FASHION BY THE RULES: MILAN FALL 2010

Keeping on trend for the season, Milan designers turned toward their individual histories in order to move into the future. It was a sort of homecoming for most. Rather than try to examine each of the collections, I thought it would be best to single out the few who really did it best.

CAVALLI and BLUMARINE stuck to their mantras of more are better and delivered eye popping collections that included every conceivable animal pattern and then some. The key here is that they are keeping their ladies happy, giving them what they want and hopefully even gaining a few new fans for the season.

ARMANI and MOSCHINO did what they did best. Mr. Armani used his tailoring expertise to deliver a collection that his stalwart clients will want and Moschino mined back to the days when Franco was alive and made this season a paean to his memory. There were no tricks in these collections, just salable wearable clothes.

GUCCI and PUCCI seemed to be on their way toward garnering new audiences for these two hall of fame names. Gucci returned to the concept of wearable clothes, well certainly more wearable than they have been in recent years. Pucci has continued to reinvent itself as the hot girl line with clothes that scream sexy and in your face looks.

MISSONI and DOLCE&GABBANA returned to their respective heritage with collections that featured the recognizable patterns and colorations of the past (Missoni) and then with an in your face presentation of sartorial wonders that forced you to remember the roots of Dolce&Gabbana.

While there was not a lot of stepping out on a limb during the showings, there were palpable trends that continued to shop up in almost every collection. Fur was plentiful, suits and more pantsuits than usual, the toning down of flash, a renewed focus on wearable and I think fashion that would be akin to comfort food.

Please remember to find comprehensive coverage of all the shows at http://jeffybruce.blogspot.com/ and for more photos at style.com