Cynthia Cheng Mintz

Neutrals seem to rule this season, though there were some colourful pieces at Max Azria‘s show Sunday afternoon.  Though the show opened with several shapeless, tent like dresses that looked like they needed belting, it eventually moved away from that, with many gorgeous ensembles that would warm up anyone in cooler weather.  The “it” colours in this collection seem to be olive, with a touch of burnt orange/copper.  There was, of course, a great deal of black too.  Favourites of ours include a camel cape (above), which was, for the show, paired with a dark teal top and copper coloured cropped leather pants (is it just me, or are pant lengths rising, while skirt lengths are falling?) as well as an olive mini-dress with a train/cape.   However, some of the gauzy pieces as well as a pair of silk pants that was so long that the model looked like she was about to trip on it were not exactly on the must-have list.

As the collection was mostly of neutral colours, one piece that really stood out was the red blouse (above) towards the end of the show.  In a sea of blacks, olives and tans, the blouse really popped out, especially being paired with black pants. Today’s show was definitely a 180 from Thursday’s BCBGMaxAzria collection, which consisted of mostly unwearable pieces that looked (reasonably) good only on the runway.  No drop waists or low waisted belts here, which is good news for those of us who are not tall and skinny. Definitely looking forward to fall 2011.