Forties Glamour

THIS autumn/winter 2011-12, designers including Freida Giannini at Gucci, Miuccia Prada, Jean Paul Gaultier and Donna Karan have ushered in a season of sheer Forties glamour, complete with furs, pearls, gloves and shrugs - all revolving around the pencil skirt.

SEE THE TREND ON THE CATWALK

Hemlines have dipped to a strict - yet feminine - on-the-knee length that is at once conservative and very alluring. "This collection was about the empowerment of women," says Donna Karan in the August 2011 issue of Vogue. "Their words of wisdom and their ability to be strong and take a stand without giving up their femininity."

Gaultier kept it sexy by adding a revealing thigh-high slit to pencil skirts, while Jonathan Saunders steered away from a predictable interpretation through the use of unexpected colour combinations.

While Giannini, at Gucci, distilled all the glamour of the decade into her show with fedoras and pussy bow blouses thrown into the mix, it was at Miu Miu and Marni that we found what we'll be wearing in our downtime - pretty tea dresses.