one of a kind

STYLING BY SOPHIA NEPHITOU MAKE-UP BY SHARON DOWSETT / HAIR BY ADAM BRYANT FOR TONI AND GUY / MODEL: LAURA ROUDELL AT STORM AT STORM

To buy these clothes would be an act of pure frivolity. And why not? It isn't every day one buys art to wear. Designers of wearable clothes also like to indulge themselves by making handcrafted one-offs - and usually rational women like to buy them. Their appeal doesn't derive from normal fashion concerns like fit, form or function, but from desire, the "I want" factor. Thus the delights here, from the sexiest of boudoir slippers by Manolo Blahnik to Antonio Berardi's naughtiest of wispy negliges, aren't items you can tell yourself you'll wear often. But then, you never know when they could come in handy ... Melanie Rickey

Above: beaded choker, pounds 375, by Erickson Beamon, 38 Elizabeth Street, London SW1 (telephone 0171 259 0202); black tulle dress with red silk embroidery, pounds 995, by Antonio Berardi, from A la Mode, 36 Hans Crescent, London SW1 (telephone 0171 584 2133)

Centre: black tulle dress, as above

Above: tomato-red sari with silver and gold sequin embroidery, pounds 625, by Dries Van Noten, from Harvey Nichols, Knightsbridge, London SW3 (telephone 0171 235 5000)

Right: leopard-print mesh mules, pounds 285, by Manolo Blahnik, 49 Old Church St, SW3 (telephone 0171 352 3863); red 40-denier tights, pounds 4.99, by Jonathan Aston, from department stores nationwide