army sheep

Bailey did disappoint me. I said it on twitter and repeat it here. However, I will take back what I said about the collection being bland. It wasn't bland, it was muted —too muted. That being so, I decided I will only focus on the aspects of the collection that I liked.

Prorsum takes a step away from the British romanticism that found inspiration in cottages and walks into a harder territory. The star items of the season have undoubtedly been the aviator jackets and it's them that introduce that hardness. Rigid leather with sheepskin trimming and vice versa covered the still fragile jumpers and protected the neck with skyscraper double-layered collars. Jackets, that, may I note, reminded me of old Balenciaga's —something that Jak & Jill also noticed. Great minds think alike.

The slight military inspiration was made obvious by the abundance of belted coats and jackets and by the strap detailing around the sleeves and the neck. Plenty of different shadesmilitary green that faded into very attractive olives appeared in the shape of coats and jumpers. Also military-originated were the off-gold detailing and embellishments on shoulders and cuffs.

But my favourite feature from the Burberry collection, by far, have been the colour palette and the shoes. See above an below for the beautiful array of hues and the most beautiful pair of half-way lace-up boots you have ever seen.

[Screen caps from the live Burberry show at GQ.com]

I'm off.

an ORIENTAL touch

I am finally back to business. Let me apologize again for my absence, but a few affairs required my attention.

As I have usually narrated, I am specially keen on watching and re-watching runway shows over and over again during the season, scrutinizing every inch of the outfits and fixing my eyes on previously overlooked details and accessories. It was only last Friday when desperation caused by a delayed flight drove me to dive again into a few of the collections I had only so quickly glanced at —Just Cavalli, Salvatore Ferragamo and Alessandro Dell'Acqua. It was the latter which got a stronger hold of my attention. I cannot think of a reason why this collection seemed ordinary at first sight, perhaps for the restricted palette or maybe because of the oriental pin-up looks at the beginning, but looking at it again with a more open mind made notice how Dell'Acqua masterly used rubber on very wide, Asian-inspirated belts giving the perfect touch to the silouettes and bringing to the 21st century an ancient Kimono accessory. Then it came to realization that one of those rubber champagne-coloured belts had come my way not long ago during a visit at one of my favourite Barcelona shops. As I caressed the darker rubber strip I thought: "What a wonderful item, how versatile, how fresh! Who must have designed it?" The answer came that moment.

Now I ask, would you wear it? If so, how?

[Pictures credit: Style.com]

I'm off.