Best-dressed list or rich list?

The international society magazine Vanity Fair is synonymous with controversy and creating icons.

Think Demi Moore naked and pregnant (a cover that sparked a thousand imitations) or the furore caused by the magazine's 2006 interview with Lindsay Lohan and you'll begin to understand the influence that this publication has on modern culture.

Therefore it's no surprise that their annual Best-Dressed list is always hotly anticipated by magazine insiders and mere mortals alike.

The Vanity Fair 69th Best Dressed list was released in July and reads like a who's who of the rich and extravagant.

Along with global superstars like Brangelina, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kanye West, there were a few names only a die-hard Socialite would recognise.

The list covers the requisite aristocracy, athletes and actors, but you'll also find designers, writers and politicians.

So far, so fashionable. But don't be fooled into thinking that Vanity Fair have considered diversity in their selection.

Just ask yourself, what do all these oh-so-fashionable individuals have in common?

Shock, horror: It's a penchant for designer clothes.

However, unlike your average student's desire for couture (involving little more than wistfully stroking the pages of Harper's Bazaar...or is that just me?) these gilded beings can afford to keep themselves suited and booted in Prada.

The essence of style isn't swanning into Sloane Square and buying everything in sight; it's about creativity, being innovative and working with what you've got - be it Dolce & Gabbana or Dorothy Perkins

Alexandra Sheppard

Which isn't a bad thing. But since when does being able to afford a wardrobe worth a small country equate to being well-dressed?

While I wholeheartedly agree with some of the list - SJP deserves every fashion accolade poured over her five foot frame - some seem to be there for who they wear and not because they're particularly fashion-forward.

Take Britain's own Kate Middleton. Granted, I have yet to see her sport a major fashion faux-pas, but by the same token she's too safe in her fashion choices (think designer versions of BHS and Whistles).

Alice Wignall from Guardian Online suspects it may have something to do with her royal boyfriend Prince William ("A genuine king-in-waiting being what every girls wants on her arm"), and I'm inclined to agree.

It certainly isn't anything to do with her ballet pumps.

The essence of style isn't swanning into Sloane Square and buying everything in sight; it's about creativity, being innovative and working with what you've got - be it Dolce & Gabbana or Dorothy Perkins.

Vanity Fair does well to remind us that young or old, black or white, aristocrat or self-made, as long as you're sporting head to toe designer clothes it'll welcome you into it's society.

If not...well, don't let the door hit your non-designer jeans on the way out.