Thoroughly modern Milly'

Designer Michelle Smith's line Milly is an extension of herself' she describes the line as a collection of styles that 'combine professional dressing, sexiness, and fun throughout her wardrobe.' A timeless look that is translated to fashionable women everywhere.

The spring 2006 collection adds a punchy twist to the modern woman by giving a throw back to late 50's early 60's surf scene.  The clean silhouettes were often accented by vintage Hawaiian inspired floral prints, many of them quite funky.  The large floral prints and loud colors put a little more spring into the spring collection.  Happy to see that someone is not afraid to use prints. Although intense prints are fun, it is hard to execute incorporating them into a line while keeping with the sexy, sophisticated, and modern Milly look. But she did it, and she did it quite well' and along the way added a flirtier feel to the always feminine line.
    

The show created the perfect setting for the collection.  A fun backdrop featuring a Hawaiian sunset scene in tonal colors took the crowd just where we needed to go, without overwhelming us, or the collection itself.  The spring colors included various shades of coral, melon, and pink, crisp lemon yellow, lime green, and a dirty camel shade.  And naturally, she infused the collection with classy clean black and white pieces.

The collection featured various styles of bikinis, mini dresses, strapless bandeau dresses, boucle swing coats, cover ups, raglan cut dresses, minis skirts, a few of them bordering on being high waisted, sun dresses, pea coats and a fantastic trapeze dress.  I don't recall seeing a single pair of trousers, who needs trousers when you've got cute skirts, dresses, and bikinis to show off?

Many small but effective design details were used to bring the looks from just so so to magnificently Milly.  The use of thick banding on the raglan cuts in solid colors played off the prints extremely well.  I also noticed peter pan collars, beaded embellishments, oversized bows, belted waists, cap sleeves, embroidery, keyholes and cut outs, bracelet sleeves, and ruffles.  Another aspect of the garments that made them pop was the use of many interesting fabrics such as silk twill, brocade, a twill dot stripe, cotton metelasse, cotton jacquard, and my favorite' a white daisy eyelet that she repeated through out the collection.

The models complemented the collection nicely' some of the same girls were used from previous seasons.  They wore knotted pigtails in their hair, fresh makeup without much lipstick, mostly gloss, and graced the runway in Manolo Blahnik sandals.  Some wore large sunglasses, others wore simple head bands or knit hats, and many wore black chain necklaces as they toted big bags or weekenders with even bigger prints.

I found the collection quite precious not so much sexy but definitely feminine.  I loved the prints more than anything' amazing' I believe upwards seven different prints in the whole collection' very nicely done and brought together to form a cohesive look.  Just darling.
 
The Milly shows don't let down and this collection was no exception.  The line was founded in 2000 when Michelle Smith was inspired to create a line for women much like herself.  She brings together many aspects of her life here in New York and Connecticut and abroad in Paris where she spent many of her formative years working with world renowned designers. Milly is worn by many' including celebs like, Gwyneth Paltrow, Rachel McAdams, Cameron Diaz, and Rachel Bilson.  The line is special and is appropriately sold at specialty stores like Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, and Barneys.  So if you don't have Milly pieces in your closet, now is the time' time to get thoroughly modern'

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