Fashion: Clothes line

Out Of The Closet

samuel l jackson's latest movie, `eve's bayou', opened in london last week. here, he gives us the lowdown on his passion for hats

"HATS ARE very special to me. I'm always wearing one and have done since the Sixties. I always find one to match the mood or colour I'm wearing that day.

I have three to four hundred hats in total - a huge collection of baseball caps and Kangols. The baseball caps are reminders of times past and they tell stories of places I've been.

The Kangols are style items; I have them made for every film so I can give them to the crew members. They are a unique gift to give to them. I continue to wear them after the films, too. Occasionally, Kangol make a style specially for me. At one point I had some Furgora pork pies made and right now, they are working on a style that can be worn with a tuxedo for award shows such as the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards - black with some satin trim. When I came over to London, I was there for six days and so I packed six hats, one to wear for each day.

Today, I am wearing a pair of chocolate-and-black-striped linen pants, some chocolate-coloured Hush Puppies and a chocolate Kangol cap to match."

TB

Hot Thing

FLATTIES BEGAN to appear last year on catwalks, and they are about to hit BIG on the streets for Autumn. As with all trends of this nature, there are many variations of it fighting for supremacy from designer level down to the high street.

Doll-like Mary Janes are currently in the lead by a toe. They won't be for long. Mary Janes, with their girlie bar, only look good on certain women - particularly those with smallish feet, although Miu Miu's latest offering with their moulded rubber sole balance out big trotters.

Other variations of flat include wafer-thin ballet pumps, which are very chic, but slightly impractical for gadding about - who wants to look like a pigeon footed ballerina? The hottest of all the flats are shown here. Slipper-like, with a misshapen toe (this toe shape is very important for some reason), and a slight but significant wedge sole, they bring a relevance to the silhouette of the season. Floor length skirts and strappy high heels are not a good look proportionally, so these slip-ons will contribute just the right amount of elan to the mid-to-long skirt look, but with a slouchy feel, that could even allow chunky socks to be worn with them.

Funnily enough, these ones are by Bertie, not Prada (who did them for summer). Marc Jacobs also adopted this style on the models at his debut Louis Vuitton show in March. His pointy leather slippers go on sale at global Louis Vuitton boutiques during the next week, priced pounds 175, and are available in three shades, black, burgundy and brown.

Pick them up in Paris, Milan, New York or London. Bertie's, which go by the name of "Malta", cost pounds 59.95, and are available in black satin only.

Bertie, 36 South Molton Street, London W1, 0171-493 5033, and branches of Debenhams nationwide. Call 0171-380 3800 for your nearest stockist.

Melanie Rickey