At this time of year, shop floors are full of sequinned dresses and cosmetic halls are crammed with glitter eye shadows and shimmer sprays. Unfortunately, we women feel the need to fling all things sparkly at ourselves in one shining mushroom cloud. The result? You end up looking like you got in a fight with a tinsel bedecked Christmas tree and lost.

Agreed. Obama was characteristically stern. But his words were sharp. Dave Hadfield was a schoolboy convert to rugby league, the game which, one way or another, has dominated his life ever since. After working for newspapers in Shropshire and Blackpool (where he covered the fortunes of Blackpool Borough) he travelled the world, working mainly in Hong Kong and Sydney. He became The Independent rugby league man in 1990 and has written five books on the game and broadcast extensively for Sky and the BBC.

KUCZYNSKI: Shockingly, no. I own certain things I will always own, like a beautiful fur coat my grandfather gave my mother. She smal