Femininity is getting a rethink in Milan.

Designers are incorporating more masculine tailoring, while giving a contemporary edge to normally girly touches like bows, ruffles, lace and, yes, polka dots. Among the runway trends during Milan Fashion Week, in its fourth day Saturday, are silken blouses tied with an off-skew bow around the neck.

Highlights from Saturday’s shows, including Bottega Veneta, Roberto Cavalli, Jil Sander and Pucci:

Colors popped at Bottega Veneta: Emerald green, teal, yellow, russet, violet and orange, matching in tone and intensity the bold polka-dot patterns that dominated the runway for the first part of the show.

The repetitive dotting in contrasting colors would transpose easily into a Roy Lichtenstein painting — but the women wearing Tomas Maier’s creations show none of the existential distress that the pop artist normally portrayed.

She is confident in polka-dot tunics in teal or emerald green with a contemporary neck line that flips over to reveal contrasting colors. From bold, the looks grew more pretty with overlays of delicate black or rust lace over colorful dresses, and Maier maintained the contemporary edge with transparent panels in overcoat that become a show-window of sorts to the eye-popping color of the daywear underneath. Capes had a trapezoidal shape, offset by streaks of color.

Maier anchored the collection with a pair of black suits set off by a crinkled silk scarf twisted around the neck — a stylistic gesture that conveys what Maier means by a “nonchalant sense of style.”

Jil Sander designer Rodolfo Paglialunga’s first winter womenswear collection for the brand put the coat at front and center — keeping the lines very long.

“Jil Sander represents a little bit of the elegant world for me, and that’s why I wanted to do this long silhouette,” Paglialunga said backstage after the show.

The collection puts its focus on the basics: pants, footwear and coats. Belted overcoats are worn casually over flared trousers. Dresses and tunics were based on the overcoat form, with big pockets and lean lines, adhering to the brand’s minimalist roots. Shorter jackets were worn with cropped trouser-skirts.

And out of nowhere one model carried an aura of knowing worldliness. She stopped and smiled knowingly for the cameras. Ah, that’s super model Eva Herzegova walking for Pucci designer Peter Dundas in a velvet jacket embroidered in gold with zodiac signs over a long ruffley black dress.

Dundas, a Sagittarius, sought to embrace the unknown with the Zodiac-themed show, and some pieces, like long velvet coat over a zodiac printed dress, looked downright wizardly. “In fashion we are so busy managing everything we do. We can’t always control things and sometimes wonderful things happen when you can’t control them,” Dundas said backstage. “Leave it to the stars.”Read more at:bridesmaid dresses | formal dresses melbourne