Yearly Archives: 2021

………………On Saturday, we went to the “Sugar Bowl”, which is one of the oldest diners in Darien. I love to go there for breakfast, one because the food is good, and two because they decorate the place for every holiday. They have lots of Americana all over….hanging from the ceiling, on the walls, over the counters etc……Where ever you can hang a decoration they will put one, and they do that for every holiday. I don’t know who enjoys it more…….the kids who give it a glance, or the adults who really appreciate the effort!…..Then we drove to Westport to visit a store called “Terrain”. It’s a store with a large outdoor garden center, and inside there is a cafe [in good weather it extends outside], and there are very clever and unique home items inside. They have everything from soaps and candles to dish towels, interesting bottled drinks, jewelry, totes, and a whole section on things to make topiaries. They have lots and lots of unique things for the home…. Chris loved the unique water display on one of the outside walls made out of tin cans and tubing. I wouldn’t be surprised if Chris makes his own version….As I said he’s very crafty……Knowing how much I love elephants, he gave me the little elephant which I immediately christened “Little Christopher”…….I’m always sorry to see him go, but if all goes well hopefully there will be many weekends between now, and when we make our safari trip to Africa this year!

………………………CRYSTAL ICE refers to the tiny crystal HAND SEWN beads that completely covered the short sleeve dress, the kimono and spaghetti strap dress with the straight across neckline…..The short sleeve dress was made in a silk knit, and the dress with matching kimono were in silk georgette…both of these pieces were lined in self fabric……I have always loved simple silhouettes covered in beading. That comes from my days working at Norman Norell…He would design the most glamorous simple long and short dresses completely covered in hand sewn sequins on silk jersey……His simple turtleneck long columns were his most famous. They were known as his “Mermaid” dresses…..To this day they are still copied….Michael Kors just ended his latest fashion show with a series of these sequin dresses worn under long matching trench coats…..Very Norell and very Anne Klein…….These types of simple beaded dresses appealed to my sportswear sensibility……The items above may have been done for a resort collection which is basically warm weather clothes…….however…….these pieces would have been just as appropriate at any Christmas gala since they were delivered into the stores for early November selling………That’s not to say that I haven’t done my share of complicated draped beaded dresses, because over the years I’ve done many…..In the look book we gave suggested retail prices so the stores would be consistent in their pricing, and they wouldn’t try to undercut each other, which was frowned upon. The short sleeve dress had a suggested retail price of $3395, the kimono was listed at $5595 and the slip dress was $3735……Remember these were prices listed 30 years ago. Due to the price the stores bought very few, but many were sold at trunk shows for special ordering. We made all of the production in my sample rooms to make sure they were perfect….so each piece was exactly like the sample…….These pieces were the finale of the Resort portion of the 1991 collection.

……………………Navy and White Sequins with GOLD Sequin borders……..New Years Eve parties in the Caribbean call for show stopping outfits………Simple, sophisticated and chic becomes a reality in the tiniest flat sequins in narrow Nautical Stripes……Narrow bands of Gold finish the pieces to perfection…..Throw one of the “boyfriend” blazers, solid gold or lurex cable cardigans, or the Cady kimono over any of it and you are ready to make your entrance…….The resin drop earrings had specks of gold in them.

………………………………ALY DUNNE was a SPECTACULAR MODEL……..a RARE BIRD…………..I used Aly in many shows and ad campaigns. If you google her you will see quite a few photos of her in my ads. Her hair in the ad photos is always pulled back in a very close to the head French Twist. You never knew with Aly what she was going to do with her hair. I LOVED this pixie cut. She was often compared facially to Audrey Hepburn when shot at certain angles…….She eventually left the modeling world while she was at her peak. To say I was very disappointed was an understatement, but Aly told me the time was right. Good models with level heads know when it’s time to go. There are signs……bookings start to slow a little. Their names aren’t on everyone’s lips, because there are always the new young girls coming up. Even though Aly was unique and no one looked like her….she took her leave. It’s always better to go when you are still in demand and at the top….instead of sliding down the slippery slope of modeling! She moved to California, and tried to become a singer/actress…….I think she was just too beautiful and too tall to be a successful actress. She would have been taller than 95% of the leading men…..I recently googled Aly and I was happy to see she aged beautifully and didn’t succumb to horrible plastic surgery, and distorting fillers. Her hair is white and in a pixie cut, not too different than it was all those years ago…………….Above, Aly is wearing a Navy Cady Kimono and strapless chemise dress. Again, the dress had a light weight bustier under it to keep everything in place……Aly is also wearing the original PALM FROND NECKLACE & EARRING.

…………………..Silk Cady is a heavy silk used for VERY HIGH END DESIGNER lines and COUTURE……It has weight and incredible drape. There are very few WHITE silk fabrics that are dense enough where a lining isn’t necessary. Silk Cady is dense enough!….It’s the perfect fabric for Spring/ Summer dresses……and Fall/Winter too……if you can afford it……LOL………The styles are simple…..An unlined Kimono coat and a Slip Dress………….A Chemise dress with cut in armholes to show off tanned shoulders…..with a deep slit front………The jewelry was all clear Resin that looked cold as ICE. Once in a while I have seen these jewelry pieces on ebay at very high prices……These pieces are timeless and can easily be worn today as they were 30 years ago!