This season's style Specials board is loaded with deliciously sexy skirt suits and lavish day dresses. Our Fashionista takes a big bite from the autumn/winter fashion feast

As Charles Dickens once said, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times... I'm in no doubt that well-informed, up-to-the-minute fashion fans such as yourselves, dear readers, will have noticed the rampant size 00 debate that has been raging over the past few months.

Well, I'm here to give you the definitive scoop. As far as this discussion goes, there's only one way forward. Eat. Yes, my friends, even a die-hard, dedicated style addict such as myself knows what's really important in life. Food. The only double-zero you want in your life is the one on the end of your clothing budget. It is all too easy to maintain your position as a fashion maven and work on your curves in the most fabulous of environments: the restaurants du jour. And I'm here to let you know what to wear while you're doing it...

Once again, the designers are on our side. The zeitgeist has, this season, deemed a return to a more formalised glamour. This has infiltrated into the culinary world and there are only two types of eatery I will be spotted in this season: the formal, old-school type which you would visit with your fiancée's extremely wealthy French aristo parents; or the hedge-fundwife-and-girlfriend venue.

Let's just imagine that you are going on a lunch date with your prospective in-laws, who are over from their mansion on Avenue George Cinq. You have two options which both involve working two of this season's major trends. The first is the skirt suit. This allows you great versatility as you can go for almost any shape skirt: mini, pencil, flared or dirndl as long as - and this is key - your jacket has sharp shoulders and is nipped in at the waist. This is a key silhouette for the autumn.

The alternative is a statement day dress. Relying heavily on the 1940s screen siren as muse, designers have made the lavishly embellished, statement day dress the flavour of the month, or should I say, season. Herve's parents will not be able to stop congratulating their son on his brilliant taste in women - as well as restaurants - when they see you in Alberta Ferretti's sequins or Emilio Pucci's mirrored sheath.

For a night out with Herve Hedge and his financial heavyweight colleagues, it's important to think and eat like a supermodel. Make like Helena Christensen and order the cheese plate. Men are impressed by a woman who eats dairy. Believe me, all these wheat and lactose intolerant females are so last year.

The male species are also equally taken with ladies who dine in floor-length Valentino. Anyone who can afford the dry-cleaning on the exquisitely ruffled, beautifully layered deep violet evening dress is worth their salt.

This season, as Prince would say, Purple Reigns. Block, primary colours and metallics have also survived another season but black is making a comeback. This time it's black on black. All the heavyweights have shown black in a new light by playing with texture. Armani, Chloé, Matthew Williamson, YSL, you name it, they've worked it using pattern, decoration and layering to present us with fabulous dresses - still the key piece - that allow us to eat as much as we want and still look trim due to black's famous slimming properties. So fashionistas, this is a season resplendent with taste. Make sure you take a big bite.

ZOE MANZI is a London based editor and fashion writer