Usually Milan writes the rulebook for extravagance and innovation in fur. And the 2004 fall winter collections were innovative, but the furs were much more understated than ever before.

Certainly there were some outrageous moments. Ferretti's printed furs were out of the ordinary. One black and white fur jacket in particular was a knockout and then a longer version of the same print came down the runway with a belted leather tie. Ferretti used elegant thin striped zebra patterns. The girls on the runway has slightly mussed bouffant ponytails and wore smudgy dark eyeliner, projecting an undone, retro glamour that made the prospect of winter dressing-up look effortless. Mui Mui also showed a printed fur coat in a collection that was steeped in basic and wonderful vintagey tweeds in magical subtle colors chestnut, mousy browns, grays, maroons, and dull flashes of bronze, copper, antique gold, and green.

But on the outrageous scale, Roberto Cavalli wins the prize for his extravagant coats that were literally dripping fur. One truly unbelievable golden brown calf length coat of drooping fox was sheer luxury. Another waist length fur reminded me more of a fat fur blanket than a jacket. It was truly voluminous in fur innovation and sheer scale (the coats were giant!) Cavalli spared no expense embellishing the collection which was unbeatable for sheer, decadent luxe. From the chinchilla chubby smothered with crystal frogging to a Persian lamb hussar's jacket lavished with golden braid to the fabulous shearling, cut like an eighteenth-century man's coat and encrusted with sparkling jewels - it was dazzling. His bolero shaped fur pierced with crystal-bordered cutouts and the classic pony trench overprinted with zebra stripes were over-the-top in an already over-the-top show.

Cavalli's show made the leopard prints of Alessandro Dell'Acqua's show completely tame although they were quite beautiful. Versace, who we usually expect the outrageous from was also relatively subdued. Her rock chick coats looked almost uptown!

Fendi's show was surprising in its futuristic take on the fur coat. Looking like pelts, the furs were slung over the models shoulders and dragged behind them. There was something rustic and beautiful about them though.

My favorite of the entire Milan shows was Pucci's gorgeous fur trimmed black cape. It fit with the bolero style jacket shown in many of the shows but everything about this magnificent cape was JUST RIGHT!.