"What Do you think, Shirley?"

"Who Me? Not mini - I'm a romantic.

"Maxi? Funny you should ask. Actually, I look my best in a maxi, from the eyebrows down.

"Fashionwise you can go any way you want this season. Supposing I could buy a complete new wardrobe (ho! ho! ho! 'n' no!) I'd choose a mixi by day (my definition of anything that isn't midi or maxi but drops from the knee); midi or maxi in the evening; a trouser suit for casual wear.

"I like the swing of the pendulum back to romance, maybe back to Victorian hypocrisy. It's soft, flowing and feminine and I just love to walk to the squishy sound of a long skirt.

"A survey of "Elle" magazine revealed that 71% of women dress to bring out their personality, 16% dress to please their men, and 13% to please their colleagues and friends.

"Here's what I've learned about the midi look.

1. I don't dress to please men.

2. Even your best friends bring conflicting reports from overseas on fashion.

3. Forget the rumbles of objection from your menfolk. Remember how they went on about the mini? My daughter is not going to wear...

4. The midi length looks smashing on tall slim girls. Okay, all fashion looks smashing on tall slim girls.

"One's eye does become accustomed to a new line even if it is sheep psychology or pack instinct. And it doesn't happen suddenly. It builds up with one accessory following another until you have a complete picture.

"Designers have a built-in intuition of what we'll want to wear a year before we know it ourselves. It's their bread and butter.

"I'll take the mixi. Space suits and hot pantsugh!

"The length that suits you is the length that's best for you".