Alexander McQueen, Pre-Fall 2013: Puritans, Popes, and Vampire Queens.

Previously on Alexander McQueen.

As is often the case with Alexander McQueen, it was very difficult for me not to include every single outfit in the collection. This was a show so beautiful that the background for the lookbook photoshoot had to be blank, because anything else might have run the risk of overpowering the beauty of the clothes. Plus, the austerity of a whitewashed backdrop fit in with the puritanical theme.

pics from Style.com

And when I say "puritanical", I don't mean that metaphorically. This season, Sarah Burton took her inspiration directly from priestly vestments, nuns' habits, and the severe black outfits of the Puritans. Featuring everything from medieval robes to 17th-century style buckled shoes, this collection was dramatic while still remaining entirely serious throughout.

Pre-Fall 2013: DSquared, Badgley Mischka, Carolina Herrera, and Prabal Gurung

Previously: Ports 1961, Pringle of Scotland, Vera Wang, and more. 

I probably complain way too much about the aesthetic mid-season lookbooks. You know, they way the photoshoots are often just a series of sullen-looking teenagers standing in a glaring white refrigerator unit while wearing a minidress. WELL. DSquared's lookbook is not so. The clothes themselves are not exactly groundbreaking, but they are stylish as hell. And better yet, the model and her poses are full of personality.

"Make a comment about my socks and sandals. I dare you."

Chanel Pre-Fall 2013: Lagerfeld, King of Scots?

Click here for previous Chanel posts.

As a Scot, I can be kind of snobbish about supposedly Scottish-themed fashion shows. However, this season's Chanel managed to avoid any of the expected ugly-tartan pitfalls and turned out to be just as spectacular as last year's Pre-Fall India collection. I suspect this is partly down to the fact that Karl Lagerfeld has the luxury of visiting Imaginary Scotland, which is significantly different from Real Scotland in that it primary contains castles and expensive whisky rather junkies, mud, and football hooliganism. Had it not been snowing on the night of the show, I can only assume that Lagerfeld would've hired kilt-wearing male models to grate ice-cubes onto the audience from the parapets above.

pics from Style.com

One of the problems with the backwards nature of fashion seasons is that when you're looking at Summer clothes it's usually Winter in real life, meaning that one's critical faculties are occasionally taken over by thoughts like: "WHY would anyone want to wear a floral miniskirt when everything is so damn cold?" Not so in this case, wherein the "Pre-Fall" (ie, Summer, as we would say in non-Fashionese) collection looks entirely suitable for the weather we're having in real life. I found it immensely comforting to know that all the models striding through the chilly hallways of Linlithgow castle got to wear flat shoes and blankets instead of looking knock-kneed and frostbitten as they so often do.