Dries Van Noten always knows how to strike my nostalgic chord.

Some things that you can always guarantee from Dries Van Noten are splashes of Mid-century Modern color and prints. He is so incredibly talented that he can make some of the ugliest prints beautiful, which a lot of designers cannot do. It's why I look forward to his collections. For F/W 2009, his collection is very reminiscent of the 1930s-1950s pre and post WWII era. "Edgily retro" is what I would call it.

It's the return of the Teddy girl, a subculture from the 1950s. The sage a-line skirt and the berry top could've been a "war of the colors," but the croc leather blazer became the diplomat.

Black and white has never looked so interesting. The print is very abstract and to add to that, the frills give it come dramatic volume to pump up the 1940s vibe. Oh, and if you can't see, the back of the heels of are black and white snakeskin.

Style-wise this look is very symmetrical. The skirt is so busy but it's toned down by the neutral tone. The orange sweater is simple, but you can almost hear the orange scream out loud.

This is my favorite look from the whole collection. It's got that classic 1930s style with a slight quirk through the snakeskin on the side. I especially love the ease of the blouse.

For S/S 2010, Dries has chosen to incorporate a lot of ethnic prints in his collection. The fact that he's able to manipulate them is beyond me because I avoid using them when designing. I wish I could be braver.

I'm not crazy about the diamond printed fabric, but Dries worked around it in a way that makes me crazy about it. I love the draping and the red bits strategically placed on the waist and neck/shoulder.

The giant bronze polka dots on the shorts are subtle but shine with movement. The boxy cropped blazer complements the shape of the shorts and the color contrasts it beautifully. This is what I would like to see a lot more on the streets.

I like the breezy interpretation of the kimono shirt-dress; it's great for the summer. The thick black pattern outlines add graphic interest to it.

As Chelsea Handler would put it: What... a beautiful shirt-dress. Instead of using different colors to create a plaid, he used different textures to show it off. It's also quite remarkable to infuse the holster and jacket together.

Courtesy of Style