CORPSE CHIC:.

Byline: -- Nancy Dillon

Morose models wearing jet-black lipstick, dialing cell phones and navigating a runway strewn with human skulls and bones.

Monday night's "Imitation of Christ" show at Smashbox Studios in Culver City was the hottest ticket of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, and the goth fantasy didn't disappoint.

Designer Tara Subkoff, who held her first show at a New York funeral parlor in 2000, seemed to be channeling equal parts "Edward Scissorhands" and "Cabaret" with her chopped-up skirts and miles of flapper-style beading.

Some might find the predominantly black fall 2007 line too East Coast edgy for sun-

soaked L.A., but celebrity fans -- including "Big Love" star Ginnifer Goodwin and indy film sweetheart Ione Skye -- gave it a thumbs-up.

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Hits and misses:

(1 -- color) 1. Skye loved this "finale" dress, describing it as an antique tablecloth draped over black velvet.

(2 -- color) 2. This wispy webbed dress looked beautiful on the rail-thin model but might split its delicate seams on a more realistic figure. And slits cut up to the waist aren't very practical either.

(3 -- color) 3. These deconstructed tuxedo shirts looked punk-rock chic, if a bit unshapely, over skinny black pants.

(4 -- color) 4. Hoods were everywhere, especially on storybook-style capes.

(5 -- color) 5. The Samsung phone was strategically placed by the show's sponsor.

(6 -- color) 6. Gorgeous beaded dresses with slit sleeves were among the biggest crowd pleasers.

(7 -- color) 7. Dozens of human bones, placed by a "runway bone stylist," were an obstacle course for models wobbling in ill-fitting, sky-high black pumps.

Photos from Getty Images and Associated Press