What’s pink and white and jeweled all over? Christian Dior Resort 2010 (below, center). And we likie. While some designers thought the recession memo applied to Resort (um, it doesn’t) and draped their models in drab resort wear that hardly resembles happy vaca attire, Mr. Dior, and a few others, stuck to the classic resort brights. Because if we wanted to wear black, grey and various shades of brown, we would stay in the city thankyouverymuch.

Dior took a bite from Hillary Clinton’s pant suits and decorated his models with blazers and loose fitting trousers. Blousy silks and pink taffeta made cameos in both Dior and Armani resort collections with the latter lowering the hemlines. Loose-fitting formality ran rampant in even the subtler collections, and for the more conservative resort designers, pieces that could transcend St. Tropez prevailed. Even Pucci steared clear of his signature wild on print and opted for an alternative in varying blue hues. Celine, Sonia Rykiel, Just Cavalli, Chloe and more stuck with neutral colors but jumped on the Bermuda shorts and blazers bandwagon.

If you were looking for bells and whistles for St. Barth’s New Year’s Eve, this isn’t your year. Preview Spring 2010 before you buy, and you might just kill two birds with one, er, coconut.
   

(Armani, Chloe, Celine - Resort 2010)

Emma Dinzebach