SHEER—Salvatore Ferragamo in a bucolic mood with maroon top over a slim skirt steeped in embroidery REUTERS

Fashion is planned so far in advance, it boggles the mind. Take Milan, for instance, where the most luxurious tailored fabrics are loomed. The bolts of cloth that will eventually be made into designer collections are made up to four seasons (or two years) in advance.

Milan is the hothouse for the most recognizable brands like Salvatore Ferragamo, Bottega Veneta, Missoni and Prada, which are all still family owned. With Europe’s precarious retail mood of hesitant buying, the stewards of these super labels are in their senior years, and thus not prone to creating collections that are too edgy or shockingly new.

Milan is a heavy tailoring town, the vanguard of the best leather goods in the world. Shoes, bags, accessories and clothing are made from the finest leather manipulated into many guises and surfaces. Color, too, is incredibly loud in Milan, with radioactive hues of red, blue, yellow and orange in primary tones.

With all this machinery and fashion technology, Milan recently—albeit hesitantly—sent forth collections of romantic nostalgia, safe designs that will always be on the perpetual bestsellers list.

IT’S A WRAP —Missoni for Winter 2013, a knitted shawl wrapped over blazers, furs, dresses and knits, the genius palette of gray in degrade shades REUTERS

The overview for Winter 2013 is military overcoats and jackets with crisp military regimented buttons, stitching and proportion. To keep women safe and warm, it will always be the pantsuit. But at Ferragamo, evening were for YSL’s ’70s gypsy peasant, and at Missoni, there was that shrug placed on everything that looked like Christian Lacroix in ’88.

Meanwhile, Prada had the striking colors and prints, the biggest beadwork and the newest item, a maxi sleeveless coat worn like a vest over pants, skirts or both. Milan is always about refined layering.

But the best collection was Jil Sander by Raf Simons. After being perennially in the top three collections year in and year out, Simons will be replaced by Jil Sander, the original designer before she sold the name and label to a conglomerate group. Simons’ exit collection was very pretty and nostalgic, with the lushness of mid-century Hollywood.

Let us love the runway looks today, they are familiar and so elegant—but about to cross the line from so-so to ho-hum.