Paloma Faith at fashion week

The playful English singer can wear anything. Maybe it’s the flame red hair, or possibly the cheeky grin, but all we know is that she makes socks and open-toed shoes seem chic and a plain black umbrella look positively couture.

Armie Hammer

When promoting his movie The Lone Ranger, the actor proved he had serious style cred with a range of well-tailored, colour-coordinated suits. Standing tall at nearly two metres in height, Hammer carried off the dapper look with aplomb and was evidence that formal wear can also be playful.

The Mara sisters

Actress siblings Kate and Rooney Mara provided the perfect sisterly study in contrasts this year. While Kate keeps it flirty and feminine in pastels and lace, Rooney channels her character in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, favouring all-black ensembles, structure and texture over colour.

Rebecca Hall

English actress Hall is not afraid to take risks. A plunging pantsuit, for example. Or chunky metallic sandals on the red carpet. She never looks the same and, whether wearing couture or cotton, exudes effortless glamour.

Jennifer Lawrence at Cannes

A perennial red carpet favourite, Lawrence hit her peak at this year’s Cannes International Film Festival. With her newly-shorn locks in a sexy tousled bob and custom strapless Dior pieces, she stole the show.

Lupita Nyong’o promoting 12 Years a Slave

The breakthrough star of the year, young Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o came out of nowhere and wowed red carpet commentators with her keen eye for colour and love for classic silhouettes. The fact that she is completely stunning didn’t hurt either.

Bradley Cooper and Gerard Butler at Wimbledon

These good-looking gents stole the attention from the court when they coordinated their charming blue blazers and suave sunglasses in the stalls of the famous tennis tournament. See that toothpick jauntily hanging out of Bradley Cooper’s mouth? Yeah…that makes this photo.

Claire Underwood in House of Cards

Perfectly played by Robin Wright, Mrs Underwood – wife of Kevin Spacey’s scheming politician Frank Underwood – rocks a sleek pixie cut and a wardrobe to match. She is office appropriate at all times but never sacrifices her sex appeal.

Kate Middleton debuting Baby George

That sweet polka dot dress. That ring. That blow wave! At a time when she could very easily have emerged in sweatpants and a scrunchie, Kate Middleton proved that she is true royalty by looking flawless beyond belief only one day after giving birth.

Carmen Dell’Orefice

She’s a fabulous 82 year-old American supermodel. Enough said.

Lana Del Rey and Barrie-James O’Neill

Del Rey and her Scottish rocker boyfriend are distinguishing themselves as the next Kate Moss and Pete Doherty (except, hopefully, without the drug problems). The couple are a combination of Morticia and Gomez Addams, Sonny and Cher, and their own breed of throwback rockabilly.

Georgia May Jagger

The daughter of Mick Jagger and supermodel Jerry Hall, it would be hard for 21 year-old Georgia May to put a foot wrong. She takes it a step further, however, with her carefully thought-out outfits that are age appropriate and fun.

Tinie Tempah

The English rapper is a veritable style maven. He plays with texture, pattern and cut and gets it right every time with the help of his stylish eyewear collection.

Beyoncé on holiday

Beyoncé Knowles is widely regarded as flawless. On holiday, she is particularly aesthetically pleasing, taking on the local flavour of her destination, experimenting with hairstyles, and clashing prints to create the perfect pop star off-duty look.

Photos on the left and second from the right courtesy of iam.beyonce.com

Skyler Berman

Skyler is the son of celebrity stylist Rachel Zoe so he can’t really take the credit for looking so adorable. Still, the fact that he isn’t tearing off these presumably uncomfortable outfits is a testament to his baby willpower.

Joaquin Phoenix in “Her”

The movie hasn’t even hit Australian cinemas yet, but the trailer for Spike Jonze’s Her reveals that Joaquin Phoenix spends most of his time in adorable horn-rimmed glasses and clothing in varying shades of pink, red and camel. Who cares about the plot?

Eva Mendes

Wearing vintage dresses, head scarves and brooches, Eva Mendes’ personal style could vary easily veer into Grandma territory, but it’s her unbridled gorgeousness and vampish appeal that make her anything but frumpy.

Cate Blanchett in “Blue Jasmine”

Woody Allen’s latest film is certainly brilliant, but one could be forgiven for overlooking key plot developments in favour of staring at Cate Blanchett’s character’s Chanel jacket or Hermès bag. As a kept wife forced to sell most of her belongings when her husband suddenly faces financial ruin, Jasmine has a realistically limited wardrobe, but it’s a darn good one.

Taylor Swift on her Red tour

This year, Taylor Swift discovered the power of her perfect pins. Flaunting her figure, the girly songstress looked comfortable and cute during her world tour in her failsafe uniform of a statement shirt, high-waisted shorts, red lipstick and brogues.

All photos courtesy of Getty unless otherwise specified