Of all the Fall 2009 Couture collections, Givenchy speaks to me the most.

Riccardo Tisci's structured aesthetic has modernized in a way that is very different from Hubert de Givenchy, but I love where the direction it is headed. For the 2009 Fall Couture line, Tisci has
combined a stern silhouette, Berber culture, equestrianism in a very inspired rather than literal way. And if it is literal, oddly, it is still wearable.

I usually am not a fan of velvet, but Tisci pulled it off with this dress/jacket. The hood also adds an element of quirkiness to the look. What I don't really like are those open-toed boots. They distract the beautiful textures of the jacket/dress.

This Berber-inspired look is only literal with the jewelry. You kind of need the gold on the face because without it, it'd look like a rendition of 1990s hip-hoppers (if that's what you like).

Tisci, how sci-fi of you. Anyway, I like this dress because there's something very architectural about the top area. The shimmering of the fabric brightens up the black. Actually, here's where the open-toed boots work because the dress remains the main feature and the slit is high enough to balance out the proportions.

Can you go to war in this? Probably not, but you'll definitely stand out in a crowd of soldiers. A gold chained top like that is hard to miss. Most of the time, there is something called "too much," but this style taboo has been broken quite nicely by Exhibit A. At the same time, there's something very harmonious about the look.

The top of this dress is modern enough to not fall into that Grecian category, which is good because that genre can be so cliche. And those specks of green look a little too much like pixels at first glance, but they really do keep this dress from being boring.

I like ombre, but when it's done right, it almost becomes part of "good design" and not just a pattern on the fabric. To keep the white top from being boring, Tisci played around with the draping (off kilter bodice and arm wraps). The red on the bottom is eye catching enough and does not need a more complicated fix.

LOL, the bride looks like a ghost..a beautiful ghost nonetheless. I can't really tell, but is that a wedding jumpsuit? If it is, I absolutely love the idea! Who said women can't wear pants at their weddings? I guess if you don't want to seem all that casual, go with the long veil like the model.

Courtesy of Style