Romance

From the D&G, mid-length, seventies-inspired ruffle dress to Roberto Cavalli’s gorgeous white cotton and lace floor length dresses - feminine, romantic ruffles and floral prints were in abundance on the catwalks.

Ruffle mania cropped up at a lot of the catwalk shows with Viktor and Rolf framing their models’ faces with jumbo ruffles while Christopher Kane went for softer ruffles in elegant tiers. Look out for Moschino’s sister range Cheap ‘n’ Chic who mixed ruffled tops with jeans and skirts with a punky T-shirt.

Continuing the seventies-inspired theme this season is the maxi-dress, which is well and truly back. Embracing the floral patterns that will be big in spring 2008 D&G showcased patchwork floral maxi-dresses.

How to make it work:

Florals:

Even though floral prints are in, it doesn’t mean diving into the back of your granny’s wardrobe for the Laura Ashley – the trick is to give it a modern twist. At Dolce and Gabbana the prints were bold. Try teaming a bold floral print, with minimal makeup and jewellery, and a pair of gladiator heels. Urban Outfitters have some on-trend bold, modern print dresses.

Ruffles:

The thing with ruffles is to not look like a rosebush. Stick to ruffles in one place. H&M have silk mid-length dresses with subtle ruffles around the collar. A strategically placed ruffle can work wonders but can also draw attention to problem areas. So choose carefully.