+ get the (new) london look.

+ Burberry Resort 2011

+ Stella McCartney Resort 2011

It is no wonder that Christopher Bailey won the International Designer Award at the CFDA Awards this past Monday for his work at Burberry Prorsum. He recently presented in London his 2011 Resort Collection for the brand, and it was an artistic celebration of Burberry's British heritage. Bailey drew inspiration from Burberry's archives which contained designs for British colonial military uniforms from the 1930s and 1940s, which manifested themselves in trench coats which contained epaulets, wrist straps, utility pockets, and exotic python detailing on the belts and handbags. Any classy lady would also drool over the thigh high python boots, which are similar to the boots he showed for his Fall/Winter 2010 collection. He also drew inspiration from past Burberry collections that featured the quintessential "London look." This look manifested itself in a ruched leather dress that was lightweight and embraced the feminine silhouette well, and also with the finely tailored navy blue blazer and trousers that would look ideal on a girl out on a stroll in Mayfair. For the chaps there were finely tailored shirts and trousers that are quintessentially Christopher Bailey. Looking at the whole collection as a whole, one could say the theme was safari meets the city.

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Also from London came the Resort 2011 presentation for Stella McCartney. This is one of McCartney's strongest collections yet, with an architectural silhouette that was similar to Calvin Klein Collection's Spring 2009 look, and an assortment of other pieces like A-line dresses and military trench coats that went as far down as to the thighs. Her blazers and trousers contained her trademark Savile Row tailoring which flatter well a woman's figure. Many of her looks were about exposing the legs, and celebrating the arrival of Spring, which is is said to be McCartney's favorite season.