IS it the latest line in sportswear – a fetching way of looking stylish while indulging in a little light fencing?

Or is it simply another example of eye-catchingly offbeat fashion that few would dare to wear in public?

One model's unusual headgear of a fencing mask adorned by an Alfa Romeo car badge raised eyebrows at the weekend's St Andrews Charity Fashion Show 2013.

It also proved that, when it comes to daring catwalk fashions, the show, organised by students at St Andrews University, can give London Fashion Week a run for its money.

The event had its customary array of cutting-edge designs by up-and-coming talent.

The annual event, which took place on Lower College Lawn, attracted its customary high-profile sponsors and was enjoyed by an audience of some 1500 – not all of whom required bottles of bubbly to get in the mood.

The show's organisers described it as the largest student-run charity fashion show in the UK.

It wasn't all about fashion, champagne and exotic-looking runway models, of course.

The show also set out to raise funds for the Wardlaw Scholarship, which was established in 2004 to give financial aid to academically gifted students who would otherwise struggle with the costs of studying at the university. Additionally, more than £300,000 has been raised for a variety of worthwhile causes in the last 20 years.

If the show does have one lasting claim to fame it is as the event that had a walk-on role in a royal wedding.

It has been all of 11 years since Kate Middleton, then a mere student and long before becoming the Duchess of Cambridge, wore a daring knitted tube dress at the fashion show and caught the eye of Prince William, who was in the audience.

Kate and William became an item not long afterwards.

The dress, made from hand-knitted silk and designed by Charlotte Todd, sold for £78,000 at auction almost two years ago.

Meanwhile, fashion icon Dame Vivienne Westwood yesterday called on the Duchess to stop buying so many different outfits and instead to make more of an effort to be environmentally friendly.

Speaking before her London Fashion Week showcase, Dame Vivienne, who believes in quality over quantity, seemed to disapprove of Kate's expansive wardrobe.

She said: "I don't have any advice to her, except I think it would be great if she wore the same clothes over again, because that's very good for the environment and it would send out a very nice message."