We’ve therefore decided to put together what we think are the best five looks from a range of designers at this year’s fashion shin ding.

Of course we couldn’t compile a list like this without including Chanel, which amongst other great designs gave us a very 50s sequined blue shift frock with a hint of 80s styling in the shoulders.

Dior gave us a stunning girly net tea length dress, while Louis Vuitton went all lacey and 60s with a cute cream frock.

Over at Giorgio Armani the tone was all glam, with our fashion eyes landing on a metallic fishtail frock and bolero, while Stephane Rolland went all out with a flamboyant twisted white skirt and black bodice. We heart.

See the gallery below for our top five.

Chanel

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Jacques Brinon/PA Images

Diane Von Fustenberg Autumn/Winter 2011

Colour is always a daunting aspect of fashion for me – as an ex-goth I still find myself dressing head to toe in black out of comfort, too scared to try anything more adventurous. But this season I think I might be able to get on board with colour. In the spring, thanks to Jil Sander it was all about eye-watering bright, almost fluorescent colour – no thanks, not for me – but this season all the designers are working with rich, sultry jewel colours of emerald, blue, turquoise, purple and ruby red. Mmm. There’s just enough dark glamour in this trend to give me the confidence to try it out..

This is one of the biggest trends this season, as opulent jewel colours were literally everywhere. Diane Von Fustenberg, Gucci, Ralph Lauren, Pucci.. all the big names’ collections were showcasing these colours. I’m particularly interested in how DVF presented the trend – the models wore contrasting jewel tones of green and blue head to toe for a dramatic, glamorous and vintage look.

There is quite a retro feel about these colours, whether you want to be a 70s siren or a 1940s beauty. A good way to work the trend is a deep, bold pair of wide-legged trousers in dark red or green – team with a slippery silk shirt and red lipstick and you’ve got yourself one strong look already.

The high street is totally behind the jewel trend already – hooray! Check out the gallery above to see our favourite pieces.

Marc Jacobs included hard pill-box hats for vintage mystery in his Autumn/Winter 2011 show

If you’re looking forward to planning your new A/W wardrobe then buying a few new accessories is a great place to start – and Mr. Marc Jacobs’ recent Autumn/Winter ’11 with it’s prim skirt-suits and 194os pillbox hats have got us coming over all wistful for an era we were never in. Luckily stores are already cottoning on to wartime-style fashions, so it’s time to get nostalgic with some vintage inspired headgear.

Hats are a huge part of this year’s Autumn/Winter dressing, as the season’s fashion heroine is a mysterious femme fatale who knows her stuff about tailoring – a good dramatic hat can add mystery and old Hollywood glamour to any outfit.

There are a few good pillbox-style pieces already available on the high street, though we reckon there will be more to come. If you can’t find a style at the moment that tickles your fancy you could also opt for a fascinator headband – lots of high street stores such as Lipsy and RockNRose are already making bands complete with large flower detailing and veils.

Check out the gallery above for our favourite pillbox hats and fascinators.

Elie Saab Haute Couture 2011

Lebanese-originated fashion house Elie Saab has been a red-carpet hit with the likes of  young lovelies such as Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart for a while now, so we were looking forward to see what they were going to show us at Couture Week yesterday in Paris. Were we surprised when we weren’t let down? No, not at all – this was always going to be a good show.

It wasn’t a drastic departure from the label’s past collections, which have always been well-known for their fluttery, girlie designs in icy pastel shades. But while in the past some collections have been very “sugar, spice and everything nice”, we found yesterday’s offering a little more simple and sophisticated than past efforts. The whole affair was extremely pretty, with crystal and flower details trailing over sheer sleeves, hemlines and necklines in nude and white sheer fabrics.

The textiles used in the designs worked beautifully within the collection. Rich-looking cream lace and sheer wisps of chiffon were delicately embroidered with tiny flowers and leaves and encrusted with sparkles, with a resulting effect that wouldn’t have looked out of place in a fairytale.

It’s a big round of applause for Elie Saab from us at ShinyStyle. We guarantee this collection is going to be loved by red carpet attendees everywhere.

Givenchy Haute Couture 2011

It’s indisputable that one of the best moments of Paris Haute Couture Week has to be yesterday’s transcendent Givenchy show. Creative direction Riccardo Tisci had certainly pulled a white rabbit out of his hat for this truly magical, delicate show which was glorious against the backdrop of the River Seine in Paris. Tisci has a great history of powerful and impressive designs but nothing prepared me for yesterday’s collection, which, without sounding too gushing, took my breath away.

It was a smaller display of work than some of the other shows this week, with only ten dresses making up the collection. Normally we’d feel a little short-changed, but in Givenchy’s case yesterday less was definitely more. In each dress you could see the care and love of design that had gone into its’ creation.

The collection, in all its’ virginal beauty, was an interesting combination of simplicity and intricacy. The garments, which were a mix of trailing fringe, wisps of sheer white chiffon and heavy embellishment and embroidery, still seemed light and delicate despite the intricate detailing. To sum it up, completely exquisite. Yesterday the models selected to walk for the show could have been angels. Particularly spectacular was the show’s finale dress: gold fringing falling in columns to the floor from metallic winged detail around the hips, below nude fabric showing the model’s body. Like we said, angelic and fit for a goddess.

To us, yesterday’s show seemed to be a true celebration of the art of couture. Tisci seems to only go from strength to strength as a designer. We absolutely can’t wait to see what he’s got in store for us the next time Fashion Week rolls around.

Jean Paul Gaultier Haute Couture 2011

Paris Couture Week is one of my absolute favourite fashion events out of the entire calendar, so I was excited this morning to pore over Jean Paul Gaultier’s latest sumptuous couture offering. There are certain boxes at a Gaultier show that are always going to be ticked – nipped waists, leather, black PVC, feathers and embellishment – but still the iconic house managed to surprise us anyway.

There was an obvious dance inspiration to this summer’s couture collection, as Gaultier combined full-skirted suits and pert tutu-esque garments with softly elegant ballet slippers. We duly noted that even the models’ sky-high wedges were worn with criss-crossed ribbon details around the ankles for a balletic feel. Perhaps the designer has been watching Black Swan a lot lately? Anyway, we loved the dance influences and were particularly charmed by a bell-sleeved black velvet biker-feel jacket with a light-as-air chiffon and feather tutu, which was modelled by the kittenish supermodel Sasha Pivovarova.

Another vibe that we picked up on in this show was that of the wicked stepmother. Scarlet-belted leather coats with fur collars, fiercely angular feather fascinators and vintage-style costume jewellery were all part of a vibe that we reckon Cruella DeVille would have been majorly into if she had been in Paris yesterday. Our number-one total favourite moment from the entire show was a particularly cruel-looking coat/dress made out of shredded strips of plastic and leather, that on closer inspection had a black plastic fox peeping out from the strips. Just like the fox-fur scarves your mad granny wore thirty years ago, except it’s MADE OF PVC. I always knew that “mentally ill heiress” had scope to make a comeback, and I was right. HA.

All of our favourite Gaultier touches had been added to each piece. Some leather detailing here, a plumage of tropical feathers there, shredding and draping and corsetry, oh my! The result was very dark with a slightly cruel edge and we really hope no plastic foxes or birds were harmed in the making of this collection, but basically the whole thing was very fabulous and very Paris Couture Week.

40s florals and shapes

Karl Lagerfeld kept the crowd waiting till well after 10pm last night, but we have to admit the show was worth the wait.

Steering away from the flamboyance many Haute Couture shows bring, the designer this year went for a 40s theme, combined with Chanel’s trademark tweed suits.

Post-war forties floral prints made their way onto straight dresses, while polka dots and Peter Pan collars also made an appearance on midi-dresses.

The collection also focused on the skirt look, bringing out the traditional tweed knee length skirt, teamed up with a school girl hat right to the nipped in at the waist look, which was matched up with a 40s style structured shoulder number.

Other skirts grew from pencil to fishtail, culminating in a bridal look at the end – well we didn’t say there wasn’t any flamboyance at all.

Alexa Chung

Celebrities made their traditional appearances at Paris Haute Couture week, dressing up in a range of outfits for specific shows.
First in the spotlight was Alexa Chung who went for a structured knee length black dress with a white ruffled blouse for the Chanel show. She was joined by Diane Kruger who looked hot in a white uneven hemmed frock complete with an embroidered neckline.
Over at the Armani show it was celebs in suits. Katie Holmes went for the traditional black trouser and blazer look, while Cate Blanchett went for a red skirt and jacket.

See all the celeb sightings in the gallery above.

And the excitement surrounding this long awaited event did nothing to disguise the fact that first show of the season – Christian Dior show that did not feature John Galliano.

Instead, Bill Gaytten, who was last week named Galliano’s successor, took the reigns to show off the collection, which gave a nod to a range of different eras and influences.

Fluorescent fabrics, which were mixed with classic woolens from the 80s, gave a nod to the punk/dance 1980s era while keeping a contrasting theme, while bold geometric prints and floaty chiffon fabrics suggested a 60s and 1970s Marrakech bohemian vibe.

Then there were the clear 80s style nipped jackets and pouffy skirts, which were clear favourites for the likes of Madonna and Tiffany in the era, while oversized ballgowns made from petals of delicate chiffon were vamped up and bought into the New York era with kitsch sparkles.

Add to that some ruffles, clown polka dot influences and of course those headpeices and you have a collection worth spending those hundreds of thousands on.

See the gallery below for the collection.

60s prints

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Briquet-Gouhier-Guibbaud-Orban/ABACA/Press Association Images

Christian Dior Couture Autumn/Winter 2006

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Last week we wrote up John Galliano’s A/W 2011 catwalk show, which was shown amidst a flurry of outrage about the unforgivable anti-semitic remarks the designer was caught on camera making in a cafe in Paris. Since his drunken outburst, he has rightfully been dropped as creative director for iconic French fashion house Christian Dior, and rumours are waiting to be confirmed that designer Ricardo Tisci has been appointed to step into his shoes.

Shiny Style will never defend the recent actions of John Galliano and wholeheartedly agree with his dismissal. However, he has been one of fashion’s brightest talents for the past two decades, and has been unrivalled as a couturier. His lusciously ornate and avant-garde designs have always embodied the luxurious spirit of Christian Dior, a classic label, while always developing and looking forward to new trends. That’s why we’re so sad that he’s single-handedly destroyed his career in the manner that he has, and let so many of his supporters down.

So here’s one final gallery for Galliano; one of fashion’s most important designers, whose work at Dior has been an absolutely magical period for couture and ready-to-wear. Check out our gallery of our favourite designs from the past ten years, and leave your thoughts about Galliano and his work below.