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MORE PHOTOS: Living La Vida Moda with Daniela Corte at Sel de la Terre [SLIDESHOW]

I think Daniela Corte is one hot little tamale, and her jam-packed Friday fashion show luncheon, at the new Sel de la Terre at the Mandarin Oriental, proved that there are a lot of people who feel the same. The Argentinean hottie and MILF extraordinaire presented her current showroom collection at the midday soiree — and showed us that combining timeless elegance with a little Latina flava makes for one hell of a look.

Buzzing fashionistas filled the space, including sweet-as-can-be Chanel director Mary Nobile-King (with her fab new hair cut); photo-snapping Tina Sutton in her iconic black-and-white outfit and bright red lipstick; the geek-chic James Hannon, director of the School of Fashion Design; and Boldfacers.com founder Lisa Pierpont, looking stunning in a Daniela Corte red twist dress, black fishnets, and patent-leather Manolo Blahnik Mary Jane pumps. (Hey Lisa, I’m a size nine and sharing is caring.)

My table included the Globe’s Christopher Muther, Boston magazine’s Alyssa Giaccobe, Elan Sassoon (yes, as in Vidal’s son), Habit owners Pam Santorelli and Leila Moore, and events guru Bryan Rafanelli (who snuck out early — there are fabulous events to be planned in this city, people!).

Before taking my seat, I snuck backstage to find a calm Daniela Corte with Maggie models, a hot-hot-hot Colombian beauty queen, and stylist-turned-model-for-the-day Lauren Franz, all dolled up by MAC makeup artists and hair stylists Seth Selman and Giovanni Cudia, who will both work at the soon-to-open Mizu Salon, headed up by Elan Sassoon and head stylist Charles Maksou. (Maksou, by the way, has his very own publicist now. Nice lady, but a here’s a little advice for her: you can’t tell a journalist what they have to write about; you can make suggestions and craft an intelligent, well-researched pitch that actually makes sense for the publication you are pitching.)

Okay, glad I got that one off my chest. I headed back to my seat to eat the deeeelish gluten-free first course that the lovely folks at Sel de la Terre created for me. Another restaurant that appreciates the difficulty that comes with having a food allergy! (Nebo, Via Matta, Scampo also get kudos for that.)

Enough about food and back to fashion. Corte started the show on a super-high note with what appeared to be a series of themed mini collections within a collection. Models strutted their stuff through the restaurant and posed for a live photo shoot with photog Eric Levin.

There wasn’t an evident overall theme to the show, which took us through a bunch of different trends inspired by various time periods. Corte started with flamenco tiered ruffle dresses and moved on to brightly colored print numbers reminiscent of the Met’s recent superhero exhibit. Made with high-quality materials, the dresses looked completely wearable — it was clear that this collection was designed to be sold, not just for the runway effect. Corte, who’s come a long way in her career, has finally mastered the craft of making clothing that not only looks stunning on the rack, but is also flattering to various shapes and sizes. This is no easy task.

Next up were ’70s-inspired loosely draped sleeveless blouses with mini buttons trailing down the back, paired with ultra-chic, high-waist, wide-legged trousers. Then Corte went back to basics with simple Calvin Klein-looking monotone jersey cut-out dresses in dark blue and gray, followed by sweet, 1950s-inspired wrap dresses and sexy Sterling Cooper secretary looks.

After that things took a geometric turn with sexy sweetheart-top strapless dresses in muted colors with strategically placed bright color blocks. And then we went back to classic, with ladies-who-lunch numbers and roomy bell sleeves. Next Corte went back-to-school cool with berets, leggings, and pin-striped blouses, and then ... is your head spinning yet? Mine was. I’ve mentioned the important looks, but there is no way I can even try to explain some of the random numbers that went down the “runway” towards the end of the show — some of which were last season’s looks that have been sitting in Corte’s showroom for months. I’m talking Starship Enterprise uniforms and slightly trashy black-jersey evening dresses that reminded me of long-gone cheap-chic retailer Rave. Anyone? Anyone? Shit, I’m getting old. (Insert shameless plug for my Studio 54-inspired 30th birthday party on October 25 at Achilles.)

Yeah, so the show took a turn for the worse and went from fabulous to frenetic, slightly all over the place, and just way, way, way too long. Did I mention this show was long?

Daniela, you are a fierce designing diva who is making fabulous waves within the fashion community in Boston by creating wearable takes on high-fashion trends — and we love you for it. Here comes the “but”: when all eyes are on you, only showcase the best of the best, and only show current pieces. Less really can be more.

— Erica Corsano