Poshbot

The sexy Italian houses all went subtle for Spring 2008. Like Cavalli and Versace, Dolce and Gabbana was another design team who embraced a sweeter side. The boys sent out organza dresses plus swingy brocatelle minis and knee length shift dresses. Feminine pieces were toughened up with the addition of a shoe boot and menswear trousers softened by gauzy blouses.

Domenico and Stefano then took an artistic turn with paint splashed spin-offs of their organza dresses. The pièce de résistance of this D&G collection was a series of gowns with splashes of color and big skirts created from yards of tulle. These gowns are very avant garde, but they’ll require an equally bold personality to pull off.

Restraint has been the name of the game at Milan Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2008. First Cavalli reigned in his typical wild woman to present a collection with nary a hint of leopard print. Now from the house whose founder once said, “You dress elegant women. You dress sophisticated women. I dress sluts,” comes an understated collection whose sexiness runs just under the surface. Versace is still partial to touchable silks and dresses meant to seduce, but Donatella also added flowing jumpsuits, dressed-up shorts, and fluid trousers.

Juicy color may have grabbed the most attention at Versace, but my personal faves were the neutral colored looks. The one-note shades of putty leather shorts and sable silk blouse were set off with a pop of aquamarine stiletto at the foot. Divine. A similar putty colored silk dress fell just above the knee and oozed a sophisticated sexiness. Beige shorts were paired with a fabulous chesnut leather jacket sporting roomy, cargo pockets.

For Spring 2008, Fendi took us on a psychedelic trip with eye-popping optical illusions. Circles swirled on everything from a young and fresh-looking multicolored halter dress to a sophisticated black and white circle skirt with matching capelet.

If easy, white dresses ever seemed boring, they are far from that now. Lagerfeld cinched them at the waist with multicolored belts created from individual rectangular tiles. Do those belts look familiar to you? They remind me of the Lego belts at Marc by Marc Jacobs. The one thing I must have from this runway – one of the squishy, oversized clutch bags shown covered in circles or in camel with stitched Fendi logos.

What impresses me each season about Pucci is the way they continue to be modern while reaching back to vintage Pucci touches in their use of color, prints, and classic shapes.

For Spring/Summer 2008, designer Matthew Williamson went digging in the crates of classic Pucci and added swingy fringe, bold embellishments and chunky jewelry. One look that made me swoon was a gold mini-dress with a smattering of mosaic-like tiles at the neck and around the hem.

He paired more modern gold lame and sequins with the vintage shift and mini shapes and then remixed Pucci’s juicy color bursts of tangerine, aquamarine into feathered and fringed minis or one-shoulder maxidresses. Williamson’s suede shoulder bags carried geometric shapes, more tiles, and dreamcatcher inspired decorations.

Some posh girls might find these looks hard to wear in their everyday lives, but the Pucci girl is an eternal bohemian and this collection remained totally true to her.

I strive not to be one of those people who constantly looks back and reminisces about “the good old days”. Yet, every time I see a recent Gucci collection, I can’t help but pine for Tom Ford.

Let’s get this out of the way now: I don’t NOT like Frida Giannini. There’s nothing wrong with the collections she’s turned out for Gucci and there are more than a few things quite right about them. Let’s face it, she’s done wonders for their accessories collections (read: ca-ching, ca-ching) since she’s been there.

That said, I do miss those hyper-sexed up looks that channeled the maneater in every woman — and that says more about me than it does about either Ford or Frida.

Gucci’s Spring/Summer 2008 collection was all about the yin and yang – the feminine and masculine, the black and the white. Giannini sent out monochromatic prints in different silhouettes – full skirts, floor-length columns, and sexy minis – often accented with sparks of sunny yellow or bright pink. My favorite of these black and white looks is a mini with bustle hips and a canary yellow flower centered at the bodice. What I’m still on the fence about are the tough-girl plaids. The cropped plaid jackets and skinny pants work in some looks and in others…not so much.

Giannini also remixed the very successful Gucci “Indy” bag (again) although so far none of her changes trumps the lizard or the ombre versions, both of which I L-O-V-E. Her strength has always been in her accessories and I have no doubt that the ankle cuffed stilettos, open toe booties with V-cut insteps, and large clutches with wristlets will be a hit.