration' icon Victoria Beckham weighed in with her own brand of zero tolerance. Taking the high moral ground, she recently banned size zero models from promoting her new denim label, claiming that she doesn't want to encourage girls to become anorexic.

Mercifully, Dublin-born designer Paul Costelloe, who kicked off London Fashion Week with a Parisian-themed collection, managed to show keen fashion judgement by choosing models deemed thin but not too skeletal.

But in the battle to draw the line between healthily thin and skeletally thin (BMI of 18 in case you're wondering), are we missing the point that the big issue for young people these days is obesity?

Makes you wonder how size zero will look when it's unearthed in the future.

Will ultra-thin stand the test of time or go the way of Cleopatra and Mark Antony, another beauty myth we could all have done much better without?