That Girl

I want to be this woman:

No, not Agyness Deyn specifically, although she's one of my favorite models currently and I'm guessing life in her very fabulous shoes does not exactly suck. No, I mean the Michael Kors woman. You know, this one:

The long, leggy American goddess that he captures so well. Carmen Kass (the model above) personifies this look for me, although for some reason she's not doing Kors' ad campaigns anymore, she's been replaced by some young woman who looks extremely young, underfed, and has the weirdest nose... but I digress.

Kors designs an archetype -- the lean, aggressive, sexy American woman who walks the world with long, confident strides and leaves a trail of defeated men behind her. And who wouldn't love to be that?

I know a lot of people don't think that much of Kors, they say he does the same thing over & over. And no, he's not ground-breaking, typically, or what we Fashionistas like to call "directional," like someone like Miuccia Prada. But good googly-moogly, season after season a parade of models who look like the most possibly perfect version of the strong sexy American woman march down his runways and I find myself yet again saying, "Oh, maaaaaan, I wish I could be her." Let's face it, the odds of me strutting around in a white (white!!) maillot and high heels looking as gorgeous and confident as Aphrodite after a self-help seminar are roughly on a par with those of me sprouting wings and flying, but boy, do I wish I could.

Look at that! How much do you love that -- the cut-down-to-there simplicity of it with a little sparkle, the sharp coat casually over the shoulders (placed there, no doubt, but an adoring and handsome man wearing very good shoes and just the right amount of cologne), the... well, it's just damn sexy, isn't it?

Kors usually runs to classic neutrals -- black, white, lots of tans & khakis, but I am all in a pash about the colors he showed last week.

Pretty, pretty saturated pastels in great sleek shapes. Also I am loving to bits the gold accessories like the thin belts and -- no surprise, the cuffs.

Mmmmmmmmmm, that's yummy.

And so is this:

Oh, that's just fantastic. I love the casual silhouette of the shirtdress made of that sequinned fabric -- easy elegance at its best.

Michael Kors sticks to what he knows, and I mean that in the best possible way. This is not to say that the man is narrow in scope -- if you listen to him talk on "Project Runway," (when IS the next season coming, dammit?!) you can learn a lot about fashion, because Kors really knows his stuff. But he has staked out his acre of the American fashion landscape and there really isn't anyone who does it better than he does.

So how do you get the Kors look? Let's break it down:

*Slim silhouettes -- narrow skirts & pants, tailored blouses, close-to-the-body knits

*Neutral colors: lots of white, black, brown, khaki, camel, black, gray, navy, with judicious pops of color here & there

*Luxe-looking leather accessories, and don't skimp on the rich, shiny hardware

*Shades

*Bronzer

It also helps if you can carry a large bag and look like you just stepped off a private plane arriving from somewhere fabulous & tropical:

I loved this collection, I thought the clothes were gorgeous and everything American sportswear should be. But that's how I usually feel about Michael Kors. What did you think?

Photos: Style.com