Both black and white play a big role in BCBGMAXAZRIA's Spring 2013 Collection. Ensembles of all black, all white, and black and white combinations all figure into the mix of BCBG spring fashion. Designer Max Azria, one of the few major American designers who offer a petites' line in addition to his other lines, and his wife and co-designer Lubov favor lots of black leather straps on everything in this collection, including styling models with ankle wraps.

The Azrias claim German fashion photographer Helmut Newton as inspiration, which explains both the use of plenty of black and white and the bondage references. Black and white is one of my favorite fashion neutral color schemes, so I like that aspect of the collection, but as far as the leather straps go, not only are they nothing new, but they're also unappealing to many women. The leather ankle wraps? Absolutely one of the worst things that a petite woman could wear because they make the legs look shorter.