The 10 best shoes

… ahead of a new exhibition, Shoes: Pleasure and Pain, at the V&A in London

Dress codes: When smart casual isn’t good enough

Women in flat shoes were turned away from the Cannes red carpet last week – barmy dress codes or all part of the fun?

The 10 best model reinventions

With Cara Delevingne making her acting debut in Michael Winterbottom’s new film, we look at other models who have gone on to excel in other fields

Van Gogh’s fading Sunflowers… and other tales of decaying art

Supposed damage to Van Gogh’s paintings is minimal, but other masterpieces by Leonardo and Duchamp et al are showing the ravages of time

The 10 best art patrons

As a new show at the National Gallery explores the influence of Paul Durand-Ruel, the dealer who ‘made’ the impressionists, Rachel Cooke highlights other great patrons and collectors

Champagne is all a matter of taste – but the taste doesn’t really matter

Experts are saying that upmarket champagne tastes better out of a normal wine glass than out of a flute – is this the new shape of alpha snobbery?