Fiona Duff: A frown is a smile upside down

So, I had my day planned out quite carefully. It was all going to be very sociable '“ meeting someone for a dog walk first thing, then coffee with another friend and later dog walk and lunch with someone else.
Queen Elizabeth and  Anna WintourQueen Elizabeth and  Anna Wintour
Queen Elizabeth and Anna Wintour

However, when I returned from the first outing there was a text from my daughter to say that she had forgotten her hockey kit.

In the old days if you didn’t take your gym stuff to school you just had to do some star jumps in your pants. But that was an awfully long time ago.

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So this is all a bit rushed as I need to track down aforementioned sports gear and get it to school before lunchtime. And sometimes I sit down in front of my computer and have no idea about what to write. Actually to be quite honest it happens most weeks.

I read a paper this morning and nothing inspired me; there seems to have been a lot of coverage of Fashion Week and in fact that is just depressing. Do I really want to look at photographs of incredible thin, tall teenagers wearing very expensive clothes? No I don’t.

If you look closely, a lot of the garments don’t even seem to fit them very well. The trousers are all baggy and often too long; dresses don’t cover what they should do and I wouldn’t mind seeing a smile every so often. I know models complain about what a tough life they have but I have seen old photographs of men coming out of coal mines and they look a lot happier. And that really is a tough job, which probably paid a pittance.

This week, for the first time, the Queen went along to a fashion show accompanied by Anna Wintour – the woman who can’t go out without wearing a pair of large sunglasses. They both looked looked as though they had been told that their cat had just died.

So I have decided that a smile is the best thing to wear. I shall attempt to put one on when I see the forgetful daughter.