Oscar de la Renta Pre-Fall 2013 | Pictures

Oscar de la Renta's collections tend to run wide and deep, and his Pre-Fall 2013 offering is no different.

But what was different about this show was the designer's experimenting with a new silhouette: slightly high-waisted A-line skirts that stopped just below the calves. These were paired with jackets cut from the same cloth, or belted with shirts tucked in.

The rest of the collection featured all of de la Renta's customary treatments, but they were applied with a lighter hand. The jewels we saw decorating his Spring 2013 and Fall 2012 collections were restricted here to necklaces, brooches, and the crystals applied to a selection of evening gowns, and floral embellishments that are so much a part of his language were mostly confined to prints.

One pale blue dress cleverly used pink and blue paillettes to simulate blurry, pixelated roses. The model walked by as Marvin Gaye belted out the lyrics to "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing," but we'd be just as happy with the roses on this dress as a bouquet of live blooms.