RUFFLES HAVE RIDGES

THE RUFFLE FRONT . . .

Ah, the frippery of the tuxedo shirt!

Luckily, it has been softened in recent seasons, as evinced by this delicate silver Etro ruffled silk blouse, for purchase at bergdorfgoodman.com. Perfect under a fitted blazer!

But the ruffle is not limited to blouses! I adore the bold persimmon-hued Valentino Roma mini-frock pictured at the top of this post. It has a delicate keyhole detail in back. The frilling (ha!) news? It's on sale at neimanmarcus.com!

Check out this kicky Moschino Cheap & Chic white ruffle front sleeveless a-line dress (currently fifty percent off at shopbop.com).

Not sure which came first, but it looks curiously similar to Albino's zipper-front leather version, which Couture Carrie discovered while perusing Italian Vogue online.

If you need something a bit fancier, try Valentino’s lovely ruffle and jewel-adorned gown for Resort 2009 (photo at right via style.com).