Remember when everyone was wearing big shoulders? Remember how modern people looked in them, even though they were inspired by the ‘80s? Remember how they quickly became dated and you assumed that anyone wearing them felt a bit embarrassed? Well, it seems no one told Balmain’s Christophe Decarnin. Today he showed huge gold lamé shoulders, leopard print and fur chubbies, which didn’t look “iconic” or “credit crunch-defying”—just wrong. Judging from the full Prince soundtrack, the Purple One apparently inspired the 80s-meets-showgirl-meets-Hugh Hefner collection. Dresses plunging to the navel and slashed to the thigh were plain vulgar and the minis looked cheap (gold foil fringe on the arms didn’t help), while in her last exit, Carmen Kass looked like a gay pirate. Here’s what we did like: the brocade coats and suits, which were oddly sexy and felt new (for Balmain), although people were overheard comparing them to sofas. Could this be the end of the Balmain power-glitz phase? Possibly.