Little black book: Gaby Basora

La Lancha. Guatemala
Dream vacation? Stay in a casita at Francis Ford Coppola's resort in Guatemala, which overlooks a lake and has simple but delightful rooms and top-notch spa services. There's little to do but relax. coppolaresorts.com

Leila's Shop, London E2
I once had the pleasure of a fabulous private dinner at this Shoreditch cafe. I was leaving by train for Paris the following morning and Leila sent me off with a basket of my favourite sweet tortas from Spain and fresh oranges. 020 7729 9789

Iris , New York
Hands down, the best shoes in the city. The store stocks designs by Veronique Branquinho and Viktor & Rolf - as well as hard-to-find shoes from high-profile collections such as Chloé. There's a shop in London, too. irisshoes.com

Belstaff, London W1
An iconic British brand that has been going since 1924, with a rich history and a phoenix logo representing optimism and perseverance. I particularly love a boot they make called the Agnes Slim Lady. I want a pair in every colour. belstaff.net

Mishka, Buenos Aires
I have found beautiful leather brogues with tassels at this fabulous little shop, which is an insider secret for stylish travellers in the city. mishkashoes.com.ar

Fifi Chachnil, Paris
It's funny that it was a straight male friend of mine who tipped me off about Fifi's amazing lingerie. Her boutiques are a dream - there is also one in Knightsbridge - and her collections always delightful. boutique-fifichachnil.com

Spree, Paris
Recommended to me by a magazine editor, this store in Montmartre has Pierre Hardy shoes, gorgeous art photos and unique mid-century modern furniture - all in a fabulous setting. spree.fr

Milan Fashion Week: Dolce & Gabbana spring/summer 2012

It was almost cruel. Just as the rest of Milan sat down to Sunday lunch, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana forced 1000 of fashion's most influential tastemakers to confront perhaps their greatest taboo: pasta.

The spring/summer 2012 Dolce & Gabbana collection presented was a mouth-watering paean to the Italian cucina that saw their catwalk transformed into a buffet heaped with the bounty of primavera .

Not everything was fattening (and certainly not any of the clothes): there were plenty of healthy, slimming vegetables. Handbags, necklaces, figure-hugging sheath dresses, décolletage-flaunting ruched tops, bustiers and jackets were decorated with enough pomodori , melanzane , cipollini and pepperoni to keep Jamie's Italian in verdure for months. There were some wonderfully kooky garlic-bulb earrings, and the beautiful yellow and green zucchini flower prints were guilt-free feast for the eyes.

The distressing bit for this institutionally carbohydrate-averse crowd (too much pasta and wearing those sample-size freebies becomes impossible) were the farfalle that fluttered on gold necklaces, and the rigatoni looped onto bracelets and bags. As Stefano Gabbana observed: "We have enough here for a wonderful al'arrabiata ."

Alexandra Shulman, editor of Vogue , said: "They were incredible edibles - and what about those aubergine hot pants?" She was, she added, looking forward to dinner.

Food, though, was only one element of a collection that riffed on a molto Dolce & Gabbana theme, that of an idealised Southern Italian village. The stage was bedecked with gaudy multicoloured lights as if for a summer saint's festival, handbags and soles on flat sporty sandals were prettily mottled in homage to the meshed plastic chairs scattered in most small-town Italian piazzas, jewellery jangled with golden Madonna and angel charms, and the multi-coloured raffia fringing on dresses could have been shredded directly from a trattoria tablecloth.

After that pasta and vegetable primi piatti , the designers put out a series of classic Dolce & Gabbana black dresses that started simply and unadorned then became increasingly ornate with beading and pretty flower details (actress Scarlett Johansson wore a blush version of the flower dress in the front row.) Those sporty flat sandals apart (first Christopher Kane , now here: that makes a new season trend), the models wore black high-heeled booties that were tantamount to lingerie for the feet.

Then, at the close, came a fashionland unreality-check for anyone actually contemplating eating that pasta rather than wearing it. Around 60 skinny models in corsets decorated in gold and silver, or encrusted with stones as colourful as the lights draped above, paraded to the photographers then posed en masse at the end of the catwalk.

Gabbana said: "The spirit here is enjoy your life - very Italian." And what all that food? "Food is everything: sex, everything. And the kitchen is for time when family are together."

Unless, that is, you're spending Sunday lunchtime sitting in a fashion show, fantasising about an enormous, steaming bowl of pasta. With lots and lots of cheese.

Emily Blunt to Front Yves Saint Laurent Opium Ad Campaign

She wore Elie Saab to the Emmys, but it looks like Emily Blunt is resolutely Team YSL.

The British actress has been named the face and ambassadress for Yves Saint Laurent's Opium eau de parfum, the Telegraph reports.

A new campaign shot by Patrick Demarchelier and Romain Gravas will see Blunt portraying a "fiery, reckless woman with magnetic seduction, that nobody or nothing can resist." Sex-ay!

"I am very honored to have been chosen to be the face of Opium," the star says. "It is really exciting to embody a fragrance which has stood the test of time without its allure ever being diminished."

Look for the campaign to drop in October.

Lindsey Wixson: My life as a teenage supermodel

Fashion week is a trying time for the most experienced of models. The late night fittings, 6am starts, layers of different makeup, and three shows with three hour advance call times every day for a week usually leaves the toughest of girls overworked and exhausted. Model of the moment Lindsey Wixson has the added pressure of being just 17-years-old and having only been a fixture at the shows since spring 2010 - when she was on exclusive for Prada and Miu Miu - has not had much time to get used to the craziness.

Her show-stopping first season led to W Magazine running a full page of her bee stung lips and gap toothed smile and campaigns quickly followed, propelling her instantly to top model level.

Born in Kansas, where she still lives with her parents, Lindsey makes the trip each season to New York, London, Milan and Paris for the fashion shows.

The Telegraph met up with the teen sensation at New York Fashion Week to get an insight into her life at the shows, and just to hang out with the sweetest supermodel you could ever meet.

Skirting around the question of what to pack for Milan and Paris

"Carolyn's just texted. She's taking 12 pairs of shoes." "That message came in at midnight," my husband said, as we tried to close my suitcase at 5.30am on Wednesday. "I took the unilateral decision not to wake you".

I am not normally a neurotic packer. I went to New Zealand, Hong Kong and the States a few years ago for a month with just hand luggage, but that was to see my sisters, not Karl Lagerfeld and Marc Jacobs.

Thing is, I usually come back between Milan and Paris for a day or so. This season, there is no time for that. I need clothes for 16 different day outfits, six cocktail looks, two climates (28C in Milan, 19C in Paris) one flight and four train journeys, one of them seven hours, plus the occasional early morning run when I can cram it in (2am?). That means everything from trainers to lace, and since it will be properly autumn by the time I hit Paris, a coat.

Two main strategies emerged: ruthless minimalism, which was never really a goer. Or the technique known as Throwing Everything In. There had to be a third way.

There was. A combination of both that involved buying yet another suitcase - all my others are small enough, at a pinch, to fit in the overhead locker. The new one was a four-wheel drive, and it was vast.

But not vast enough. Not after I'd packed everything in tissue paper, the lotions (all decanted into small Muji bottles) and computer leads. The iPod speaker was non-negotiable. I took out the coat. I'd get by with my favourite velvet day-to-night jacket, which would get wrecked in a downpour.

I packed a raincoat. The lid bulged. I consulted the 10-day forecast for Paris. Inconclusive. I added a coat.

Fashion weeks are clearly ludicrous in their sartorial demands (it was much easier when everyone wore black the whole time), but longish business trips with corporate entertaining are a common enough dilemma. Here's my survival list:

- Four pairs of trousers, including red - it's a colourful season - and black jeans for travelling. Very dark blue velvet Stella McCartneys with black satin stripe - it's all about day-to-night dressing.

- One midnight-blue lace dress - no day mileage out of this, but there is a big Gucci party in Florence that requires serious dressing up.

- Four blouses, two with matching skirts, which can be worn as dresses.

- Six skirts - this was when I realised I'd lost it, but they're in everything from chiffon to wool. Weather do your worst, I'm sussed.

- Three tops - one silk, one chiffon, one metallic; all good day- to-dinner options.

- Two tailored jackets - one patterned (very next season - thank you, Cos), one dark navy, also works with black.

- One thin jumper.

- Two cardigans - one black, one camel, grey and orange, for maximum versatility.

- One trench coat.

- One cocoon coat - light but warm, and quite fabulous if I say so myself; perfect for those long waits outside, or when the outfit underneath is a write-off.

- Six pairs of shoes - two flats, two kitten heels and two high. Good shoes are a baseline requirement when there are photographers patrolling the front row, taking pictures of your feet.

- One pair of biker boots (fashion version, they're Jimmy Choo) - the traffic's terrible in Paris, I like to walk and take the Metro to shows. £Two pashminas, one belt, two big necklaces and earrings.

- One tote bag for lugging around my computer, one Mulberry smaller bag, one Céline pouch for money, passport etc, which doubles as an evening clutch.

That's it. Not so crazy, apart from, maybe, the skirts. But I gave up trying to plan every last outfit - you have to build in some flexibility. Early days, but things are progressing to plan.

However, the nice lady at the British Airways check-in desk charged me £40 for two excess kilos. Do you think it's tax deductible?

Alexa Chung hosts starry party to celebrate second collection for Madewell

Following the success of her first collaboration with the label, they decided to go forth and launch a new Autumn/Winter range for 2011 - all playful smock dresses, classic coats and ankle boots. (Essentially, the staples of Alexa's wardrobe.)

Held at the swanky Chateau Marmont - and co-hosted by InStyle magazine - the launch party boasted guests such as Kate Bosworth, Amanda Seyfried and Elle Fanning, who all turned out to check out the latest batch of Chung-tastic clobber.