La Dolce Vita, a la Valentino:

First Off, The Couture Details:



Inside Dish--It Took HOW MANY HOURS TO MAKE THAT:
According to Tim Blanks of Style.com:  
*Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli threw down a gauntlet with the ravishing Couture collection...But the duo enumerated the human cost in the show notes that sat on everyone's seats. The most extraordinary outfit in the presentation featured layer upon layer of organza, embroidered with butterflies and birds, the whole lot wrapped in a tulle cage scrolled with crepe piping. 
*According to the notes, it took 500 hours of hand-rolling to produce the piping. And that was just one of the outfits that featured the effect. One roller apparently developed carpal tunnel syndrome during the production of the collection...
*one other organza jacket and skirt took 850 hours to embroider


The Look: Classic Couture. Very Roma Alta Moda. Stunning exquisitely executed coats, cocktail dresses, jackets and gowns. Hand-embroidered pieces of wearable ART.  Colors: white, black, Valentino Red, blush, light mint. Silk organza, crepes, gazars.One of the best Couture Collections this season. Even Mr. Valentino Garavani gave it a standing ovation. See for yourself in the video at the end of this post.

Calling J. Lo:


The Look: Zuhair Murad is the other Lebanese born-and-bred couturier vying for the Top Red Carpet Spot. And by the looks of this particular collection, EVERY A-List Stylist need s to have his PR people on their iPhone (or Blackberry, if they're still doing "old school", like me). This collection was all about GOLD and Golden Greco-Roman Goddess. Nothing in between, just Grecian Goddess Red Carpet Divas. If you think this "trend" is gone, think again darlings. There were golden sequined jumpsuits, beautiful cocktail offerings and yes, gowns to make Jennifer Lopez squeal with delight--at over $100,000 each (if you were to actually order them--J.Lo gets to borrow for free). Interesting that the "Tom Ford Gwyneth Paltrow gown" made another appearance here at Couture Fashion Week. First it was Elie Saab and now Zuhair. The Gown "over cape" is an official trend kids. Thank Tom Ford for that.