The Prettiest Dresses, Basically, Ever

Sometimes, the reality of fashion doesn't quite match up with your dreams. Other times, well, reality makes you dream about fashion. This happens when it's so whimsical and otherworldly that you can't help but encapsulate runway looks in the word reserved for the best of the best: couture.

The couture shows just wrapped in Paris, and this season, the dresses undeniably do justice to the lofty monicker. What else but "cou-ture" could evoke images of inaccessible frocks and ethereal gowns all in just two syllables?

There were lavender gowns with ivy ripping through the bodices, like a fairy model escaped an enchanted forest. There were heavy, long-sleeved gowns inspired by armor that enveloped the body like a modern-day Joan of Arc. There were dresses that were barely there at all, mere whispers of fabric floating down the catwalk (though don't expect to pay less just because there's less dress).

The result of the collections is an imaginative assemblage of fairytale dresses that beat any in your childhood storybooks. Click through for 18 examples of how real life threads can also be the stuff of dreams.