Jason Wu for Tse and Sophie Theallet: Two of the Week’s Best

It’s the last day of New York Fashion Week, which means its time for reflection. Tonight I head to London to hang out with Nadja Swarovski and attend the city’s shows, so I’ve got little time to look back. But I will say that two of my favorite shows this season, thus far at least, have been Jason Wu for Tse and Sophie Theallet. Lovely how that rhymes.

Wu presented his Tse collection on Wednesday afternoon in Industria Studios–one of my favorite show spaces because of all the natural light. While I appreciate his main collection, I tend to prefer muted, darker colors for myself, which means I’m not sure if I’d actually wear it. Wu for Tse, on the other hand, was most definitely a dream wardrobe. The design used elements of his Spring 2010 collection–the pussy bow blouse, the striped shirt–but translated them into grey, black, cream, washed out navy, and washed out brick red.

“This collection challenges me,” Wu told me as he showed off a cream sweater of chiffon yarn that had been loosely knitted together. “We had to make our own knitting needle because no one had used this before!” said Wu with a bit of giddiness. He’s lucky enough to have a separate team that helps him build the Tse collection. “The main collection team is on one floor and the Tse team is right below–I’m constantly running up and down the stairs.”

There really wasn’t anything I wouldn’t wear, but if I had to pick a favorite look, it would be the white button up, black and grey vest, and tweed skirt topped with a putty overcoat. Perfection.

More perfection was to be found at Sophie Theallet, who further-refined her Alaia-born aesthetic with a dramatic presentation at the box at Lincoln Center. The room was dark, save for the spotlights on the three boxed off stages at the front of the room. The center box was painted in Theallet’s signature pinks and oranges. The show certainly had a Spanish flair, with plenty of peasant dresses and rich colors, from berry to blue. But it was the lace–an intricate, unique sheer lace–that really wowed me.

One piece, a cream dress topped with a black lace overlay trimmed in robin blue, was so memorable–almost a Spanish interpretation of Snow White’s ensemble through a French designer’s eyes. The shoes, by Manolo Blahnik for CFDA winner Theallet, were also divine in their strappy sexiness. While it felt like Theallet veered to far into the trendosphere for fall with shearling and velvet, she picked and chose her references more carefully this time around.

Click through for a gallery of my favorite looks from both shows.