Click above to see fashion editor Lisa Armstrong's post-show review with Christopher Bailey

BURBERRY PRORSUM

One can't help feeling that if Christopher Bailey were left to his own devices, his preference for understated, beautifully poetic clothes would always involve a melancholic colour palette - so it's inconvenient that there are also a few emerging markets to cater to, which, recession or no recession, don't quite understand the “undone” appeal of Vanessa Bell or Virginia Woolf but totally get that fur or rhinestones, preferably in the same jacket, walk the talk.

Bailey's achievement is to marry these opposing aesthetics. Bookish heroines in off-white, silk-chiffon dresses teamed with clompy black biker boots were a pleasing modern take on grunge. Ditto the longer-length cable-knit cardigans and tweed dresses. Yet, lest anyone mistake this for anything other than high fashion, out came the black fur coats and shoulder shrugs. To add a little richness to textures, he mixed pressed bouclé tweeds with gauzy wool crepes, velvet brocades or plissé velvet jersey in inky blue or faded amethyst. Meanwhile, the beanie had morphed into a gardening hat. It would be easy to pass this off as a sombre take on recession dressing - but in Bailey's hands, oversized, mannish coats or boyish trousers with their nonchalant feel become so much more than that. CA

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