Fall 2013 Milan

Hot on the heels of dressing Jessica Chastain, Naomi Watts and Quvenzhané Wallis for the Oscars, Giorgio Armani showed his fall 2013 collection for his mainline. All we could think about was: Are there some future Oscars gown in the mix?

So, the well-heeled fashion set continued onto Milan after London Fashion Week, as they do, and mysteriously have yet to run out of outfits. Luckily, after New York, they were prepared for bad weather and Milan's little blizzard failed to put a damper on the city's street style. A look at 25 of Milan's best off-runway looks as we get ready for Paris.

The “Moda” in Milan was certainly “Alta;" no denim or designer leggings to be found anywhere. Instead, we found gorgeous felt coats and tailored dresses--a new reserved chic, often refreshingly subverted with slightly rumpled styling. We’re excited about this “Downton Dowager” idea, as well as all the other news from the Italian shows. Check out our list of the top ten trends the from the city where luxury knows NO limits.

Another season of Milan fashion is behind us, and the city's fashion designers gave us tons of that traditional Italian sex appeal and color, as well as sophisticated doses of ladylike glamour. Click through to see our 10 favorite collections from Milan Fashion week.

The words "timeless" and "elegant" were being thrown around a lot in Milan, especially the first few days of the collections. And we admit that when we think of Milan, home of Versace and Roberto Cavalli, those aren't the immediate words that come to mind. Until now.

New show reviews and galleries are in from Milan! Check out Missoni, Emporio Armani, and Salvatore Ferragamo.

Salvatore Ferragamo designer Massimiliano Giornetti showed a sexy, pared-down collection with a subtle sixties vibe for fall 2013.

New show reviews and galleries are in from Milan! Check out Marni, Roberto Cavalli, and Emilio Pucci.

Maybe Mr. Armani, as his employees lovingly call him, is just as excited for the Great Gatsby as we are. There could be no question as to what decade the designer was mining for fall 2013: Between the cloche hats, subtle nods to orientalism, and drop waist silhouette on eveningwear, the roaring twenties were alive and well at the Emporio Armani show on Saturday.

In the wake of her brother Vittorio Missoni's still unsolved disappearance, and in the middle of a serious blizzard, Angela Missoni showed a fall 2013 collection that was all about comfort--perhaps something the designer has been focused on in her personal life.

Call it immaculate conception: This season, designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana found inspiration in, of all places, a centuries-old church.

Milan fashion week is turning into one big fur-for-all. Marni's expertly-tailored, understated fall 2013 collection was, like Fendi's, punctuated with statement-making fur.

After a few seasons of sleek, sexy minimalism, Emilio Pucci designer Peter Dundas went back to the brand's hippie roots for Fall 2013, showing a collection made for a '60s rock band groupie (paging Penny Lane!).

Understated is not normally a word you used to describe Roberto Cavalli--but this season, that's exactly the descriptor that comes to mind. In a relative way of speaking anyway. The designer, known for his extravagant, over-the-top luxe styles, showed a collection with nary a leopard or tiger print in sight.

Jil Sander, who returned to her eponymous label only a season ago, has certainly gotten back into the swing of things. For fall 2013, she showed a beautifully-made, cohesive collection, that didn't even go near the kind of frills, bells and whistles other designers might employ. It was the kind of collection one might expect from the so-called queen of minimalism. But minimalism doesn't mean boring--there were certainly thrills without the frills in this collection.

Subtle, Versace is not. Last night I made my way into Versace's show space on Via Gesu--which is usually "mood" lit so dimly that I have to watch my every step--to find a stark-white, insanely brightly lit room, arranged in a sort of maze-like structure, with the audience seated in the center. Oh, and Janet Jackson was there.

Ciao bellas! Now that Milan is in full swing, check out some of our favorite looks. The European shows never disappoint beauty-wise, and this season is no exception so far. From the Fendi fur-hawks to Prada's drenched damsels, click through to see what's going on backstage in Italy this week.

The Sportmax woman can be informal or casual--but she's always polished: A fact which the brand's fall 2013 collection demonstrated perfectly.

Georgia May Jagger may have closed the Just Cavalli show, but it's her famous dad Mick who inspired the spirit of the collection, which was rock n' roll to its core.

You never know what you're going to get with Miuccia Prada. I mean this is the woman who made plain nylon bags--and massive Geisha-inspired platforms--a thing. Prada is the rare designer who can dart between over-the-top editorial-bait (see: Spring 2013, Spring 2010), and understated, quiet luxury without ever seeming like she's lost her way. For fall 2013, she went with the latter: A moody, yet surprisingly wearable, collection. Everything from the slightly unsettling shadow play moving on the walls--a cat's tail swishing, fans slowly turning, and a woman posing as if for a mirror--to the suspenseful music set the tone for darkly cinematic collection.

Fendi seemed to want to make a point this season about how much fur could be used in one collection and on how many items. Each show-goer was given a folder containing several of Karl Lagerfeld's sketches--one of which announced, "Fendi is Fur; Fur is Fendi." Arrows pointed out where on the model there was fur, and, of course, there was so much of it that the page was covered with them. Maybe designers Silvia Fendi and Karl Lagerfeld wanted to make their pro-fur stance clear, in light of PETA's constant badgering of the house. Or maybe, in a season where almost every designer is showing some clever take on fur, they wanted to lay claim to it: Begun as a furrier and leather goods brand in 1925, the Italian fashion label has had plenty of time to perfect their fur craft.

When I woke up this morning and hit my Twitter feed (sadly, the second thing I do after making coffee), people in Milan were abuzz about Karl Lagerfeld's fur-heavy fall Fendi show. Even the sunglasses and shoes were furry! But what caught my attention were the fur faux-hawks--which I'm now dubbing "fur-hawks."

Teenage angst met ladylike polish at the No. 21 show, designed by Alessandro Dell’Acqua.

Let me just say that I thought I was done trudging through the snow to get to fashion shows when I left New York. Not so: This morning I made my way