It's been a good week for ...

wrinkly faces

Beach-goers in China's eastern city of Qingdao have come up with an ingenious way of protecting their skin from the sun.

The face-kini - a kind of Spider-man meets Pussy Riot - was first sported by middle-aged women as a practical addition to their swimsuits, but now the face-kini has gone global.

New York-based style magazine CR Fashion Book, founded by former Vogue Paris editor Carine Roitfeld, published a photoshoot of pouting models wearing face-kinis, chic swimsuits and glamorous jewellery.

The transformation of what's considered the badge of "old-woman style" in China to haute couture has generated much digital amusement. In two days, the subject prompted almost 12 million posts on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter.

"Chinese old women are at the centre of the global fashion world," said one comment. "It looks like bank robbers are raiding the beach," others joked.

In a country where being white is a sign of prosperity, the Chinese are wellversed in avoiding the sun. For peely-wally Scots, however, balaclavas are a more likely fashion accessory on our chilly beaches.

It's been a bad week for ... turkey necks

"Not the most attractive part of a man's anatomy." Such was the damning criticism of the male neck by veteran TV presenter Nicholas Parsons.

The Just A Minute host has called for an end to sloppy sartorial standards and "rather ugly" open-necked shirts.

Parsons, who has presented the Radio 4 comedy quiz since its pilot in 1967, has launched a one-man campaign to bring back the cravat.

He said he is bemused by British men's penchant for wearing expensive suits with scruffy open-necked shirts.

Speaking at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, he told of his attempts to bring the cravat back into fashion, wearing a different colour for each day of his one-man show Nicholas Parsons' Happy Hour.

"I have lots of lovely cravats," the 90-year-old broadcaster told an audience, adding that open necks were defensible in certain circumstances. "It's alright in the summer, with just a shirt on and some shorts maybe, but I've seen people with beautifully tailored jackets on, with an open shirt and an awful Adam's apple there."

A look which is obviously hard to swallow.