LIE BACK AND THINK OF BIG EARS

To face the world bravely — or remain on the sofa for ever? This is surely the question we ask ourselves today, the day before the official Going Back to Work After Christmas Day. Some encouragement from Savannah Miller, mother of two and stepmother of one, whose fashion line, Twenty8Twelve, co-designed with sister Sienna, makes its London Fashion Week debut this February. “I get lots of ideas on the sofa,” Sav says. “Our next pre-collection is actually inspired by Noddy and Big Ears. It was on maternity leave that I noticed how incredible Big Ears looked in his blue swing jacket and cropped cream trousers with the green stripe. On the other hand,” she adds, “there’s lying awake at night, worrying about life. That’s when you have your best ideas — those moments of madness in the twilight.”

OM SHANTI SHANTI

Spare a thought, this month, for the men and women who have spent the past eight years safeguarding the souls of New York hedge-funders while they have been busy swindling others: their yoga teachers. Not only has Ruth Madoff reportedly cancelled her $150-a-go thrice-weekly private yoga classes to “take care of some family stuff”, but Christmas tips in general were apparently much reduced this year. “I usually get cash gifts,” says one teacher. “This year, one of my gifts was a frickin’ bag of candy.” The rich are not letting it slip altogether, though. Hot in Manhattan right now is running outside (cheap!) and something called an “elliptical machine”, which, according to another slightly cross yogi, “gets you a nice ass so you look good on the vacation you are taking to show people you still have money”.

DO YOU WANNA BE IN MY TRIBE?

A dispatch, this week, from Sunday Times correspondent Christina Lamb. “I’ve been staying in an Enawene Nawe village in the Amazon, a 10-hour night bus followed by a three-hour truck and a six-hour canoe,” Lamb writes. “I was reading Style in my hammock when some of the Indians gathered round and were intrigued by Our Guide to the 50 Best Party Dresses. Well, readers, you can probably see what trailblazers for S/S 09 this lot already are.”

PURPLE REIGNS

Spoke to the lead singer of the Gossip, Beth “Standing in the Way of Control” Ditto, in LA the other night. I found her sanguine in the face of public debate over her delicious new “do” (right), “cack-handedly baking a cake” at 2am, and reminiscing about the dress she wore on Christmas Day. “It was a purple sweater dress covered in purple sequined bows,” she said. “Not just one bow — covered with bows. It’s my special Christmas dress. I save it for Christmas Day.” As fans wait for the next Gossip tour, I’m hoping Beth is stockpiling as many dresses like that as possible. We expect nothing less.

Explore Celebrity

• People

Times recommends

• Live chat: Thrifty ways to update your winter wardrobe
• Is anybody out there really listening?
• Nutrition Q&A: Will eating late make me fat?