Yes, the fall clothes, for the most part, are very body-conscious, and they certainly always are in Hollywood, anyway. One of our absolute favorite fall collections was from Christopher Bailey at Burberry. His Prorsum collection is always amazing, but this fall – with its tight ruched jersey pencil skirts, lace pencil skirts, and cropped shearling jackets – it’s reached its pinnacle. We cruised the Beverly Hills Wilshire Blvd. Burberry store the other day, and some of the hottest items are in – some can be pre-ordered. We spied some basics that can REALLY spice up your existing wardrobe: a body suit with lace insets and a zipper front, for one. It’s expensive – BUT – imagine it under any jacket, with any skirt, paired with any trousers – it goes anywhere, is super flattering. And if you chose to wear one of fall’s A line or full skirts, you have the perfect tight top to compliment it. The Burberry black lace leggings ($795) are, sure, a bit pricey – BUT, AGAIN – a new fall classic that you could live in. Pair them with a jacket and heels and you’ve got a great evening outfit. Or put a dress over them – or a big sweater. They can be worn in any climate, and will travel amazingly. We’re sold. Even at that price. And if American Apparel knocks them off – they won’t look like this! Burberry also has some stretch denim pants that are a hybrid between those denim leggings and actual jeans ($495). They’re tight and sexy and stretchy to hold you in – but they’re not vulgar or only for teenagers. www.Burberry.com, and hit “Prorsum.”

Thirty days has September, April, June and November – right! Tomorrow is July 1 – can you believe it? The summer is whizzing by, and the sales kicked in way early at most major stores. However, the designer boutiques in the Wilshire and Rodeo area can’t afford to start their sales earlier than this weekend. For instance, Burberry on Wilshire is going on sale officially July 1, to forty percent off. This might not seem that great when other stores are already at sixty off, but in fact, the Burberry spring 2010 collection was one of designer Christopher Bailey’s best ever. The ruching in the skirts, dresses and trenchcoats was amazing, and the pieces flew out of Neimans faster than a celebrity running out of a plastic surgeon’s office. HOWEVER, the Burberry store still has some of them. These are truly beautiful items that are worth owning, and will great this summer, and just as good in the fall or on your summer trip.

OVERALL TREND: Well, the biggest trend here is that Daily Beast editor Tina Brown hosted a virtual screening of the show from London at Milk Studios in Los Angeles. So stylists, editors and even a few celebs could see it together, live, as opposed to online, in tiny pics. How great to see the clothes move on the runway, and the reaction of the crowd – and hear the music as it was programmed for the show. Since fashion is now great live theater, this is going to happen more and more – and Milk’s big sound stage was an amazing environment for this. And viewers got to see it with Burberry 3-D glasses on. Claire Danes and Kate Hudson were on hand at the show, which are big American names for a London fashion week show. The OTHER big news is that pieces from the collection were also available for pre-order online this morning. So those in a wintery climate can by NEXT fall’s looks NOW. How fashion insider is THAT?

We’re BIG fans of Burberry’s Prorsum Collection and its amazing designer Christopher Bailey – but this MIGHT be our favorite Burberry collection of ALL time. Of course, his collections are always about the basic trenchcoat and its simple military chic – and that trench look is a staple. For spring 2010, Bailey used silks and wrapped ruched fabrics for dresses, skirts and tops, and paired them with trench jackets with ruched hems. For fall 2010, the fabric strips are wrapped much tighter and in stretchy fabrics, and very very fitted, with longer lengths. These are more grown up clothes. They’re almost Parisian, but with a London street flair. They’re matched with fitted military jackets in leather or wool, some peacoats, some with fleece linings or fleece pieces, in two-fabric tonality: black leather with half ecru fleece. Is that CHIC or what? And so new! One coat is taupe on top and black on the bottom, and some coats have fur hems and trim. In any case, whether it’s a short jacket or a knee length coat in wool or leather, all the outerwear is so beautifully shaped and so flattering – and it’s all perennial. All these pieces can be worn from now till forever. They’re both classic and very very now.
The skirts are mostly tight and wrapped in those stretchy pieces, in mustard, army green, black or brown – and they are very sexy. There are just a few cocktail dresses – in wine and the new orchid – and both have satin in the fabric which makes them shine, but they’re also very fitted. We can imagine a girl as cool Brittainia as Kate Moss wearing ALL these looks. And we want every single one of them. No joke.

COLORS: There’s an earthtone group: brown, ochre, burnt sienna, tan, camel mustard and yellow – and a black and navy chic military very tight group. And then there is a white fur coat that is fuzzy and just to die for, and it would look great over anything. Everything was shown with thigh high skintight black boots or lower clunkier motorcycle boots with tons of straps – these are being covetted and put on waiting lists as we write.

BEAUTY: Simple long hair, not too neat, parted just off center. These are cool London street girls. They wear a bit of pink eyeshadow and pink lips (this seems to be fall’s big beauty statement – The Pink Eye and Lip Matched Set – and look casual and street savvy. The makeup flatters the earthtone clothes.

RELEVANCE TO HOLLYWOOD: These jackets are SO gorgeous, but they’re a little heavier than we need here in LA – but for a few months, we’d sure wear them anyway. The leathers are exceptional and worth investing in. Often times, Burberry collections can be a little too boyish for Hollywood, loaded with trousers and boy jackets – but the wrapped tight skirts here, the shiney wrapped dresses, the boots and all the leathers are just fabulous for L.A. There’s a pink skirt paired with neutrals that’s just a knock out. And that olive drab lace – just the idea of doing olive drab lace is perverse, cool, street smart – and just damn chic. Christopher Bailey is now one of the world’s great designers. But we won’t see him posing nude on the cover of Vanity Fair anytime soon.

Burberry Prorsum by Christopher Bailey is of course the London label that has shown in both London and Milan – but next week, their fall show is coming to L.A. Virtually – but it’s still very cool. Milk Studios and Tina Brown’s Daily Beast website are showing the new fall 2010 collection in 3D at Milk. Will be have to wear funny 3D glasses? It’s very cool – this is a hot new way for people to see fashion shows as if they were there – cut up for air travel and costs – and blog about it or tweet as they see it. And the images should be large and cinematic – almost better than being there. Fashion from Europe finally coming to L.A! This is absolutely the wave of the future. Virtual fashion shows, viewed online or seen in theaters. These are photos from the spring 2010 collection that are our faves.

Christopher Bailey, the great English designer at the reigns of Burberry, is creating great tailored hip slouchys styles for Burberry Prorsum – and in case you haven’t noticed, Burberry is not just about trenchcoats anymore. In his pre-fall 2010 collection, Bailey brought back the color brown – it’s about time! – army green, and some strong military looks without getting literal. He kept fall 2009′s strong shoulders, but now they have epaulets on them, or just some nice stiff structure. The waist is still very small on the clothes and very structured – and pants take on a chic boy-cut, a bit of cropping, and look sexy in that Marlene Dietrich way. We love the wine colored dress here, topped with a sweater jacket that’s long, belted, buttoned, and even dressy, in its highly simplistic and flattering way. Burberry pre-fall is a nice soft look at suiting for girls – and instead of Armani liquidity, it’s British street hip. We can see Kate Moss wearing these clothes.

The British Fashion Awards took place in London last night, with Burberry’s Christopher Bailey
winning Designer Brand of the Year, Georgia May Jagger being named Model of the Year, and Kate Moss picking up an icon award. But – take a gander at these outfits! Kate Moss wore a long black lace gown with a train, Victoria Beckham simply outdid herself, and we are loving Claudia Schiffer’s rose print dress, so flattering on her – and her lovely “fringe,” as they call them in London. British babes just really love their clothes – and they do it right.

Milan fashion week for fall just wrapped up, but Fashion Rules has decided to go back and show you the highlights of the some of the shows that weren’t the most glam or trendy or press-highlighted.

We always love Burberry Prorsum, because Brit designer Christopher Bailey always does amazing leathers and suedes, his outerwear is dead chic – and the fall collection was filled with fabulous trenches and coats. His spring 09 collection filled with lurex, brocade and metallics in classic English shapes is a total standout – the fall collection is a little quieter and more classic. But there are pretty little cocktail dresses, great jackets and coats – and Burberry worked completely against the eighties tight tough trend all over New York and Milan – and just went with its quiet British boho story. And you know what? It’s a nice story – very comforting, relaxed and pleasing.

OVERWHELMING TRENDS: Leather oversized trenchcoats paired with thin chiffon dresses, dropwaist Bohemian dresses in pale colors with dark soft slouchy coats or jackets, a black full chiffon skirt with a white shirt, shearling jackets paired on top of over the knee chiffon dresses, a very long beige grey v-neck cable sweater on top of a tweed over the knee skirt, jersey dresses knotted at the waist, long tweed kilts, tweed cropped trousers, metallic long sleeved dresses – and a chic group of dresses that are practical and pretty at the same time

COLORS: Mouse grey/beige, white, black, khaki, black and white tweed, silver metallic, plum, a gold floral brocade on dresses

FABRICS: Leather, suede, chiffon dresses, shearling, jersey, fur – giant oversized fur coats, silver satin, lurex, wool

BEAUTY TRENDS: Soft straight hair parted in the center, pale pink lips, light coral eyeshadow

ACCESSORIES: Low black suede lace up boots, black opaque tights, giant satchel doctor bags with short hard handles, detachable oversized collar scarves, black fedora hats with larger brims

RELEVANCE TO HOLLYWOOD: You don’t see enough L.A. girls sporting Burberry, unless it’s their handbags – probably because they think these clothes aren’t sexy and tight enough. However, the super long sweaters would look very L.A. paired with leggings, the dresses could be worn to any premier or cocktail party, and the slim pants are really flattering. Let’s face it, these are clothes for grown ups – but women like Meryl Streep, Helen Mirren and Susan Sarandon would look so chic in these long sleeved metallic or jersey dresses, with tight waists. They’re the right amount of demure, grown up – and trend conscious. If Sienna Miller and Kate Moss can wear these clothes, why not them?

We at Fashion Rules are NOT label whores.

Well, okay – maybe we are!

Look, a great dress is a great dress – but for fifteen years, we’ve heard very little on a major red carpet outside of “Valentino,” “Chanel,” and “Dior.” So it’s really nice and even refreshing to hear OTHER names, particularly those that rarely show up on a red carpet – and have beautiful things.

Hats off to Katie Holmes, who looked JUST HOT in a tight Jil Sander spring 09 dress to the knee – with her short hair, slim cut sheath, and cool label, you could tell she’d lived in New York for the last few months. Jil Sander’s spring collection is one of the hottest ones of spring 09.

January Jones’s dress was lovely – a black halter gown with a hard gold breast place that surrounded her neck and waist – it was simple and dramatic at the same time. And who’s EVER worn Paris designer Andrew Gn on the red carpet?  His clothes are beautiful – and expensive – but they never get on red carpets because he has no Hollywood pr.

Kyra Sedgwick, not exactly known for her fashion forwardness – although she always looks good – donned a strapless vintage Chanel, with a white bustier top and simple black bottom. All Chanel is good – but vintage Chanel is even BETTER – because you can’t identify what collection it’s from. Plus black and white is so hot right now.

Penelope Cruz in her couture Azzedine Alaia was just scalding – have you EVER seen a dress fit like that? Not only that – this was NOT an easy dress to procure. Azzendine’s people just don’t care about red carpets.

Laura Dern wore Burberry – and we are big fans of Burberry designer Christopher Bailey. He rarely does dressy clothes, but his cocktail dresses are always first rate – this was a very interesting way to go.

And Jennifer Morrison wore Paris designer Anne Valerie Hache, who is another great designer who flies below the radar – hopefully now her name will be – maybe not household – but at least, livingroom. – Merle Ginsberg

This fall’s Burberry Prorsum collection by Christopher Bailey was one of autumn’s chicest – and so, by the way, is the costume jewelry. The Wilshire Boulevard Burberry store is having a private sale from Thursday November 6-Monday November 10, with 30-40% off womenswear, menswear and accessories. Sure, there will be sales starting after Thanksgiving – but this week is early, and you can do some election results celebrating at Burberry this weekend.