Lady and the tramp: Urban grunge and old-school glamour

Hair

“This season was about a more womanly kind of beauty...very cinematic, with references to film noir,” says Guido Palau, creative consultant at Redken.

At Bottega Veneta Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver provided the inspiration for high-octane curls reminiscent of Guy Bourdin heroines.

Volume is key, those retro styles requiring serious lift at the roots. At the opposite end of the spectrum was the wet-look, plastered-down locks seen on the Louis Vuitton, Prada and Roberto Cavalli catwalks. A stylised glisten applied to hair as a finishing touch can give that artful, “caught in the rain” look, rather than making the wearer resemble the proverbial drowned rat.

Nails

The nail colour sported by models at Karl Lagerfeld’s autumn/winter show for Chanel is a sell-out shade that is not only impossible to get your hands on – or indeed to get on your hands – but also widely sets the tone for the season.

Elixir was the shade of choice, a milky-soft mixture of red and pink that fits in perfectly with the ladylike tone that is so prevalent in the collections. Elsewhere, talons took on a darker look with Fendi and Oscar de la Renta choosing a Gothic black shade while a more vampy shade of red was shown at Thom Browne.

Make-up

Red lips are hardly groundbreaking but at Dolce & Gabbana, make-up artist Pat McGrath – the creative adviser of the brand’s cosmetics collection – was tasked with reinventing a classic.

Sicilian cathedrals and Sophia Loren served up as inspirational fodder. For that, one colour wouldn’t suffice, so Pat used a combination of Dolce’s Ultra and Amethyst shades for a velvety crimson effect. Elsewhere, the grunge vibe was in the eyes: at Roberto Cavalli, MAC’S Carbon eyeshadow and Graphblack Kohl eyeliner were applied with abandon up to the outer corner and underneath the eyes and smudged messily.