As Sweet as You Can Get Without a Toothache

Beautiful, little children were sent out just before Luisa Beccaria's show in Milan to scatter the runway with rose petals, according to Style.com. I read this detail after reviewing the looks, and it reinforced the notion that Beccaria's intention was to create the most romantic dresses possible. Although I adored the collection, a couple of the dresses (and there were only two) were just a wee bit too sweet, even for me, but not due to candy colours or overdone frills - Beccaria never wandered into the dreaded 'bad taste' territory - rather, they were just missing that bit of textural balance that would keep me from feeling too Holly Hobbie, like:

...and this dress, with its frill-trimmed bodice and ruffled hem, is a bit too Southern Belle (though I have a feeling that in person I might be won over by the beautiful embroidery):

But how lovely - and indeed romantic - are these pieces below, impossibly feminine and so gorgeous with the simple ruffles, subtle floral prints and soft shades of silver, gold, yellow and nude. (Tangent alert: Speaking of nude, there is quite a bit of sheerness that I imagine will be taken care of come time for shipping to the shops. But you never know. Four years ago I bought a BCBG dress to wear to a friend's wedding that had a semi-transparent navy top on the runway, but had been made opaque for retail. Or so I thought. I wore it sans bra as the way it was cut made it difficult to conceal one, and back then - before childbirth - I could get away with it. It was a year later, while trying it on again in direct sunlight that I realised it was definitely not opaque, it was indeed still transparent. So just a warning to check these things before wearing!) Now, for the dresses, and a little bit of nudity that adds some edge to the otherwise demure creations: