You're going to need at least one shoulder that's unblemished this spring and summer. A bare shoulder will be requisite now that ancient Rome's toga look has been exhumed from the ruins for the Oscar awards red carpet and a shop near you.

The "one-shoulder" or "toga dress" is one of four trends that have been "updated" for 2008.

Take Paul & Joe, for instance. The designer duo has modernised Mrs Julius Caesar's everyday wear as a short dress with little pleats in the skirt, ideal for daytime jaunts as well as cocktail parties.

Architecture - not necessarily ruined - meets patterns and feminine nicety in an asymmetric white dress from Maison Martin Margiela, while the classic glamour of Yves Saint Laurent grabs the attention in an eggshell-hued outfit with puff sleeves and a matching, parrot-blue A-line skirt.

Tones are muted at the moment at Lanvin, Issey Miyake and Alexander McQueen, but the colours are vivid for Jil Sander, Comme des Garcon and Dries Van Noten.

Clingy draping is all the rage wherever you look, in neutral-brown jumpsuits from Issey Miyake, and McQueen uses his signature Victorian shoulders to elongate tailored suits.

Swept up in the summer breeze, tailored shirts and pencil pants from Jil Sander come in shocking pink, while manga comics inspire Comme des Garcon to unleash the primary colours on structured dresses.

Van Noten's whole collection, meanwhile, is a visit to a summer garden.

Mediterranean mythology continues its comeback with the "goddess" look from Junya Watanabe: puff-sleeved dresses with square necks and long, fluid gowns embroidered with silver studs in a belt pattern.

Lanvin assures elegance with refined white dresses reminiscent of a Roman warrior, yet feminine in the details, like the precision draping on the bodice.

Daily Xpress