Joan Smalls in Giambattista Valli couture. Photo: Imaxtree

Paris has played host to almost two full days of couture shows; what’s happened so far?

—Olivia Palermo announced that she’s starting a blog. It’ll dish out style advice—which we’d happily take from the sharply dressed socialite—but no word on that TV show.

—Giambattista Valli showed off his debut couture collection. Sounds like all 45 looks were a smashing success. Cathy Horyn at the Times asks if he’s ready for his time in the spotlight and calls the collection “ambitious and lively.”

—Jil Sander’s day-glo pink suit is apparently the go-to outfit of choice for couture’s male audience, or at least the two spotted wearing it on the same day!

—Giorgio Armani dedicated his Privé show to Japan.

—The house of Dior presented its first couture collection without John Galliano. Bill Gaytten, who was recently named Creative Director at Galliano, took a bow at the end of the show, but the critics aren’t exactly anointing him Dior’s savior. Horyn says, “He’s a sweetheart, but he is not a designer…The collection…was a hodgepodge…That immaculate Dior polish was not evident. Some long flowing dresses in hand-painted silk looked contemporary enough, but for the most part the clothes looked like over-bright costumes.” Suzy Menkes agrees, “Regardless of charges that he was sozzled with drink, off-his-head on pills or wildly ranting, John Galliano brought to the house a finesse and exquisite lightness that, with his departure, has blown away like confetti in the wind. This carnival of a show looked like a bunch of partygoers had done a witty, wacky take on Dior extravaganzas.”