Miu Miu, Resort 2011

Fun, sensual, insolent.

Miuccia Prada's prescription for Miu Miu's Resort collection nailed its naughty little heart. The clothes were inspired by lingerie shapes and lingerie fabrics like crepe de chine, satin, and sable, but there was another story, too.

Prada's undying reverence for Yves Saint Laurent is a strong strand of her design DNA, and there were echoes of YSL's notorious 1971 collection, the one that was scandalously inspired by the shady ladies of Paris in the early 1940's. That old-time raciness was reflected in the

"come hither" neon brightness of Miu Miu's color palette, carried over into armfuls of bracelets, and prints of apples and hearts whose cuteness was cut by the fact that they were slightly blurred, like a neon sign.

The languid line of a keyhole-neckline crepe dress or the masculine/feminine flared, cuffed cotton drill pants paired with a fitted military jacket could have been out of Dietrich's closet (her again!), except that the designer preferred the more playful, less ambiguous comedienne Carole Lombard as a reference.

"Keep things simplest" is Miuccia's new mantra. Word to the lookbook: one of the most seductive re-creations yet of the glamorous harpies who ruled the pages of Vogue Paris in the heady seventies. As far as the historical references go, Miuccia's convinced nobody remembers anything anyway, which means that Miu Miu fans will find irresistibly colored clothes in proportions that look sexy and new to them.