In honor of the Fashion Week I am so unfortunately missing, I've decided to trumpet my couture-amour once more. I know NYFW is focusing on Fall collections (right?), but I'm just not ready for that yet. So I will hearken back to Paris once again with the lovely Elie Saab collection, which captured my heart at first glance.

Exhibit D: Elie Saab, spring/summer 2010

We'll start out slow here, with the flirty, fun little floral-inspired frocks in pale pastels. They're just so romantic & pretty, right? Simple as that.

And these! I am in love:

They look like semi-precious, fragile antiques from a bygone era. I love the floral satin poof skirt on the first dress, which modernizes the twenties-style sequined flapper look. I imagine them to be fall-apart-at-the-touch delicate, like they should be preserved in a museum somewhere.

And the gowns!

It is at moments like these that I wish I were a famous Hollywood actress so that I could select one for my walk down the red carpet. They look so organic & natural, as if they were dyed with the ink of strained moss & rose petals, which is just what I imagine spring fashion should be. After all, this is the season when we celebrate the return of the garments of Madame Earth, after all the months she spent spent shivering nakedly under the snow.

Et finalement, la Crème de la Crème! I have a particular infatuation with the beautiful watercolor-wash prints on the fabulously full skirts of these gauzy gowns:

If Claude Monet and Georgia O'Keefe were a design team, the dress on the left would have been their first project.

And now, the fun part (for me)--Tangent Time! I just have to say it: I'm no art history buff, and I already knew it to be true, but wow O'Keefe's paintings are sexual. Practically pornographic. I feel dirty just looking at them, and while I tend to judge a work of art based primarily on its personal affectiveness (and thus Ms O'Keefe certainly accomplishes her goal) that doesn't make it any less uncomfortable.

I am (of course) reminded of the SATC episode (you know the one) where Charlotte poses for the, er, abstract painter. Also, Spike Jonze/Charlie Kaufman's brilliant film "Adaptation," which is about many things, not the least of which is the seductiveness and sexuality of plants (specifically orchids). At one point (in the film) Meryl Streep says, "Orchids are the sexiest flowers on Earth. The name orchid derives from the Latin orchus, which means 'testicle'."

Which is why Monet must have his hand in this creative crockpot... this particular dress, while stylistically more remiscient of O'Keefe, has the delicate, uncomplicated beauty of Monet's water lilies.

Thank you, Monet, for your un-graphic influence. The dress on the right must have been a solo project--it's so perfectly painted in your style.