Who hasn’t been in a situation where, at first, something may seem innocuous, but the longer you consider it, the more you pause. Broadly speaking, this is how I feel when couture is described as whimsical. Though the term captures the elaborate garments’ fanciful nature, it can suggest that they are not made to be worn. It can also impart a capriciousness to an art form that involves painstaking construction and hundreds, if not thousands of hours, of work — oftentimes to create a single piece.

But few words were more accurate than “whimsical” to describe the fantastical, storybook looks in and outside of the couture shows in Paris last week. There were feathery coats and adorable balaclavas, corsets and cinched waists, big skirts and waifish silhouettes. Much of the fashion had a youthful air that sometimes made people look a little like living dolls, whether they were walking on a runway or just in the streets.