Except for the mini Smart cars that buzz around the cobblestones here, the Milanese like things not merely big, but grandissimo. Pretty sure we're still digesting the ginormous bistecca from last night's dinner at Controvapore with Matteo, Marco, and Natasha, the fab team from Paciotti. Appetizers were triple-sized truffles mixed with either pasta or scrambled eggs. Wine and conversation flowed from truffles to ruffles, Prada to Romano Prodi, and Leonardo da Vinci to Leonardo DiCaprio—the room evenly split about which one we'd rather spend a night with. Did we mention the locals here are big on talk, too? The party ended around 2 a.m. So we kinda wondered why Tracy Taylor, MC's fashion director, flaunting newly cut bangs, wasn't looking any worse for the wear as she arrived in the lobby before 10 a.m., ready for the first show of the day. "I'd never miss Marni!" she exclaimed. And then demonstrated for a very curious lobby the contents of her "fashion week survival tote"—which is, she says, "the mother bag" that lives in the car that squires her around town from show to show to re-sees and dinners. This year, she's got the shiny cream and white Fendi. ("It's just got it going on. So easy-access.”) The car functions as TT's trailer and pit stop, and when she digs into her Fendi tote, here's what she finds: Shiseido's blot paper with powder, Oral B Brush Ups tooth wipes, Orbit wintergreen gum (which she gives a quick chew of before removing and squeezing in a few fresh-breath drops), her KYO green capsules (she says they get to her on a cellular level, and we can't argue), her BlackBerry, and that particular morning, both a divine Vuitton frame bag and a metallic Chanel bag—as she still hadn't decided which to carry. A fashionista's perogative! Yesterday we predicted Burberry would be the one to beat, and Marni came close, lobbing one winner after another. In the country that took home soccer's coveted World Cup, no surprise there was so much sports influence: lots of racing-striped leggings worn with their signature boxy tops, and neoprene has never looked so neoclassic. At Etro, the length of the runway and the height of the shoes meant the defeat of at least one young model—who took off her platforms and walked barefoot the rest of the way. Tracy started imagining futuristic hippies after seeing the show—as 2001: A Space Odyssey blared away—while everyone got swept up in the pretty paisleys. Criminally pretty, perhaps: As the show ended, many esteemed guests began stockpiling the Etro print pillows that had served as their seat cushions. Let's hope someone text-messaged Miss Manners about this! Ever conceptual, Prada held their spring show in the cool, cavernous, industrial space adjoining their molto-hip headquarters. Military was much on Miuccia's mind, but filtered in an edgy, modern way. Khaki linen dresses wrapped with thin leather belts, minidresses in a bright red and orange camouflage appliqué, shoes with inch-thick tank treads were paraded on models that evoked WWII war brides. One black dress with supersize sequins looked as if it had been dipped in oil, while a coat sported crushed bottle caps. Both looked absolutely bulletproof. Prada offered plenty with potential to become The Thing for Spring: the long leather fringe bag, the backpack in either black sequins or red camo. Could the latter end up as Tracy's fashion-week survival bag next season? Try Marie Claire risk-free to learn more about the latest trends from your favorite Fashionistas. [...] [...]
