Yearly Archives: 2021

………………….The Tortoise pattern was taken from 18th century Tortoise Tea Caddies I had collected. Many mistakenly though that it was an animal print, but it was not. The fabric was a beautiful jacquard knit. It was a very simple silhouette, and followed the lines of the body. It had a stand collar and a TWO WAY ZIP front, so you could “style” it in a way that worked best for your body. The pockets were hidden in the seams, and they too zipped closed for a very streamline look,. This was one of those miracle jackets that seemed to look good on the great majority of women, and they loved it. To this day women comment to me on how much they love this jacket, and how good they look in it…..The word was SLEEK! It came in four colors…..Grey, Chocolate, Cobalt and Raspberry Truffle………SCROLL TO NEXT PAGE FOR ONE MORE COLLAGE OF THE DEC. GROUP!!!!!!!!!

…………………………The Cobalt and Raspberry truffle jackets worked over skirts, long and short, and all different silhouettes of pants. It was fabulous over the NEW solid Ponte dress. It could be belted for another option.

……………….My mother had wonderful girlfriends. She told me how they always went away on “girl vacations” in the Catskills and Adirondacks. Many of them were BFF. I new some of them, and called some of them Aunt. They were all working girls in NYC during the 20s and 30s. They were all very modern independent women….the new breed, and very different from their parents. They saw each other all the time. They had  many boyfriends!…..They tried to see each other when they could, but once they were married and had children it became more and more difficult. My parents moved to Long Island in 1951 when it was just starting to be developed and there were still many farms. Her girlfriends stayed in Brooklyn…..From my mother’s stories I really understood why she and all of her girlfriends waited to get married…..all in their late 20s. They all worked, and I think it was hard for them to give up their independence knowing things would change drastically. Everything would be different, and their holidays together would end…..Once one got married they all got married and the “girl’s club” as it was broke up…..I know my mother missed her friends, and never again had girlfriends like those of her youth. She was to have a very different life now with a husband and the children to come. When we sat and she told me her stories I could see the happiness in her face of reliving those good times… Aunt Nardi was my mother’s very best friend, and she is in many of the pictures. They are picking flowers at the upper left. Aunt Nardi is behind my mother on the country road second pic in from the upper right. She’s the third bathing beauty from the left, and that’s Mom at the extreme left. My mom is third in from the right in the line up at the lower right and Aunt Nardi is in front of her. Aunt Sadie was their best friend. Sadie is  in the top pic second in from the right. She’s up front in the plaid top. She’s also laying in the grass with Mom and Aunt Nardi wedged in between. The three amigos…In the line up at the lower right she is the last one at the extreme right….That’s Aunt Sadie and Mom playing croquet……The three couples, Mom and Dad, Nardi and Armond and Sadie and my Uncle Bubby were always together, until my parents moved to Long Island…They were all very close and continued to go on vacations together….I remember going to the Catskills with all of them and their children…For my parent’s 50th wedding Anniversary my brother Mauro and I gave them a trip to Hawaii. Aunt Nardi and Uncle Armond, who were my parents Matron of Honor and Best Man at their wedding, went with them. Nardi and Armond had been married the month before and my mother was her Maid of Honor….The trip to Hawaii was the last time my Aunt Nardi spent time with Mom. My Aunt Nardi died of cancer a month later after their return from the trip, but she was determined to go on this trip and spend time with my Mom…..They were like sisters, even closer than sisters….BFF. It was very hard for my mother to loose her childhood friend….She spoke of those times with such glee, and I know she truly enjoyed reliving them…….Those good times may have been long gone……..but she had her pictures.

…………………………November 2012 was a small Holiday group………There was a textured woven suit with SATIN RUFFLE details, and a “pencil skirt” that had a surprise peplum detail at the lower hem in back. The suit came in Black, Ivory and Violet…all trimmed in black satin. The pockets and buttons were in black satin too….There was a simple fitted, V-neck knit dress with elbow sleeves. The dress had tiny sequins scattered in rows that twinkled. It was in Black and Violet…….Then there was a super fun striped sweater tunic that was my ode to Sonia Rykiel, a very famous French designer who was known for her ultra feminine knits and her signature wild red hair. It was actually at one of Sonia’s shows that the hair stylist burned Jac’s hair off when they were crimping it with a hot iron! The sweater had Black & Ivory, Black & Violet and Black & Grey stripes. The top had three black stripes that were paved in black SEQUINS. As an added Sonia touch there was a knit bow attached to the jewel neckline. It was a very whimsical fun sweater that could be dressed up or down with black jeans. You could even wear it over the sequin dress so it looked like a sequin skirt peeking out………The last piece was a faux fur jacket with knit sleeves and knit side panels. It had a stand collar and a zip front. There were also horizontal band pockets. The ribbed knit panels made the jacket look slim instead of bulky, and also bridged the jacket from super dressy to a more hip casual vibe. The fur was Astrakhan which is often confused with Persian Lamb. Persian fur has very tight curls, while Astrakhan is flatter and wavier. It came n Black only, and was the perfect little jacket to wear over anything from evening dresses to jeans. It solved a lot of problems as to what to wear over your little black dresses.

…………………………With the popularity of Whisper Knit sweaters we finally did a separate group of WK sweaters that would be sold “on line only” as part of the “ESSENTIALS GROUP”. Of course whenever I could I would incorporate them into my shows…..There were EIGHT STYLES………..a classic button front cardigan…….a V-neck tank………….a V-neck short sleeve………..a sleeveless mock neck…..a scoop neck  with short sleeves….a moderate scoop neck with long sleeves, a kimono cardigan and a pencil short skirt. Other styles like the classic TN were already part of the reorder list…Not all styles were offered in all colors, but we tried to balance them out so there would be variety. The colors were ………BLACK…….IVORY……NAVY…….WALNUT…..DEEP TEAL…….VIOLET……..and FUCHSIA…………..they coordinated with all of the FALL clothes from each month.