A shower of pearls

Jackie Kennedy wore a string of neat pearls in the purest bon ton style when she married future President John Kennedy, seemingly confirming the superstition that wearing pearls on your wedding day can bring bad luck. Now, however, pearls have shed this stigma to become creative embellishments, adorning bodices and skirts, falling like drops on a veil, tied tightly or lined up in a hairstyle.

The short dress

No longer a back-up option, sometimes not even a second choice, the short dress has come into its own. It comes in richly embellished, voluminous styles, sometimes even with a train or a long veil. Shortening the hemline is not a shortcut, but a concentration of fashion.

The voluminous dress

Embossed and ruffled, the skirt seems to reject the idea of minimalism in favour of a celebration of volume and size. It is not constrained, it does not restrict itself, it plays with volumes, it accentuates, it exaggerates the details. No smooth, soft lines, but a desire to push the envelope and even pay homage to Scarlett O'Hara.

Draping

The master of draping was 'le couturier des couturiers', Madeleine Vionnet, who, fascinated by Greek classicism, draped the body in her pioneering bias-cut gowns, naturally enveloping the body without restricting it. A style that has now been revived in the form of a sash placed almost accidentally on the décolleté, like the beginning of a skirt, like a cape. This decoration has little in common with the simple tunic of ancient Greece, but it is very much a haute couture detail.

Giuliana Parabiago