One of the coolest (and coldest blooded) trends to have slipped off the Autumn Winter runways was coloured snakeskin. Now queen of fashion, Donatella Versace, has gone for a controversial matchy-matchy accessories look by pairing her jacket to her holdall on a recent flight. To help water-proof our theory, here’s Anna Wintour in a bottle green snakeskin mac, making her way to the Burberry show at London Fashion Week.

It’s all the rage this autumn. Chloe provided everything a girl could wish for in snakeskin – from floaty, snakeskin printed chiffon maxidresses to slinky rock n roll snakeskin blouses. Then, chez Gucci, snakeskin came in rich jewel colours, mainly in the form of outerwear like belted trenches and bikers.

Then there was the super-feminine collection by Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli at Valentino which was complemented by coloured python handbags and snakey knee-length boots. Now we come to mention it, there was more than a touch of snakeskin over at Prada as well, what with their knee boots, clutch bags and coats.

Now, we’re not 100% we want to deck ourselves head to toe in reptilian garb, and if you’re not either, maybe you should take the Chloe approach to snakeyness. A little touch here and there – and think of a fabric, rather than leather material. Avoid tight shiny satiny snake, a silk bodycon dress is a no thanks.

Although we are sure that Donatella and Anna’s jackets are sturdy and weatherproof, we think we’d copy Liz Hurley (and we NEVER thought we’d write that) and simply SLIP into a blouse like this blue one (or maybe with a more matt finish, and two more buttons done up) OR these wicked snake print skinny jeans from Current Elliot. (£180 from Oxygen Boutique) Ssssplendid!

- Naomi Attwood