Oscar de la Renta took his timeless glam woman on a vacation in the south of France by playing with charming separates and textures.  I pretty much died and got reborn and then died again when I saw the sweet little chartreuse bloomer-esque shorts fringed with the white. Also, take note of the homespun textiles; the woven integrity of the fabrics add to the charm of these sweet , dainty little French confections for your body.

Bottega Veneta had a similar take on this country aesthetic, however, it felt more like a Georgie Peach girl with a punch of mid-century chic. I adore the sweet, prudent quality of these poised dresses. Bottega's variation could only be described as a peach pie, or maybe a lemon meringue pie, and Oscar's was more like a little French macaroon.

If Oscar de la Renta's collection was a French macaroon and Bottega Veneta's collection was a peach pie, then Christopher Kane's collection would be the darling little picnic basket. I've been oogling at this collection for months. One person comes to mind: Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. I love Christopher Kane's play on sheerness season after season. This wasn't an exception. These wonderfully cut plaid dresses are designed for capturing the billowy breezes of spring and summer. The old question is: where's Toto?

To wrap it all up: think of the French countryside and Georgia peaches wearing fluttery skirts and dresses. Go to the candy store and take note of the colors. Put a flower in your hair; get a woven/basket weave bag; drive down to the south and pick up a charming accent; watch The Notebook; go to Anthropologie; listen to some folk music. Twang it up!

Gaming was once an activity that expressed liberation for women in the early 1900's. With that came an air of optimism, progression, and energy. Although sometimes sports may be a little barbaric, they sure can inspire us to move forward in rough times with forceful momentum.

Gucci is always right on, trend wise, and this season Frida Giannini glamorizes gaming and rids it of grit. The clean colors and lines of these clothes make me want to be active (yeah right). This was one of the less literal translations of sport inspired clothes, but the sportiness is still there; there are touches of hardware and industrial fabrics such as mesh is used to create sex appeal. I particularly love the white dress that looks like tank top bandaging.

So Alexander Wang does football and Gucci does skydiving, then Hermès captures the class of the tennis court. I'm always into clean, preppy dressing. The idea of dressing up in a crisp polo to play a vigorous game of tennis (or not so vigorous) is always appetizing. Hermès tickles my fancy with strong references to court games. Solids accented with graphic stripes of all kinds, and pleated skirts are a staple, but Hermès serves up a softer, more feminine variation of these staples. And, to wrap it all up: headbands.

Looking clean and sporty is all about styling, but know that literal is never cute. Don't wear your boyfriend's sweatpants and cleats. It's anti-cute. Simply, take note of the subtle ways  to style clothes in a sporty manner. Think about utility. What is going to move with my body well? What is going to look casual yet sharp? As always, textiles are a big part of achieving this look. Gucci plays with mesh, but you can also play up more plastic-y/synthetic materials with perhaps a little shine (like neoprene). So get up and go to REI (I'm only half kidding)!

And just like that I have Shakira stuck in my head now. Gross. Take away the icky lyrics of her song (that you probably shouldn't listen to because I'll tell you the meaning) and you get a sense of the personal- a private pleasure. Things that are precious and treasured are timeless.

Christian Dior is known for pushing the female form, and lingerie seems to be the perfect way of achieving a fantastic female figure. Add that with John Galliano's floaty, feminine design aesthetic and you get fairytale slip dresses for spring and summer. Quite obviously these slips are rather vampish, but at the same time they remain demure because the sheerness is used in the right places and never exposes too much, but rather the sheerness only teases the eye.

Fendi's portrayal of the personal seems to be the most intimate, sensual, and romantic of the season. These clothes have defined shapes like any other garment, but rather, they have been stripped down and are constructed with the most opaque textiles. The building up of fabric offers coverage while sheerer areas give a 'peek-a-boo' effect. What stood out for me are the muted pastels which work with the sweetness of these clothes and contrast the sex appeal to great effect.

Sex is something that is tossed around so much. It seems like the private and personal has become.. Not so private and personal. I believe that this is one of the strongest messages this season has to offer; taking back those private pleasures for ourselves; humoring the public by giving them the slightest, explicit flashes of our bodies but still maintaining our integrity. Also, the focus on femininity seems to be a message for women to stay in touch with their bodies and never lose sensuality in the search for power. All in all, look out for lingerie inspired clothing (bustiers, camisoles, and corsets), sheerness, silks, and laces. It's all about the body under the clothes.

The lard knows that the world's been under some heavy turmoil for the past decade. With the welcoming of 2010 (or in other words: a new decade) maybe, hopefully we'll see more progression in society. What better way to kick off a new decade than a blank canvas?

Yves Saint Laurent's prevalent colors, er shades, are white and black. With so many designers returning to their heritage/DNA/roots, it makes sense that YSL would whip out some androgynous two toned goodness for us (with a splash of nude-y peach). It's never boring, however. Although these clothes are unembellished, the strength and character all comes from the integrity of the textiles and the way they are cut.

Calvin Klein is pretty much the king of minimalism when it comes to American sportswear. When I think of Calvin, I think of... (I'm not going to lie) TIGHTY WHITIES. Well, these aren't exactly tighty whities but they certainly are white and not so tight. The loose, swinging nature of these white garbs are a perfect pallet for sun-kissed skin to accent. And, the textures of the textiles offer up the 'new white' of the season.

Celine's future is promising with the return of Phoebe Philo, and Phoebe has certainly offered up her usual. The highly wearable, street-wise collection for Celine worked around black leather, khakis, camels, and cleansing white. All together, the colors worked to create a clean sophistication. Since the collection is so lacking in vibrancy, it is highly dependent on structure to give the textiles personality. Take note of the strength of the individual separates and how the tailored they are.

Key word: cleansing. And, you can't achieve cleanliness without fit. Whether fit means something incredibly tailored or something draped perfectly to your body; the clothes must fall correctly on your body in order to achieve flattering minimalism. Obviously there aren't any prints in minimalism which demands for attention to interesting shapes. Don't be afraid to try interesting silhouettes, and alwaysalwaysalways experiment with layering basics! Keep in mind that texture is a good cheat to achieve interest when playing with minimalism.

Photos courtesy of Marcio Maderia and Monica Feudi