ALEXANDRA SHULMAN'S NOTEBOOK: This summer there's a trend for women in culottes, which strike me as the worst of both worlds.

ALEXANDRA SHULMAN: We keep hearing how tough it is out there now but really it's not any worse than it used to be when I was part of the dating scene ...

ALEXANDRA SHULMAN: Every three-and-a-half weeks I make a pilgrimage to Melanie, my colourist at Hari's hair salon on the Fulham Road.

ALEXANDRA SHULMAN: Despite years of obsessive searching, I'm yet to find the perfect suitcase. It's as elusive as a desert mirage.

ALEXANDRA SHULMAN: After 25 years of hosting parties at Vogue, I reckon I'm an expert on party etiquette. Bad manners are bad manners wherever they are.

It's exactly a year since I was in hospital, recovering from a six-hour operation to remove a cancerous tumour from my colon.

To be ugly, apparently, is more than being unfortunate in the looks department. According to an expert in pulchronomics, ugliness affects every aspect of life.

Greggs must be hoping that Nigella's endorsement of its Christmas bakery range is more successful than the backing given by world-famous women for Kamala Harris.

ALEXANDRA SHULMAN'S NOTEBOOK: We have a mouse in residence - or to be accurate, we're not sure if it's a mouse singular or a happy family of mice.

ALEXANDRA SHULMAN: Adolescence, the extraordinary four-part drama on Netflix , is a frighteningly believable story of a teenage boy driven to extreme violence.

How can I continue to end emails and letters with the words 'As ever', which I've happily used for years, now that it would sound like an endorsement for Meghan's new homeware brand, As Ever?

Forget Sober October, the month has a new claimant - the menopause. October is now Menopause Month, with October 18 designated World Menopause Day.