Hazy Shades of Winter Fashion in Milan

Someone from fashion's high command must have issued a decree long ago that when autumn/winter comes around designers must show their respect for this depressing season by only making clothes in dull, sludge-like colours. Olive, marmalade, slate and cloud: designers might come up with ingeniously poetic names for this miserable winter palate but the fact is that the shows in Milan this week have been dominated by dark khaki, dark orange, grey and black.

This leaves labels known for splashy, flashy patterns in a bit of a quandary. Matthew Williamson at Pucci tried two alternate approaches: making the famous lava lamp-like Pucci swirls in 70s decor colours like orange and black, or simply ditching the patterns and making pretty shift dresses in bright colours, which looked like a far more fun way to get through winter.

Missoni, in their show yesterday, opted to keep the patterns, make the colours slightly darker and the clothes themselves dour and sombre.

This has always been a label that works best on young women's clothes, as most TV test card-like patterns do. Of course, grown-up clothes can be fun, but definitely not the unflattering long, full circle skirts or hem lengths that end three-quarters of the way down the calf, which wouldn't suit a woman of any age.

Just because a woman surpasses the vintage age of 40 does not mean she has to swamp herself in heavy materials and garish big patterns, despite what some designers might think. Instead, predictably, the younger clothes were far better, such as the softly pleated miniskirts and the chiffon blouses with full sleeves, and the knits were, as ever, beautifully made.

How to dress the mature woman has been a bit of a theme this week. Usually one can rely on Milan for a bit of trashy glamour on the catwalks, even if this definition of glamour is more akin to Nancy dell'Olio's than most British women's, in that it tends to include metallic mini dresses and skirts that barely make it past the hips. Instead, the usual molto sexy labels, such as Roberto Cavalli and Gucci, showed simple trouser and blouse combinations and a notable dominance of long hems.

Even Dolce & Gabbana, with its unabashedly dominatrix-themed show, included some sober black suits for those who want to dress more like Debbie Harry than, well, dominatrixes. Maybe it's a sign of respect to winter. Maybe it's a show of nervousness in the face of Italy's current political tumult. Or maybe, and most likely, designers have finally realised that while teenagers might look nice in their clothes, it tends to be their mothers who buy them.