Dior Goes Flemish Old Masters for Spring Couture

Haute Couture week in Paris has kicked off and what a better collection to begin with than Christian Dior. Galliano says he was influenced by Flemish painters Vermeer and Van Eyck. Whatever it was, the collection is just want we want from haute couture, is it not? Over the top, breathtaking detail and the obviously expert workmanship. As the Telegraph's Hilary Alexander put it, it had the "extraordinary construction, hand-finished seams, painstaking cross-stitching and velvet ribbon bindings which go into the making of an haute couture creation."

I don't quite get some of the collections that are pared down and straightforward. They're absolutely beautiful, but in the context of Haute Couture week, certainly devoid of the pomp and splendor, and I don't understand why they're haute couture, whereas we see ready-to-wear from the likes of Alexander McQueen (A/W 2008 for example) that would seem at home on the haute couture runways (I know there are strict rules dictated by the Chambre de commerce et d'industrie de Paris, but just sayin'). Is there that much fancy handstitching that can go into a pair of unembellished black trousers? Is the fabric that precious? I imagine you could pay $20,000 (geez, maybe more?) for a pair and can't quite see, literally, why. But there's got to be a reason and I'm happy to be educated - I'm looking to be - so fill me in if you know. (I just recalled Daphne Guinness in The Secret World of Haute Couture describing what she's wearing, called it 'normal' couture. Is what I'm referring to then 'normal couture'? Still, what is that exactly? My head is swimming.)

Back to Dior, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy's breathy, beautiful songs played as the soundtrack (Quelqu'un m'a dit is a must-have album). You can hear and see here, and watch until the end for Galliano's finale strut, one of the best things about the show (it always makes me laugh so hard. With him, of course):

My favourites: