Milan Fashion Week: At Emilio Pucci, Tyrol too much

At Emilio Pucci, designer Peter Dundas used the house's signature prints as the way into a Tyrolean fairy tale, complete with busty Swiss misses in tight, corseted dresses with lace-trimmed portrait necklines, embroidered dirndl skirts and velvet knickers.

And for their off days? Slim riding pants, gilded lace blouses and jacquard jackets with leg-of-mutton sleeves.

This was maximalism to the jewel-encrusted, embroidered and lace-trimmed max. And the sum of the parts crossed the line from cool to kitsch.

When wandering into Tyrolean fairy tale territory, Dundas would have done well to keep a foot in the real world.

That's not to say that he can't design a mean dress. The sexy, swirling green print dress wrapped in fringe was a beauty, as was the burnout velvet gown encrusted in cabochon crystals. And that sleek black jumpsuit with a plunging lace back? That's a costume any starlet in Hollywood would gladly get into.

--Booth Moore in Milan

Photos: Looks from the Emilio Pucci fall-winter 2011 runway collection shown during Milan Fashion Week. Credit: Jonas Gustavsson and Peter Stigter / For The Times.