Valentino in a Sentence as Simple and Elaborate as Itself

If the New York, London and Milan fashion weeks focused on vaguely athletic and hugely practical women, Paris has shown its teeth — or is it shoulder blades? — in the direction of more glamorous ease; this was noted at Chloé and Stella McCartney earlier this week but continued to run deep through the DNA of Valentino today at The Tuileries with an opening compendium of apron dresses (they kind of look like your grandmother’s embroidered table cloths from Croatia if they were on very expensive steroids), backs exposed and side boob free, all paired with knee-high flat gladiator sandals and similar lace-up renditions that featured the gilded bugs first shown for Spring 14 — it’s not really a Valentino show until the first sight of a feathered, elaborately embroidered, embellished and glittered panel, and there were plenty, but that’s not even the half of it; this collection finished close to where it started at an oceanic mediterranean table for eight with star fish and shell prints on pastel chiffon and the bravura: tutus atop sequined briefs.

You know what? Never mind. Scrap that lengthy sentence. Here’s what I’ve got and all that matters: A good show is like a well-written novel — it has a strong beginning, definitive middle and poignantly unforgettable end, no one understands this better than Valentino.

Images via Style.com