PARIS, France — Last season's boxy and printed looks were gone for Miu Miu's fall-winter 2013-14 show. In their place was a more inventive collection that featured outerwear as dresses, exaggeratedly sized buttons and giant handbags.

Flashes of color in '50s polka dot neckties, stripy tights and Belle Epoque boots in gold and silver, gave the collection for Miuccia Prada's baby sister offshoot a great lift. Wide collars that swept up to the shoulders on coat-dresses on cinched high waists were followed by looks featuring '50s full skirts.

Dresses made with quilted coat fabric, sometimes with large buttons and long zippers, saw Prada putting her own quirky stamp on an outerwear-to-innerwear trend that's on high rotation on the catwalk of late.

But the best silhouette came toward the end: long column shapes in black and polka dot with a flared flounce kicking out from the mid-calf. It accompanied the piece de resistance — a one-metre (three-foot) handbag that had spectators gawking.

By: Thomas Adamson; Copyright (2013) Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.