Curvaceous, ten women who wrote the word themselves

Across the postcodes

Bianka and Milena both work Islington, one at the theatre end of Upper Street and one in a Georgian square full of Italian pictures. Michelle is on the canal side of Camden, Luna on the Euston Road, Nancy at St Pancras and Molly down at Angel.

Danielle takes the halls in Kentish Town, Rosa the crossing at Finsbury Park, Roxi the ridge at Muswell Hill and Thea the gardens and terraces at Regent's Park.

Ages and heights inside the ten

Luna is twenty two and Nancy is thirty, which is the whole span. Rosa stands 160 cm and Milena 175 cm, which is the whole range. Two of the ten appear again under statuesque and one under petite, so the word covers a great deal more ground than it is usually given credit for.

What you want to be doing at nine

The quickest way to narrow ten is by the evening itself. For a play, Bianka, whose night begins at the Almeida a hundred yards up Almeida Street. For live music, Danielle at the Forum or Michelle at the Jazz Cafe, both of whom would rather listen than talk over it. For a film, Roxi, who picks it herself and prefers the art deco screen on the Broadway. For pictures, Milena among the Italians in Canonbury Square, or Luna among the stranger objects of the Wellcome Collection.

For dinner, Rosa, who books around food and will name the restaurant before anything else; Molly, in the small places that take over Camden Passage once the dealers have gone; Nancy, after an afternoon in the reading rooms of the British Library; and Thea, once the park gates have shut behind the roses.

Pace, which matters more than the word

Rosa and Molly are the talkers of the ten, the two most likely to have a table of strangers behaving like old friends by the second glass. Thea and Nancy are the softest and the slowest. Danielle and Roxi are dry and take a first drink to warm up, after which both turn out warmer than they first let on. Bianka and Luna are the curious ones, Milena the most serious, and Michelle the one who asks the question everybody else at the table was politely stepping round.

By colouring

Four of the ten are brunette, three are raven haired, two are blonde and one is auburn, which is as even a spread as this roster produces anywhere. Follow brunettes, raven haired, blondes or auburn and red if the shade is what you came for. The whole list is arranged by district if it is not, and one ladder of rates covers every name on it.