A/W'06 - Paul Smith

Too much like Burberry, I thought when I first glimpsed at the Paul Smith collection. The olive-earth palette, the dresses, the forties-silhouette reminded me too much of Burberry Prosum's S/S06 collection.

The Katherine Hepburn look is not the most original but I really liked the preppy addition of the striped belts for an updated look.

Polka dots are so YSL S/S 2005, but I love them, yet I hate them. How strange. Okay, slip dress under sheer dress again for the first piece. The idea I love. The lace dress would really be great if it were worn over something else, but over that piece of cheesy polka dotted thing, it looks clown-like and just plain weird. I love the second piece, the dots are much smaller, much less attention grabbing and the luxurious velvet material shines through. The third is a walking disaster. Polka dots this big and this white and this ugly should be buried in a faraway place or at the very least, worn with discretion, not splattered all over a dress.

Ashley Olsen was spot on when she donned horn-rimmed glasses the last time. Now Paul Smith is all into kinky librarian when bespectacled models sashay down the runways with discreet sexy pieces. The purple pussy bow blouse beneath the brown coat hints at a little sexiness underneath the brown coat. Edgy is also great - just throw on a leather jacket, like in the second picture, and you've got motorcycle chic. And the third - a waist tie trench over a gold shimmery dress, where have I seen that before? (ans: Burberry S/S06)

All in all, not very exciting, nothing we haven't already seen before. And those checks and dots, man, are they hitting us fast and hard.