Power Shoulders Akimbo // Gloom

Yesterday AnA fled our fabulous office for a day in the tents, and boy (or girl) did it feel epic. Casting aside her usual lightness and ease was the mot du jour at Carolina Herrera, who out of the darkness spotlighted (literally) a collection of rich golds and brocades in an 80s parade of big shouldered, off-the-shoulder and one-shouldered frocks. Sitting a few rows behind God herself, AnA loved the give in the shoulders, the capelets we've been winking at everywhere this season and the 3/4 sleeves too.AnA loves the return of Confidence and Power Suiting, so go digging for your Donna Karan belt and shoulder pads because DIVA is back.

With gold the staple color in the accessories and gilded edges on the garments, everything else comparatively felt richer, especially the purples and silvers.

So then. This is the season to reinvigorate decades past, since there is some reassurance in these uncertain times to remember how we have survived before. And nothing exudes recession chic like a great pair of stirrup leggings and a bulky sweater.