You may remember me subtly sulking about Americans getting the chance to enter a US-specific Stella McCartney competition. Well I have some great news – now it’s our turn!

Stella McCartney has teamed up with one of the UK’s biggest glossy magazines, Marie Claire, to give away a gorgeous set of Lesportsac travel bags worth over £700. What I’m equally loving is that 45p from each call to the competition line is being donated to PETA. The sun’s out this week, so go and grab yourself the June issue (which just so happens to be an eco-chic special – double score!), head down to the park or beach for a read, and get dialling…

Boy, am I jealous of whoever wins the $1,000 voucher to spend in Stella McCartney’s new online US store. To celebrate the launch of the new store, PETA US got together with the compassionate fashion designer and one lucky winner will walk away with $1,000 worth of gorgeous items from the online collection. But never fear my British friends, we’re lucky enough to have the Stella McCartney shop in Mayfair, London, that we can pay a visit to when in need of some retail therapy. Now where did I put my purse…

In a disgusting display of arrogance last night, Jean-Paul Gaultier sent his models down the Paris Fashion Week catwalks wearing the heads of foxes. Yes, you read right – foxes’ heads. Among other furry items.

PETA’s managing director Ingrid Newkirk said: “I adore gay men, but this one must be so phobic of women that he fears even the skinny ones could bite his head off at any moment, so year after year he sticks teeth on their heads.” It certainly seems like he’s trying to make up for the fact he’s a has-been by going way over the top, but this far, really?

There are sooo many reasons why Gaultier and other designers shouldn’t be using fur, as seen in Stella McCartney’s video where foxes can be seen languishing in filthy, cramped fur farms.

Not cool Gaultier, not cool.

Today is Ash Wednesday! It’s officially the start of Lent and time to give something up. I don’t view this as ‘giving something up’ but in theory this is the perfect time to go vegetarian. It’s what you gain which is so interesting here…

Going veg for Lent is great for the animals, your health and the environment. After relishing in this lifestyle for 40 days, there should be no reason to go back to eating meat and fish – you’ll feel on top of the world and so will the animals spared from your dinner plate.

Check out the PETA US blog VegCooking.com for some amazing recipes to keep your tastebuds tingling over the Lent period and beyond.

Here are some great facts for going veg this lent:

• Compassionate celeb veggies include Moby, Pamela Anderson, Paul and Stella McCartney, Joaquin Phoenix and Natalie Portman.

• Vegetarians are typically slimmer than meat eaters: In a study of over 21,000 people, vegan men weighed 5.9kg less and vegan women 4.7kg less. With the media hype over incentives for the obese to lose weight, doesn’t going veg make more sense?

• More than 850 million chickens are slaughtered for food each year in the UK, whether you go down Jamie Oliver’s and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s free-range route or not. Meat is murder whichever way you look at it.

• It takes 2,500 gallons of water to produce a pound of meat, but only 25 gallons to produce a pound of wheat – that’s 100 times less per pound!

Good luck and be sure to let me know how you get on. I’d be interested to hear if anyone already had this plan, or vegetarians going vegan for Lent.