Tropic Thunder Some people say that scent is one of the most powerful memory triggers around, however we'd have to disagree. While we do admit that the smell of Dolce & Gabbana cologne brings back instant memories of our university boyfriend and that we can't step into a subway station without allowing the smell to transport us back to our first ever subway ride on the metro in Munich, we think that for us, patterns are a more powerful memory tool than smell. We have a thing for remembering patterns and associating them with key moments in life. We can't look at a Burberry scarf and not think about our first trip to England. We can't see a Missoni print and not feel a pang of regret for not buying that vintage Missoni scarf we spotted on a trip to Seoul. And we can't look at a tropical pattern without remembering the hideous blue and purple Hawaiian shirt our father insisted on wearing every summer between the years of 1985 and 1995 (sorry Dad). However this season, tropical patterns are creating new memories in our minds thanks to Gucci's head designer Frida Giannini. Her use of bold bright patterns and Miami style dressing on Gucci's Spring 2009 runway had us rethinking our hatred for our Dad's Hawaiian shirt and wondering if it was still kicking around so that we could make a cute shirt dress out of it. Even though we have no plans to travel this summer, we'll be dressing the part in tropical gear suited for the beaches of Miami or Palm Springs and you can rest assure, we'll only have happy memories this time around.