Talk of the Town: Lily's new skirt sure to make her Smile

SHE is known for her unique style and love of clothes, and it seems Lily Allen will search the length and breadth of the country to get that special item.

Her latest purchase of a retro maxi skirt was snapped up after a bidding war through an online auction site run by Armstrongs, in the Grassmarket.

The pop princess paid 100 for an Ossie Clark cream classic, and store manager

Jane Barrow said: "It's really cute and shows she's got a good eye."

Staff checked the e-mail and postal addresses of the Lily Rose Allen who ordered the skirt and – although it has not been 100 per cent verified – are sure it was bought by the real deal.

Easter Road footballers need kick up the backside .. again

ANYONE who watched Hibs' dismal Scottish Cup performances against Ross County will be used to watching 11 inanimate objects unable to move without a kick up the backside.

The International Subbuteo Championship being held at Easter Road Stadium this weekend would, therefore, have been nothing new.

The tabletop game was popular in the days before Fifa 2010 and Pro Evolution Soccer, and involved flicking miniature player replicas to score with a massively out-of-proportion football.

Easter Road welcomed players from all over Europe as well as the home UK nations for some retro gaming fun.

Council advice spells trouble

EDINBURGH City Council is urging people to "take time at the Nelson Monument" in their latest advertising campaign – but they may be advised to take time to check their spelling, after printing "Carlton Hill" rather than Calton Hill.

We're glad to say it looks like a one-off, since the council has spelled the name correctly on its website.

At least it's not quite as confusing as when a map company mistakenly directed thousands of visitors to "Blackfriars Bobby" last year.

Tram tartan worth checking

A NEW tartan has been designed for the city's tram project – with an open-ended cost, uncertain completion date and lines that go nowhere.

The tongue-in-cheek tartan has been designed by Dr Nick Fiddes, the managing director of Scotweb, who said: "We felt this fine Scottish engineering project really deserved its own tartan. So we spent minutes designing an Edinburgh Trams Tartan with the painstaking professionalism and expert skill of the consultants and contractors responsible for the trams."

The colours are Ross green for eco-wash, gold for the consultants' fees, Wilson white for all the newsprint and red for the politicians' faces.

And as for the design? Dr Fiddes said: "The obvious thing might have been to create a symmetrical design based on tram lines. But this assumes the contractors will get that little detail right. So instead I chose some random lines going nowhere in particular."