fresh ice

I'm slightly delirious from looking through the Dries Van Noten spring collection. Or maybe the smell of gardenias from yesterday is still running through my veins. The outfit above just says it all for me.

I love looking at collections full of clothes I'd wear, but I get just as much satisfaction from looking at collections that evoke the right mood or rush of emotions, even though the actual items of clothing aren't amazing. This is one of those collections that's more effective for me viewed, erm, collectively. Lovely as the pieces are individually, it's not as quite breathtaking as viewing it as a parade of clothes conveying an idea.

The best for me, are the details -

I adore the icy pale tones; the feeling of streets still wet from rain sparkling in sunlight, light catching in drops of water on flower petals. It's literally a deep whiff of good, clean, fresh air. The clothes are structured but breezy. They dress you up but don't hold you back. This isn't quite as earth-shaking as some of his previous collections were for me (spring 2009 was seminal) but although I don't want these clothes as badly, I feel energised just looking at the collection.

And I love the words of Hamish Bowles. So much of fashion is about looking but he makes it a pleasure to read about it - his review on Vogue.com is a little piece of runway reporting joy.

Pictures from vogue.com