I have always dreaded pregnancy. Not for the discomfort, not for the weight gain, not for the agony of childbirth…but for the clothes! Like many women, I have never wanted to look comfortable and stain-proof in an insipid floral smock. A woman having a baby should not have to dress like one, nor should she suddenly divest herself of black chiffon, kitten heels and cleavage, especially when this might be the best cleavage of her lifetime.

Recently I found role models who have followed that code of nonchalant goddess charm, bearing their burgeoning bodies with a breezy, seductive élan. Revelation number one was Uma Thurman at the Oscars in an evening dress that was almost all bustline. Va va voom! Revelation number two was Kate Moss’s nine-month fashion parade of delicate printed chiffons, denim skirts, UGG boots and Grecian-style evening dresses that made pregnancy look almost fun.

Real-life revelation number three came when one of my best friends fell pregnant at 41. Six-feet tall and imperiously vampish, she wore 1930s bias-cut silk satin slips layered in contrasting hand-dyed shades of magenta and scarlet, with silk chiffon wraps knotted loosely over her burgeoning bust. The night before her waters broke she was lounging about in a black, stretch-georgette evening dress and bare feet. Swollen ankles and hellish water retention did not weary her and it was a joy to behold.

Pregnancy does not automatically equal 9 months of frumpdom. For the career mom, Diane Von Furstenburg does a big belly wrap in stretch silk jersey. For the action mom, Gap does a series of boot-cut jeans that accommodate three phases of tummy expansion from just showing to their extended panel model which is big enough for twins. Heck, I even found black leather Sheryl Crow-style pants for the expectant rock chick at www.apeainthepod.com, a fantastic fashion company that commissions contemporary designers such as Anna Sui and TIBI to make their sundresses. The store even provides a full-length beaded wedding dress in duchess satin by Nicole Miller. Now that is modern maternity style!

Cruising the Web for pretty pregnant clothes is a relaxing alternative to struggling through busy department stores and the prices are competitive. Like shopping for “normal” fashion, it pays to balance designer items against less expensive basics. Get your denim capris at Old Navy or Gap Maternity and splurge on a ruched-fronted poplin shirt and a keyhole peasant blouse at www.belissimama.com, or plunk down for a Vivianne Tam T-shirt at www.thematernitymall.com. The sensible mother-to-be would do well to choose some pieces (especially tops) that can be used during and after their pregnancy—and well into nursing. Button-front shirts and loose Nehru-style tops can accommodate a bigger bust, easy access for feeding and grabby little paws better than a plain T-shirt.

Pumpkin Wurtzel, of www.pumpkinmaternity.com (a fashion site and Nolita boutique devoted to street-wise Mommy fashion), stresses the importance of good underwear during your gestation. “If you are wearing pretty and supportive undergarments it makes dressing more of a joy. I became a fan of the thong during my first pregnancy but I can also understand women loving those baggy ‘granny’ knickers at full term.” Pumpkin’s site sells both and plenty of witty little sundresses besides.

“Women” says Pumpkin sagely, “have different trouble spots during pregnancy. Some don’t love their arms or their knees and I design with these issues in mind.” Expecting her second baby shortly, Pumpkin says the best thing about pregnant style is actually overcoming niggling body issues in favor of the big picture. “Having your body change in ways you can’t control allows a woman to let go of a lot of self-obsession. This selflessness is the first step to becoming a parent.” Amen!

Fertile, fabulous, full-figured and free-spirited, there is nothing more attractive than a woman owning up to her changes with grace and humor. The funniest item I found on the Mommy market was a T-shirt that read “Got Breastmilk?” ($16.00, www.hotmama.com) just getting the chance to wear one of those would make all of the hard work worth it!

Whether you are just showing or in the last throes of carrying your baby, do find ways to liven up the process with style. Here are seven more tips for the round set. Bless your darling D-cups!

1. Sew stylish: Crafty mommies on a budget can make their own chic sheaths. Check out VOGUE Pattern no. 2750 for a stretch wrap dress with Juliet sleeves, or VOGUE Pattern no. 1757 for a swing coat for day.

2. Va-va-vintage: The best vintage styles to wear while pregnant are oversize rayon ’40s dresses (with espadrilles), full-length negligees (for sexy lounging), swing-back opera coats (for evening cover ups) and oversized men’s shirts worn open over tanks and sarongs.

3. Belly balm: Bare bellies are a big summer trend with proud types wearing tight tanks and hipster-style cargo pants. Frankly, I think this looks like Britney Spears with indigestion but if you must strut the gut…moisturize it! Tummy skin is fragile and needs constant attention to avoid stretch marks and dehydration.

4. Functional footware: Shoes need to support you properly and fit swollen feet. Ignore Carrie Bradshaw and Manolo Blahnik fans everywhere and wear Birkenstocks if you need to. A long, bias-cut skirt will compliment them.

5. Accessorize: Don’t be a plain Jane! Accent your new boobs with a velvet-trimmed shawl for evening or a double strand of faux pearls. Wear anything now that you can’t later on…dangly earrings, chokers, complex trailing ringlets…all will be taboo once baby starts clutching.

6. Lingerie indulgence: Splurge on a sexy black lace-trimmed bra (www.biggirl’sbra.com) now or forever hold your peace in the nursing numbers that are to come.

7. Pattern power: Polka dots, horizontal stripes, gaudy florals and funky plaids can all be worn while pregnant. This is the one time in a woman’s life when she does not need to slim down or pretend to be 10 pounds lighter!

To most women, the fashionable return of natural, kinky, curly and wavy hair is about as welcome as the revival of the miniskirt. After decades of teasing, blow-drying, processing and yanking our hair straight, suddenly we are being asked to get back to nature. How many women reading this story even know what their original hair looks like anymore? About the only time we catch ourselves un-styled is when we’re soaking wet on a beach or in a maternity ward far from a comforting stash of products and a powerful blow-dryer.

While straight hair may confer authority and respectability, it also signals a great loss of originality, sensuality and, simply put, fun. Like natural beauty of any kind, natural hair takes a little work. But once you find the best way to style and nourish your true locks you may never want a boring blow-out again. In pursuit of my original kink, I began uptown in Manhattan and worked my way downtown—sniffing out as many miracle products as I could fit into a canvas tote along the way…

Gil Ferrer—the French celebrity hairstylist whose salon tends Candace Bushnell’s blondeness and keeps Meg Ryan artfully tousled—is adamant about nourishing hair. For summer, he suggests a deep-heat moisture treatment once a month to protect the follicles and keep the scalp stimulated. “A sealed cuticle,” he explains, “means less frizz, more shine and greater tenacity in the face of everyday breakage.” Ferrer sells old-fashioned heating caps and suggests an even simpler home treatment: Slather your hair with a deep conditioner, cover it with plastic wrap and then top everything with hot towels. “Do it while you drink your coffee,” he suggests. “Pop some damp towels in the microwave and keep the hair warm consistently for 12 minutes, and conditioning becomes a healthy habit.”

Known for his specialists, Ferrer had me consult his trichologist and then get a custom cut based on the natural fall of my mixed-up mane. Trichology is the science of the hair and scalp, a relatively new study introduced to America in 1977. Christopher Mackin leads the field, jumping jets to go settle Nicole Kidman’s or Julia Roberts’ tresses as well as passing on critical advice to mere mortals. As Mackin exfoliates, clarifies and moisturizes the scalp, he also educates. “Wash your scalp using gentle circular motions with the balls of your fingers to awaken the scalp” he urges, “and blot your hair dry between shampoo and conditioner so that the nourishment can penetrate the hair shaft.”

Mackin stresses a diet rich in fish, fresh veggies and dairy and recommends a thorough brushing of the hair to stimulate the scalp just before bedtime. “Oxygen carried through the blood stimulates the scalp” he says. Glamour, the natural kind, starts at the root.

When Vincent “The Master from Brazil” cuts my hair he snips it completely dry, following the natural shape. Afterwards, he flipped my mane from side to side with a technique the Gil Ferrer Salon calls “the tossed salad”, which feels a bit like aerobics for hair. Suddenly the locks are aloft, not frozen or tortured into place, and a razored feather cut releases the curl. Four fabulous hours later, I am the natural hair woman. More Sonia Braga, less Peter Frampton. Kinky, glossy and moisturized, it does seem a little excessive to spend this much time getting back to nature, yet education is what allows a lady to make the best of her God-given locks. It was comforting to know that simple things like eating well and brushing thoroughly can improve my hair’s condition, especially in such a product-driven era. In my case, stubborn frizz just needed some gentle layering and my naturally-flat roots needed the aerating upward motions of Vincent, Brazilian lord of the hair salad.

Heading downtown to Lorraine Massey (author of Curly Girl, through Workman publishing), co-owner of the Devachan salon in Soho and inventor of a range of fabulous curl-inducing shampoos, I enriched my natural hair knowledge. Relaxed and down-to-earth, Massey’s solutions for dry and damaged hair can be as simple as diluting shampoo with spring water, abandoning shampoo altogether (she uses only conditioner on her ringlets) or making an avocado-based natural smoothie and letting it soak into the tips for 20 minutes.

Hair, Massey believes, needs to be retrained back into its natural curls, especially if it has been regularly straightened through styling or products. Letting African-American hair grow kinky (and smoothing it with the help of extra conditioner) and allowing corkscrew curls a slight halo of frizz are both central to her mantra. When my hair was returned to its natural fold of waves and curls, I no longer feared rain (the great curl machine) or “bed head”. In fact, I jumped out of bed keen to see where the day and the kink would take me! Her specially formulated non-detergent shampoos were also complimentary to hair that had been confused and weighed down by too many styling aids.

Enlightened by scalp science, heat treatments, curl care and gentler products, I realized that wearing hair natural is an artful mix of the right cut, the right formulas and knowing when to leave well enough alone. Find your balance and bounce back. Here’s how:

Natural styling secrets

1. If you don’t have the time let the sun dry your hair naturally, then buy a diffuser. Once you discover just how much curl your hair has, decide how to wear it. Curls can be stretched into fat waves using foam rollers or a wide-toothed comb, or tightened with finger waves and a spritz of setting lotion.

2. For hair that is flat on top and curly on the bottom, twist at the roots, spray with rose or lavender water and apply tight pin curls for about half an hour. Finger-style to keep the curls elevated.

3. Try the no-touchy method: Finger-smooth wet hair and then sleep on it, or wear it in the sun. Frizzing happens when hair gets mauled.

4. Use the weekend to experiment with natural setting techniques and homemade treatments. Pad around the house in pin curls, long tiny braids (for pre-Raphaelite crimping) or goopy olive oil on your split ends for damage control. Wild, sexy hair might be the result.

5. Wear an up-do at work that unfurls into slinky long looks for night. Coil two sides into loose bunches and pin, or wear a chignon that allows less pressure to fall on the crown of the head. Tight ponytails have been know to create temporary pattern baldness in women, so loosen up.

Natural care know-how

1. Use radically less shampoo or water it down with spring water. Choose shampoos with very low detergent levels or none at all.

2. Cutting off an inch or two every six weeks keeps hair healthy. No matter how gentle you are with hair, the tips get brittle. Trimming is a smart move, not a sacrifice.

3. Rinse beach or pool hair with a bottle of club soda after your swim, and choose leave-in conditioners with built-in sunscreens.

Is there is no sadder reminder of summer gone by than old highlights framing your pale face? Faded and wispy, they clash with their darker outgrown roots. My own tired tendrils brought me to a cross-road: To re-dye or re-grow it out?

How many other women face the same problem? I’d guess millions, and I’ll bet those numbers rise when the weather gets grim. Whether you have outgrown highlights, lingering lowlights or a fading semi-perm rinse, the temptation to re-color in winter is fierce. Blonde hair goes ashy, grays become prominent, and in-between shades just seem more so on a gray day.
Boosting or completely changing your hair color without scalding your scalp, getting the wrong shade or spending a bundle takes some research. Mine started in a wig shop. Dragging a completely black Halloween wig onto my head I proved one thing: Pale skin with blue tones can handle darker hair, and blonde highlights are not for everyone. My J. Lo days behind me, I marched into Oscar Bond salon in New York and shook my sad hair in the colorist’s face. Instead of screaming, she just smiled and offered all sorts of comforting solutions. I learned that re-dying, recovering a little gray or simply returning to natural needn’t put you on a chemical treadmill of salon dependency. Rather, heed these smart ways back to gorgeous winter hair.
 

FIRST: RECONDITION

Color-treated hair is weak and dehydrated. It needs a weekly deep-conditioning treatment and special treats such as a month’s break from shampoo (just wash with conditioner), and natural masks like olive oil or whipped egg yolks to keep it shiny. If you must recolor, go to the salon with dirty hair — the oil will protect your scalp!

SALON OR SELF-HELP?

Covering roots can be done safely at your kitchen sink, but you need a friend to help you reach the back of your head and a reliable alarm clock to tell you when you need to rinse out the gunk. Low ammonia, low peroxide dyes are gentler, and match the color to your face — not the model on the box. Commercial dyes tend to be darker than advertised, so choose a shade one or two lighter than your natural color. Some dyes are also more toxic than others. Avoid anything that contains phenylenediamine, acid blue 168, acid violet 73, acid orange 87 or solvent brown 44, as these ingredients have been linked to cancer, says Rona Berg in Beauty — The New Basics. To care for home-tinted hair, wash it in cool (un-chlorinated) water, avoid too many blow-outs and splurge on luscious conditioners.

THE COLOR QUESTION

There’s a big difference between maintaining an existing color and making a radical change. If you’re going to the trouble (and expense) of a professional colorist, why not be a little more adventurous? The present color of you hair might be dictated by complacent make-up habits (the dreaded coral lipstick!), the wrong cut or simple conservatism. I am going a whole shade darker this Christmas to embrace rather than battle my pale white skin. With a different eye shadow or a wavier style that reveals more layers of color, you might find a hidden redhead or a russet blonde waiting to break free. And if you opt for a rinse instead of permanent color, your experiment won’t feel like a new tattoo.

FABULOUS FAKES

Sometimes a color-enhancing shampoo or a henna-rich conditioner is all you need to boost fading semi-permanent color. To hide grays, try hair mascara, which lasts 24 hours, or color mousse, which can last for weeks. To get highlights without actually dying your hair, find a salon that will weave highlighted extensions into your hair. Non-damaging, lengthening and highly glamorous, it’s the ultimate answer for non-committal types.

GENTLE ARTIFICE

For something lasting but not devastating, demi-permanent color is ammonia free and deposits color without lightening. Lower in peroxide and more subtle in the way it blends, a demi leaves less obvious roots. For permed hair, a semi-permanent dye is best because the process involves no ammonia or peroxide. Like a demi, the color lasts six weeks and is subtle at the roots.

THE WHOLE ENCHILADA

If you decide a whole-head dip is the only way to go, you’ll need the gentlest touch possible. Salons have the advantage of better techniques, more sophisticated products and formulas unavailable at drug stores. They also know the degree of color you need. Don’t go in without examples of hair you love torn from magazines, and do wear your regular palette of make-up colors. As salon lighting is not so natural, drag your colorist outside to reveal your true hair and skin tones.

If you’re willing to maintain your re-growth with touch-ups every six weeks or so, the benefits of a permanent color can be rich. Be sure to ask for a low-ammonia, low-peroxide formula, and lean toward products that use botanicals. Try to avoid a bone-dry blow-out immediately after you color, and instead let your hair a rest awhile. Lastly, lift your chin and shake your head as you leave the salon. My mother swears by this feminine flourish, the perfect expression of her triumph over age and nature!

Spring-break breakdown

Two white thighs tumble out of a pair of control-top hose under the neon lights of the fitting room. Without the help of Lycra you are a full two sizes larger. The world is going to hell in handbasket and now, so has your derriere. The summer-bikini diet is not working. On top of it all, spring break is luring you to exotic climes on package deals that promise cut-rate sunshine.

But what do you wear when your dreams are in Acapulco and your body is still taking a snow day? How do you compete with the college brats cavorting in their cut-offs, crocheted bikini tops and twig-shaped society girls with Palm Beach winter tans? One flimsy little pareo is not going to save you from beach shame, and neither will a gallon of sunless-tanning lotion. What you need in order to step into the spotlight of a blinding sun are accessories to dazzle and distract as well as shapes that conceal and flatter. Most women expect themselves to look fantabulous after five days of Hawaiian Tropic and lapping waves, but why wait? The illusion of instant breeziness can be concocted long before you clear customs and fling your cell phone into the sea.

Beach-bum beauty: Invest in a day-spa orgy before you go away. Slough off the drudgery of a long winter and start the relaxation process rolling. If you splurge on an exfoliating facial, a pedicure, a manicure and a big glossy sun-kissed head of highlights, even the cheapest knock-off sunglasses and drawstring linen pants will look luxe. Take aftercare products on your trip such as footbalm for heels and a lightly-moisturizing treatment for the tips of your hair (Redken’s Undone is great) and use this downtime to keep pampering.

Pack holiday make-up that is much lighter than your usual office look—and a touch sexier. A bronzing powder, sheer nude or flesh-pink lipstick, blue or deep emerald mascara (black is so bland) and a tinted sunscreen are all you really need. If you are a bronzing virgin or look strangely gilded in the orange tones of most self-tan cosmetics, find a porcelain pale rosy blusher and apply it with a really big blush brush to your shoulders, nose, cheeks and décolleté. Faking the flush of a day in the sun is so much better than a real roasting. Last but not least, switch perfumes. A splash of the sweet, citrus-scented Calypso Homme by Christiane Calle will make you feel like you are in St. John even if you only make it as far as Tennessee.

Flatter your faults

For the coolest cover-up, just look at Drew Barrymore in the closing shots Charlie’s Angels. There she is, cavorting in a sheer cotton caftan that falls off one shoulder and floats ambiguously around her form. When she jumps into the surf the shift becomes a sensual mermaid sheath clinging and concealing at the same time and all but eclipsing Cameron Diaz’s perfect rear end. Instead of cowering from the cellulite police under a beach umbrella, think ahead and spend real time choosing clever beach outfits.

In Italy, the fashionistas take Victorian nightgowns and hand dye them for the summer. You could do the same with a vintage men’s tuxedo shirt. Dip it in pale lilac and team it with a big straw hat and a few silver bracelets. Or wear a sheer floral silk slip and a tiny

white camisole. Layered lingerie takes the trauma out of slinking down to the water’s edge. Who says you have to wear baggy cotton shorts and message T-shirts to power walk the sand? I’d much rather do it in a tie-dyed djellaba cut to knee length, or a black one piece maillot and a bias-cut tango skirt. Sports clothes lack spice!

Never theme-dress

Hawaiian shirts in Hawaii, yachting shoes on yachts, white ruffles in the Caribbean and hot-pink cheesecloth in Mexico scream tourist—or even worse, retirement village group travel. Think about it: A boat-necked striped T-shirt doesn’t help you sail a boat, and blinding white trousers and billowing starchy white shirts are more evocative of the Love Boat than Kate Hepburn on the African Queen. Ditch contrived looks and clothes that look like they came straight from the department store. Look for cream and ivory instead of white whites. Look for relaxed fabrics like crushed silk, linen/cotton blends and Tencel instead of cotton Lycra and seersucker. Break your sandals in for a good three weeks before wearing them. Put your straw hat in the spin cycle. Wear a Javanese sarong, and a linen waistcoat instead of a shell top and Bermuda shorts. In fact, avoid any item of spring/resort clothing that reminds you of a golf course, a bridge party or happy hour in Boca Raton.

Cheat your hips

Retro trends for spring give winter chub quite a lot of grace. Exploit the return of the ’70s A-line halter dress (my favorite is by Marimekko at Anthropologie), the brightly patterned gathered skirt and the pastel cashmere cardigan (a great upper-arm concealer). Distract from wayward hips and thick midriffs by teaming a crisp white linen blazer over a skinny striped T-shirt and a silk combat skirt. Yes! I said combat skirt, not pants. At last some genius has come up with a flattering alternative to the trouser of the millennium. Because, as we all know, combat pants, no matter how elegantly made, only look flattering on Avril Levigne.

Elevate your assets

Ignore the return to ballet flats and dead-flat pointed pumps—they make winter legs look like tree stumps. Spring dresses and capri pants need lift, and pale legs need to extend their line. The most comfortable heel is not the sling-back kitten heel of last spring, but rather a wedge, a solid stacked heel or a platform espadrille. Worn with a floaty handkerchief skirt, some pinstriped pants or even jeans and a vintage-style blouse, a little heel helps you strut instead of waddle. Beware of showing too much heel and toe too early in the season! Save the urge to wear wafer-thin sandals, naked strappy heels and the vixenish mule till high summer. Spring is the season of the lady-like shoe.

Five final golden rules:

1. Be bold, to a point: Brave a bold print, but only on a skirt and only to the knee. Or make an impact with a bold handkerchief silk scarf worn as a choker.

2. Temper pastels with neutrals for added chic: Combine pale pink with caramel, aqua blue with wheat-colored straw, lemon yellow with chocolate-brown leather.

3. Update old favorites: Find a nice floppy hat that looks like you’ve owned it for years and pin a silk flower to the very edge of the brim.

4. Don’t join the club: Avoid suits, starched shirts, bright nautical stripes (except on handbags) huge polka dots and gingham. Country club styles look best on girls under seven and over 70.

5. Unveil your inner dancer: Wear a crumpled silk ballerina skirt to just above the ankle and a cashmere ballerina wrap with platform sandals and a few bracelets. Gypsies know how to slink from season to season.

This year, resolve to get your chic together

As the clock chimes midnight on December 31st, a million women or more across the country will resolve to give up smoking or lose 10 pounds. Some will swear to renew their yoga memberships. Others will resolve to find a better relationship or a different job.

But how many will vow to stop wearing low rider jeans for good? Not nearly enough.

New Year’s Chic resolutions may not be commonplace, but they are just as critical to personal growth. Years come, years go, and we wear the same haircut, the same coral blush, the same kitten heel sling backs, no matter that their styles have moved on to fashion’s past. Stars have stylists to tell them when to retire the ice blue eyeliner or the side part, but we have only ourselves.

So, this year, embrace your own fashion-forward self! Open a baby bottle of Moet, plop down in your favorite armchair and write up your New Year’s Chic resolutions. The immediate upshot will be a tidier bathroom: goodbye metallic nail polish, purple glimmer shadow and that gooey hair gel you never used.

The following list of chic resolutions is based on critical but fair reflections upon a lifetime of personal habits calcified from sloth, sentimentality and rose-colored dressing room mirrors.

Resolution No. 1: Dress the shape I have, rather than the body I want

Pants don’t suit me. Unless they are made of Lycra and cut by Yves Saint Laurent, they make me look like the Smurf of Willendorf. Accepting 37.5-inch hips and a bottom that looks like two melons on the run has taken 37 years. I give. No more Capri pants, hipsters or stretch cords. Let Liz Hurley live on V8 and Vodka tonics. I will wear nothing but A-line skirts. Amen.

Resolution No. 2: Get thee to a makeup artist

Failing to improve my face with the eyeliner skills I learned at age 13, I will now seek professional help in the cosmetics hall at Henri Bendel. I am ready to admit that any skill at oil crayon drawing does not help contour a human face. All those cosmetic brushes exist for a reason, and I will happily “blend” flattering neutral shades without laughing out loud.

Resolution No. 3: Do not wear push-up bras 24/7

Addiction to underwire is a common trait among recovering rock chicks. I will invest in an array of cotton comfort bras in shades other than black and fire engine red.

Resolution No. 4: Drink more water

The simplest beauty rule in the book is to hydrate from within. I will carry a 2-liter bottle of water like a cherished newborn at all times. (This promise doubles as weight training.)

Resolution No. 5: Break habits of past decades

Among the fashions I will forget are: flares, boob tubes, fringe, and glitter from the 70s; 80s bobs, pale pink lip gloss, ruched leather; and 90s fashions that persist despite a new century, including all black, skinny eyebrows, spike heels, poker straight hair.

Resolution No. 6: Dress from books instead of mags

This year my best fashion inspirations will come from novels: the gloves worn by Emma Bovary, the red velvet handbag carried by Anna Karenina, the fresh flowers worn by Frida Kahlo in her illustrated diary. Fiction filters its way into fashion — just look at the vintage clothes that influence big name designers — but this year I intend to be a step ahead of them. A little straw hat a la Henry James’s lovely Daisy Miller will be the first item on my spring list.

Resolution No. 7: Retire beloved ‘signature’ looks

My love affair with 1940s print dresses must end. Come 2003 I will look less like Lisa Bonet in “Angel Heart” and more like Joan Crawford in “Mildred Pierce.” Certain vintage items (satin house coats, lacy aprons, gray flannel suits) can look more matronly than hip. (This often occurs when you approach the age of the original wearer.)

Resolution No. 8: Wear more white

Women save white for summer. What a waste! Chanel wore white lacy collars and cuffs in all seasons and circumstances. And how they softened her savage little face. Gwyneth Paltrow wears a white raincoat about Manhattan as if the streets were made of strawberry nougat and white gold. Lauren Hutton is forever sporting a man’s starched tux shirt. What a fresh alternative after years of wearing black. I shall go out and find a little white dress, stick a lace collar over my black one and dip everything in vanilla. Everything, that is, except my shoes. White shoes are for children and nurses.

Resolution No. 9: Wear something outrageous

As the clock strikes 12, I will request all eyes on my satin ruffle-bedecked cleavage. Holding court in a magenta corset, this could be the last party for my kept waistline, the last time I give a thought to suffering for fashion. Alas, this year, let nature and pasta have their way with my maternal metabolism. I can always go back to Resolution No. 1.