She seemed to have been doing so well, with glossy and groomed appearances on the front row at New York Fashion Week, but Mischa Barton cut a bedraggled figure on the streets of the city yesterday.

Whether it was intentional or an unfortunate style error, the actress seemed to be channelling a gothic look as she walked her dogs through the streets of SoHo clutching a large takeaway coffee.

Wearing a ripped Pink Floyd T-shirt, the actress’s hair looked unkempt while her dark red lipstick was clumsily applied.

The former O.C. star, who has struggled in recent months after being admitted to a psychiatric hospital in June, was dealt a fresh blow this week when her latest project was axed.

The Beautiful Life, which was produced by Ashton Kutcher and co-starred Elle Macpherson, was cancelled after just two episodes.

The CW network decided to replace the show with re-runs of U.S. soap Melrose Place after it generated just 1million viewers – less than a third of the number of followers Ashton currently has on Twitter.

Mischa had cut short her recovery to continue shooting the show, which was set in the New York fashion world. The 23-year-old had been playing a model with a drug problem and the crew had been shooting the seventh episode when they heard the news.

Some friends expressed concerns about her decision to return to work so soon after her meltdown, which she has since insisted was the result of botched wisdom tooth surgery.

Mischa’s yo-yo weight and pallid complexion prompted health fears over the summer, and an appearance to open the Harrods sale at the end of June saw her looking ghostly pale.

Just a few days later she was asked to leave London nightclub Whisky Mist for trying to drag a friend into a ladies’ toilet cubicle with her, and within days reports emerged of her admittance to a psychiatric hospital, where she had been placed under an ‘involuntary psychiatric hold’.

In an interview at the time, close friend Stacey Kives blamed Mischa’s problems on alcohol abuse: ‘She was on the path to self-destruction – it was just a question of when she was going to be ready to do something about it,’ she said.

In promotional interviews for The Beautiful Life, Mischa told how she had been leading a healthy lifestyle in a bid to recover her health.

But last week she was seen arriving on set smoking a cigarette, making her an unlikely poster girl for a virtuous regime.

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