Beckham's looks all suitably posh

From the personal greeting she gave to each of her two dozen guests to the thoughtful answers to questions about the construction of her designs, Victoria Beckham staged an intimate preview of her fall collection Sunday that was all class and polish.

The series of 26 dresses, which all maintained her signature sleek, slim shape while adding new elements such as draping and textured fabrics, were all picture perfect. One of the gowns -- a tan silk jersey with a touch of embroidery on one shoulder -- is a contender for Beckham to wear to the upcoming Oscars.

Her favorite dress, though, was a strapless minidress in a beige print that was hand-tucked to mimic the airiness of a cloud, she told the small group of editors gathered during New York Fashion Week in the parlor of an Upper East Side townhouse that was decorated with white flowers and candles.

"I wanted to push myself and work with structure and drapery," Beckham said. She said she had some sleepless nights over getting everything just right, especially the balance of structure and fluidity.

She wore for the presentation dress No. 12, a gray wool tunic that, she said, "you can just throw on." She completed her outfit with champagne-colored patent-leather platform pumps with a skinny, skyscraper black heel that was created for her and the models by Brian Atwood.

For inspiration, she studied the style of 1940s-era comic-strip detective characters and Hollywood femmes fatales. You could see the Dick Tracy-influence in the trench-style pieces and a black wool twill shorter dress with embroidery made of rolled tubes of patent leather.

The comics also influenced the newsprint smudges in the blurred pixel print on the finale asymmetric column gown, made with a built-in corset, a sign of the quality of dressmaking Beckham is doing.

The models wore styles with large, round sunglasses to capture a "nerdy-chic feel," she explained. "It was my personal style goal to be more relaxed, and you can see that in the collection."