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I love a fashion shocker. For the past few months, the delightful French actress, Marion Cotillard, has had us all enamoured with her regular wearing of the new Raf Simons line for Dior. She has looked  as if Dior was designed specifically for her, throughout its long legacy, right up to this iteration. Until now. I mean this cobweb dress just swamps the woman, right?

DLM Press, PacificCoastNews.com

And while this one is not a total disaster — in fact it is very chic — a black coat dress is completely inappropriate for turning Christmas lights on in Paris. Talk about a downer. How completely un-festive can any one person look?

And yet, check this out. Appearing on a TV talk show last week, Marion looked cute and hip and young and fresh. Not wearing Dior. Rather wearing the diffusion line McQ from Alexander McQueen. I love this dress with the plaid and the adorable puff sleeve and hip detail. And it reminds me how much I loved Marion when she first started wearing Dior.

The lesson here? Fashion needs to be kept fresh and not everything from one designer/label is going to work. Choose wisely, and mix things up a bit. Delve into archives rather than just stick with one season's collection. And know what works and what doesn't. We all need to follow the same advice in our own, rather more high-street wardrobes, don't we? Good class. As you were.