"In Welsh novels such as the otherwise excellent Tri Diwrnod ac Angladd (Three Days and Wedding), there is a passage which might in English excite the libido. The language is still suffering the effects of a non-conformist chapel culture which stifled the use and evolution of words that Welsh writers now need. Yesterday at the annual conference of the Welsh Union of Writers, novelists and poets revealed their problems in finding the right words."We have few contemporary words for the act and the parts involved, and if you should find yourself listening one night to a farmer's daughter from west Wales talking dirty to you in the senior tongue, it's striking how similar it is to reading a catalogue of 17th century agricultural instruments," says Jon Gower, producer of the WUW newsletter and delegate to the "Sex - The Great Welsh Not" conference."The word for a woman's nether regions for instance is `ffwrch' which means furrow as in field and a word for penis is `coes bach', or little leg," he says.Such words and phrases, it is argued, are difficult to build into romantic or erotic literature without losing some of the atmosphere. Sara Hill, the company's marketing manager, says "it has just gone completely mad, we've been overwhelmed by the demand. I've had people phoning up begging me to get them a pair."If things continue like this, expect fashion ration books any day now.. Welsh writers are having a difficult time with sex. Within days of them going on sale, every branch sold out and all have long waiting lists.

Spokeswoman Bomi Odufunade says there is nothing left by the young British designer Hussein Chalayan and she adds that men have bought up nearly all of the slinky Helmut Lang line.Shoe designer Patrick Cox already has waiting lists for much of his autumn range: if you want the peep-toe sling-backs or the red boots embroidered with a dragon - yours for pounds 320 a pair - you'll have to be patient.Even companies offering copies of designer looks have been unable to satisfy demand. Office, the high-street shoe chain, sells a pointed-toe ankle-boot that looks, even to those in the know, like Gucci. "We ordered 15 of his black sheath dresses with rose embroidery. They went on sale at pounds 259 on a Tuesday and were all gone by the Thursday and we can't get any more We are experiencing the same thing with Dries Van Noten. Anything by him is just walking."Browns, London's celebrated designer boutique, has also been besieged by clued-up shoppers. Spokesman Nicholas Sullivan says that the controversial British designer Alexander McQueen (he's the man who made those bum-revealing trousers) has been a huge hit.

Also gone are all the pounds 85 side- split mini-skirts from Miu Miu, an off-shoot of Prada. And if you want shoes by America's Richard Tyler or anything by Helmut Lang, Harvey Nichols says you'd better hurry.Over at Liberty, the Regent Street department store, they are also facing sartorial shortages. The three-button suits at pounds 800 and roll-neck sweaters at pounds 280 sell out as soon as they arrive. Apparently the keenest customers phone the Prada shop within hours of the company's Milan catwalk show finishing, demanding to know when their favourite items will be in stock (the answer is not for six months).Harvey Nichols, the leading fashion retailer, says that its stock of hipster trousers by the Belgian designer Ann Demeulemeester was snapped up within 48 hours of going on sale, and that the additional stock transferred from its Leeds branch lasted only hours. "And our beaded skirts, dresses and tops went like that," she adds. It's the same story in the men's department where customers often have to leave their credit-card details and pray that a sympathetic salesman will call if a garment in their size arrives. And if you want to sport the hippest footwear, prepare to join very long waiting lists. "There's a must-have pointed-toe court shoe at pounds 160 and they went straight away - we're waiting for a second delivery now," says a spokeswoman at the Sloane Street branch of the upmarket Italian label, Prada.