Backless Hurley backs Lauder

There was great relief in Dublin yesterday when Liz Hurley turned up for an opening ceremony wearing a full dress. Well, almost.

The city's traffic problems were bad enough as it was. But with a lucrative modelling contract behind her, the days when the actress couldn't afford to wear anything better than two scraps of material held together by safety pins are long gone.

She still has some way to go in her journey from cover girl to fully covered, however. And as she arrived to cut the ribbon on a new cosmetics hall in Brown Thomas, she was wearing what was clearly, even to the untutored male eye, a backless number.

Reliable fashion sources confirmed this later, adding that it was a Versace silk animal-print creation, with matching shoes.

On the parts of her not wearing Versace, Ms Hurley was sporting the autumn collection of colours from Estee Lauder. By coincidence, Dublin was giving a preview of its autumn colours yesterday - a mixture of the always-fashionable grey, charcoal and black - and it was wetter than Hugh Grant when the actress arrived.

But mere rain couldn't dampen the enthusiasm of the hundreds who queued in Grafton Street for a glimpse of perfection.

Inside, meanwhile, Ms Hurley joined the chairman of Estee Lauder and his wife in a three-way ribbon-cutting ceremony. And there was a poignant reminder of her humble origins as the actress was left holding a piece of ribbon large enough to make at least two of the dresses she wore to the London premiere of Four Weddings and a Funeral.

It was a largely female audience, inside and outside, but it couldn't have been more excited if George Clooney had been there modelling swimwear. Brown Thomas staff member Ms Suzi Bateman summed it all up: "She's absolutely gorgeous. I knew she would be, but she's very sexy as well."

Catriona and Lisa Keevans, aged 12 and 14, had been looking forward to this moment for a week, and got an autograph for their troubles before the actress was swept away in a limo.