Milan Fashion Week Fall 2012: Day 6

On the final day of Milan Fashion Week, Giorgio Armani's well-styled frock was my favorite:

Giorgio Armani Fall 2012

Spring 2012 Fashion Week: Milan

Spring fashion week already seems like a distant memory (especially with the fall 2012 shows quickly approaching), but I am marching onward to cover Milan and Paris.  In Milan, I fell in love with the Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, and Emporio Armani collections.

GUCCI

This season, Frida Giannini outfitted the Gucci woman in flapper-glam dresses and pant suits. The look was strong and sexy (as it must be with Gucci), and ready to hit the town. Art deco patterns adorned everything from dresses to pants, all rendered in a bold palette of emerald, black, white, and gold. The series of shimmering drop-waist dresses were incredibly fun and glamorous--some were fringed for an extra dose of attitude.   If I were in the market for a knockout party dress, this is the collection I would be pulling from.

DOLCE & GABBANA

For their spring collection, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana went back to their Italian roots and channeled a young, sexy Sophia Loren.  They also must have looked to the kitchen for inspiration, because every runway look was adorned with food.  Models wore eggplant and onion printed dresses, bow tie pasta earrings, and pepper and garlic trimmed handbags. If you think that sounds tacky, take a look at the garments--they are luxe, feminine, and glamorous. After a parade of vegetable-print circle skirts and bra tops, the show ended with a series of colorful jeweled corsets.   This was a happy, exuberant collection.

EMPORIO ARMANI

Giorgio Armani's collection for his Emporio Armani line was a departure from most spring shows. Presented in a stark black and white palette, his models marched out as platinum-bobbed clones. They had a polished Parisian air about them, thanks to the white boater hats and boxy handbags. All of the looks were very clean and graphic, with seams and edges defined by contrasting trim. This was a striking collection that was also very wearable--I can picture the separates and suiting fitting well into most women's wardrobes.

Runway Beauty D.I.Y.: Giorgio Armani

The beauty look at Giorgio Armani's spring show was simple and seductive.  All the inky blue and black frocks were enhanced by a smoky navy eye and dramatic turban.  The blue eye was a fresh alternative to a black-lined look, and really made the models' eyes pop.

I recreated the look using a navy shadow by Urban Decay which contained a little bit of shimmer.  First, I lightly lined the inner  rims of my eyes with a black eye liner.  This step could be eliminated, but it does give the eye some extra definition.  Next, I started working the navy shadow into my lower lash line, and pulling the line out horizontally to give that eye-widening effect.  The line on my upper lash line was fainter, and blended out over about half my lid.  The Armani eyes also darkened the crease, but only on the inner half of the eye.  This is the reverse of what I typically do when accenting the crease, but I think the idea was to offset the strong lower outer corner with a strong upper inner corner.  To finish off the eyes, I swept on a light coat of mascara and used a little eye brow gel.  For the rest of my face, I highlighted the top of my cheekbones and applied a little bronzer underneath them.