From Russia With Love

It's funny how certain symbols suddenly become hot. Fashion is still having an owl moment, with the brilliantly quirky Marc Jacobs owl headband; TopShop has a number of cool tees adorned with stags, and wolves (something to do with the forthcoming release of Twilight sequel, New Moon perhaps?) are everywhere ? Urban Outfitters have a particularly cool retro wolf print t-shirt. But if you really want to be on-trend, holiday souvenir fashion is where it's at ? think an 'I heart NY' top or a pendant with an Eiffel Tower on it. This statement Russian doll necklace from Accessorize (€20) will leave no question about your fashion credentials.

Cape Crusader

It's been an entire year of boyfriend blazer wearing and this year, you're not going to cut it unless you get a leather biker jacket. It makes thinking about a winter coat proper very difficult and we've seen nothing hugely tempting until we happened upon this cape from Laura Ashley. A wool and cashmere mix, it's fully lined with a hood and front pockets with button detail. It will look great with skinnies and it's very Ali McGraw in Love Story. €220, available from the Grafton St store.

The Sweetest Thing

If you are what you eat, Ladurée macaroon nibblers are gorgeous creatures who wear Balmain and count Kate Moss as a close friend. The pleasure of eating what is the ultimate French fancy is two-fold; they're featherlight creations that melt on the tongue but they're also so pretty to look at, both the macaroons and the packaging. For the ultimate gift for the fashionista in their life (or as an indulgent self-gift) pick up this limited edition Christian Louboutin designed box, filled with fig and date flavoured macaroons. €12.90 for a set of six, available in the Luxury Hall, Brown Thomas, Dublin

Delicious, Dahling

His granddaughter Sophie published her first cookbook this year, the excellent Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights and clearly a love of good grub runs in the family. Completely Revolting Recipes is inspired by her late grandfather's books, which all made reference to some delicious sounding concoction or some great taste. There are recipes such as Bruce Bogtrotter's Cake (from Matilda, Green Pea Soup (from The Witches) and Wonka's Whipple-scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight, all wonderfully illustrated with Quentin Blake's drawings. Obviously, it's aimed at children but anyone who has ever read and loved Roald Dahl should have it on their kitchen shelf. €13.20 from Easons.

The Shopping Audit

* We're loving Burberry

The show was the highlight of London Fashion Week and check out the label's new website artofthetrench.com, which launches next month, where users will send in pictures of themselves wearing the iconic trench coat.

*We're not sure about Tavi

She's the 13-year-old with a style blog and current darling of the fashion world. We applaud her dedication to all things sartorial but do we want to take style pointers from someone only entering her teens? No.

* We're buying ankle boots

Because they go with everything and because we'll still be wearing them next summer with little dresses – total investment. These are from River Island, €87.50.

* We can't wait for Diptyques's Christmas candles

Of course it's too early to start thinking about the festive season but we'll make an exception for this amazing trio of scents; roasted chestnuts, pine and benzoin, which is caramel-ish. €58 each, Brown Thomas