Back to the future
It is an iron grid, sorry, irony, that all the women in Milan wear three-inch stiletto heels, even though the city has the most uneven surfaces in the world. Crazy paving, metal tram- lines, tufts of coarse grass and the aforementioned iron grids all contrive to can i wash my canada goose jacket make you lose your balance – a cruel reminder that elegance is no substitute for clumsiness. Is it because the city is so ugly that its inhabitants feel the need to swathe themselves in such beautiful designer clothes? There must be some explanation for the devotion with which the Milanese approach getting dressed every morning. It truly is stilettos at dawn.
Don’t go looking for a Top Shop here: it’s Fendi, Prada, Gucci, Armani or nothing. Not that you’ll find anything you want in these stores: someone richer will have got there first. In Prada, only the ugliest autumn/ winter shoes in brown and puce were left, and even those had a crowd of Japanese girls around them, cooing reverently. In Milan, you are what you wear. Even if you look awful in it.
The music used in the shows tells you all you need to know about bu sees a spike in canada goose jacket thefts the direction for spring/summer 2000. New Order. Marc Almond. Shannon. Blondie. An inexplicable fascination with Pat Benatar. Yes, it’s an 80s revival! Ditch your underwear, ladies: slinky jersey is back with a vengeance. There are dresses so clingy even a G-string would cause unsightly seams. Bras? Forget ‘em. All the models did.
Gucci surprised everyone with a fairly restrained collection, given that last autumn/winter’s was a flurry of feathers and leathers in bright hues. «Brilliant! Black’s back already!» said the person next to me, a German dressed head to toe in inky shades. Sexy black jersey dresses with plunging backs or asymmetric shoulders will sell and sell, as will sharply cut suits with hipster trousers flaring out gently to the best mens canada goose jacket floor. More challenging were sparkly pink drawstring trousers gathered at the ankle like jogging pants – perfect for a trip to the gym if dressing down is impossible for you. Gone was the ubiquitous biker jacket and in its place an 80s zip-up blouson sent out, worryingly, with tight can i wash my canada goose coat black leggings. There were no killer stilettos to be seen, only T-bar shoes with a square wooden heel, which were worn with bright pink nylon tights. It was a look that is sure to be as imitated as it is coveted.
Other jersey dress aficionados included Alessandro dell’Acqua and Narciso Rodriguez, who sent out black, red and fuchsia knee-length versions, some with layers of gauze on top. This was the 80s with a punk twist: shoes had thick buckled ankle fastenings that hinted at bondage.
Callaghan’s interpretation of the 80s was superb, imaginative enough not to look merely derivative, as so many collections did. Ruching was a theme: on calf-length leather boots, rolled-up jacket sleeves and too-long jersey trousers with wrinkled ankles. Leather boob tubes and the sleeves of blouson jackets were trussed up with thin leather cord; droopy ra-ra skirts were worn with boxy jackets featuring epaulettes, while culottes were worn with studded batwing blouses and thick leather belts. Colours were khaki, brown, gold and mustard.
MaxMara’s 80s woman isn’t the sort to belong to a Duran Duran fan club: Neil Diamond is probably more her cup of tea. Here were 80s styles mixed with 70s prints: cushion cover- pattern chiffon tops, stiff brown pencil skirts and flat pointy shoes. Thick black tights were worn with plunge-backed navy pinstripe dresses and accessorised with thin leather belts. There was even a boxy double-breasted jacket with shoulderpads, though canada goose coat 1000 calorie a day diet there’s no cause for alarm yet: Milan was hardly awash with them.
Giorgio Armani dispensed with can you wash a canada goose parka jackets almost entirely, save for those that were very casual, collarless and best canada goose jacket womens with the most discreet fastenings. To his usual palette of neutral grey and slate blue he added touches of vibrant colour with beaded eveningwear and subtle prints, inspired by the artist Kandinsky, in fuchsia, lime, electric blue. His Emporio Armani line was an unprecedented feast of colour, as the designer took the sheerest wet-look chiffon and layered tunics over cropped slim-fit trousers in iridescent satin. Footwear was flat: transparent shoes with a coloured tip or versions of the 80s tukka boot: suede and wrinkled at the ankle.
Antonio Berardi’s vision of women is as different from Armani’s as you could possibly get: she wouldn’t even pop out for a pint of milk without her rhinestone mules on. His clothes are Milan Woman personified: sexy, assured and as subtle as the neon brights from which he fashioned much of his collection. Hot pink, acid yellow and blazing orange were favourites, in billowing pink silk evening dresses, fitted jackets and tight knee-length shorts in yellow leather. Berardi had integrated sportswear influences into his collection: cable-knit «cricket» jumpers outlet, suede-panelled «jodhpurs» and even leather «swimming caps», canada goose coat 1000 calorie but these were hardly necessary as stylistic devices and at times looked too busy.
The Blumarine woman is a girlie-fun one and brought cheers from the audience. There was beading and embroidery aplenty, especially roses, the Blumarine symbol. They adorned pale chiffon skirts, cascaded over the shoulders of tight ribbed woollen cardies and embellished buy canada goose jacket online cheap the bottoms of slim-fit three-quarter-length trousers. There were also skin-tight jersey tops that either fell off the shoulder or had plunging backs. These came in red, navy and black. A strong collection and far superior to big-sister label Anna Molinari, where there was clumsy layering and too much bu sees a spike in canada goose jacket thefts sheer fabric exposing nipples.
Leave it to Prada, though, to present a vision of women so desirable that the assembled fasherati will barely be able to contain themselves till spring. Miuccia called it «Sincere Chic» and indeed it was, whatever that means. Hair was tucked up into a bouncy bob, curling into the nape of cashmere polo-neck jumpers worn with knee-length pleated skirts. Prints were young, pop and fun – hearts and lips in smudgy burgundy. There were floaty, cream, almost see-through chiffon dresses with trailing polka-dot scarves for evening and leather skirts with matching knee-length coats in mid-brown and vibrant purple leather. Yellow was worn with navy, burgundy with cream and green with brown. Most wanted accessories: smoky 70s shades, T-bar shoes and mini golf bags. Get your name on the waiting list now. Don’t be surprised if Milan bags the lot of them, though.