I read a great article this morning from the UK Times Online. It was all about the resurgent shoulder pad, as modelled by all the fashion editors currently togged out in it-label Balmain. An extract: "Once, shoulder pads divided the fashion world. In the Eighties, you were either a brash Bonfire of the Vanities type, in which case you generally had to exit doorways sideways, or you were in the intellectual vanguard of Japanese fashion, which mean delicate, little rounded shoulders. But now we’re all united in anti-disestablishment shoulder support. If you have secretly been in mourning for the Dynasty look these past 20 years (you know who you are), then you will fall on the new power jackets (and, as of next winter, blouses, T-shirts, dresses) like the old Bill Clinton falling on an intern. If you’re a rock’n’roll type, you will embrace the new snub-shouldered skinny boyfriend jackets. If you are a wannabe Hell’s Angel, you’ll want one of next season’s broad-shouldered, leather biker’s jackets now. Even if none of the above applies, the incontrovertible facts remain: shoulder pads make your waist and hips look smaller, your posture seem more upright, your spine straighter. Those are probably the most compelling reasons of all."