French Connection Autumn Winter 07

Until last summer wild horses wouldn't have dragged me into French Connection. Hideously over-priced & badly made womenswear, an over reliance on their smutty, puerile FCUK logo and a propensity to license the brand to infinity a la Pierre Cardin (FCUK alcopops & condoms anyone?) made French Connection a must-avoid store. But then summer 2005's collection tanked, profits fell, the company took a long, hard look at itself & realised that whilst they may have sold millions (literally) of FCUK logo T-shirts to every tasteless loser in England, they badly needed a credible fashion line to hold the company's reputation. The net result was a hugely sharpened and refined feel, with SS 06 looking good (I bought a silk sundress), and AW06's collection marking an almost unbelievable return to form.

From that collection I bought (at full retail, I'll have you know), a black wool bubble hem winter coat with princess collar, a blue & gold sequin banded mini tunic dress (yes THAT one - but I bought it in August & cld hardly be expected to predict that every celeb from Natalie Imbruglia to Heidi flippin' Klum would wear the bloody thing on the red carpet at Christmas), and a black silk micro tunic with appliquéd roses on the hem & neckline. The summer 07 collection saw British Vogue's Harriet Quick name-checking the store for her personal wardrobe in the July issue.

This winter these three pieces are on my shopping list:

The Isadora dress in merino wool & Tencel £60.00 (I think I may need both)
The sequinned Queen dress £160.00



And the Tabitha Mary-Jane £85 (In both colours, please)