Monthly Archives: February 2021

……………………….December 07 offered 3 additional new styles…..The first was a silk charmeuse “Pirate’s Blouse”. It was tunic length, perfect for slim velvet pants, or a long slim skirt. It had a drop seam on the sleeve. There was shirring at the seam and again at the cuff to give the pirate effect. The blouse had high side splits. I also had a braided belt made out of the charmeuse fabric to go with the tunic. It came in Ivory, Black and a deep Crimson Red……..The next top was a combination of stretch velvet and stretch mesh. The mesh portion had matching small bugle beads scattered all over it……all hand sewn. The ballet neckline and the bottom of the short sleeve were bordered with the bugle beads. It came in Black and the Crimson Red….The sketch say it was supposed to be a body suit, but we changed it into a regular top. If you look closely you can see where I blackened out the bottom of the bodysuit….The last item in the group was a georgette pull-on skirt. The bottom of the skirt had two rows of pleats. Each row had a band approx. 1 1/4 inches wide of the charmeuse. The effect of the satin bands on the matte sheer georgette was really special and a very difficult detail to make. Sewing bands of charmeuse on to a sheer georgette takes patience and precise workmanship!! a very designer detail. These rows of pleats moved beautifully. This skirt looked great with so many pieces….It looked perfect with the two tops in the group, plus sweaters and blouses, and many jackets. It was a terrific “novelty” skirt to own.

……………………..October 07 had 3 new pieces and many reorders…….The suede jacket was a very complicated labor intensive piece. Another headache for Elaine! It had leather trims, studs and diagonal rows of metal rings that had leather strips lacing through them with stitches in between each ring to hold them in place. I had seen a photo of a shoulder bag that inspired me………….I had done a Tuxedo Tunic shirt at Anne Klein that looked very similar to this. It too had rhinestone buttons and rhinestone cuff links in French cuffs with a high low hem and pleated bib front…….Claudia Schiffer, the incredibly gorgeous German model with long wavy super sexy hair and an perfect body, made her solo entrance wearing this silk tunic with high heal PANT BOOTS in STRETCH BLACK VELVET studded all over with RHINESTONES…..Don’t know what a pant boot is??? It’s a shoe and skin tight leggings all in one…..NO SEAMS….so the shoe and the tights are all one. Claudia, walking down the runway looking like she was wearing a man’s tuxedo shirt and these sparkling legs, had every guy in the audience making hoot calls…….She was stunning!……The Linea pull on pant offered with this group had a very slim leg in stretch velvet……Not quite a rhinestone studded pant boot, but they did looked great with the shirt.

………………….Sept 07 had a suede and leather TSV……..By now, after 7 years, my suede jackets had become very popular items, and were expected to be on every new collection. This was a very special jacket with special details. It had an exposed zipper front in an antique brass color. The jacket had princess seams to follow the line of the body and inseam pockets. It was the leather and stud trims that made this new jacket special! The jewel neckline, the front and the hems of the jacket and sleeves were bordered in the leather. Then I designed these Baroque swirling applique patterns. They were had cut and sewn on top of the suede. The tiny brass studs outlined theses appliques. All of the bands on the jacket also were studded with a larger size as you can see in the photos……..To go with the jacket we offered a silk/cotton turtleneck and a Ponte pant.

…………………..The Sept 07 midnight show was part of the Sept TSV presentation…..The Rayon/Nylon tunic sweater was later to be known as Whisper Knit. The yarn was quickly getting a reputation for being comfortable, durable, no stretching and no piling, and rich in color. The tunic sweater had a ribbed TN, side slits and tubular trims on the jersey knit. It also came with a self tie belt….The colors were Black and Wine…..The next tunic shirt was in Silk Crepe de Chine. It had a stand collar with a single button, and a hidden button placket down the front. There were side slits and a classic cuff. The yoke dropped past the armhole giving the illusion of a dropped armhole. The collar, down the front, the hem, the slits, the cuffs, and the yokes, with their mitered edges. were all piped in Black CDC. The shirt also had this very INTRICATE thread emb…..all original Chinese designs…..It was avail. in Cream with Black and Brick Red with Black…….The next tunic blouse was a beauty…..I called it the “COSSACK BLOUSE”. It was a SILK and VELVET burnout fabric…..so the silk was shear like a chiffon and the velvet was a beautiful texture and rich in color.. It had a convertible collar to be worn on or off the shoulders….or one and one. The ruffle was wide so it covered the bosom. The sleeves were long and full and had an elastic from which hung a circular ruffle. Since there was elastic the sleeve could be pushed up creating a beautiful spill at the bottom of the sleeve. It too came with a braided tie belt, but I don’t remember what it was made of….could have been the self fabric or a rayon chainette braided…….The blouse came in Black or Wine……….The skirt below was a SUNBURST PLEATED VELVET skirt in black or wine and matched perfectly with the Cossack blouse. It actually was a terrific separate skirt and looked great with many jackets, sweaters and blouses. The velvet always added something very special to an outfit…..even with a jean jacket…………….The jacket at the far left was my newest Boucle creation. It was so sophisticated and very chic! It had princess seams. The jacket followed the lines of the body and just glided over it. It had FOUR PATCH POCKETS a la Chanel. The jacket had  hook and eye closures so there was no disruption to the front trims The entire jacket was trimmed in BLACK DIAGONALLY PLEATED GROS GRAIN RIBBON…..The colors were Black on Black and Black on Deep Magenta……Angela just took the black one from the warehouse and Kate took the Magenta….they looked brand new…The next item was a sensational BLACK WRAP COAT. I wish you could see and touch the fabric! It was a wool blend with a marvelous texture almost like a thick soft blanket, but with a little texture. It was as soft as butter. It had a turn back cuff and self belt. What made this beautiful coat even more fabulous was the WASHED NAPA LEATHER LAPEL!. The contrast of the leather and the fabric was so rich……I have never seen this coat offered anywhere. My large swatches are still as beautiful as when I first put them in the binder…………….There was still lots more to come for this Sept. group.

…………………The Sept presentation was done in two parts….a Midnight show and a Day show. This is part of the Day Show…….This was a fabulous show with FOUR JACKETS, and one sweater, but there were plenty of reorders to balance out the presentation…….Starting at the left top is a jacket in a brand new fabric….I called it “POODLE CLOTH”. It was a sort of Boucle, but it was slightly thicker with a more pronounced texture. Due to the Acrylic blended with the wool it was very soft and cuddly. The neckline, front and all of the hems were trimmed in suede. The suede had grommets and there was a suede cord whip stitching all around the jacket. It was approx. 26 inches long, had band pockets and had hook and eye closures down the front. The jacket came in a rich deep purple and a color I called “TWIG” which was a brown with a little grey in it……..The next jacket was in a deep rich COPPER METALLIC LEATHER. It had matching Copper snaps down the front, on the stand collar and on the sleeves. There were copper side zippers. There were pocket flaps with the same snaps. I just recently gave my niece a slew of samples. She’s an xxs xs and 5’9″ so she fits perfectly. She’s a young mother of THREE BOYS!….She said “wait till the boys see me in this”………The next jacket was in a RICH BROCADE fabric…..This type of fabric didn’t come along often, and certainly not one as beautiful as this at a price I could afford………..The Black was a very FINE CHENILLE yarn and the pattern was in a muted metallic yarn woven with a fine nylon or poly for support. The way the design was woven created dimension with raised stitches….so the effect was VERY VERY RICH…The jacket had a flat shirt collar with a back half moon stand, a raglan sleeve and a slight swing A-line body. It was offered in the one color….Black and Antique Brass. It must have been a costly jacket to only have offered it in one color…….The sweater below was in a beautifully blend of SILK/ CASHMERE and LYCRA. It came in Black and Purple. I had offered this style sweater many times on my AK collection. It was basically a wide straight tube that could be pulled up into a hood for when it was really cold outside. It kept you cozy warm, and in this blend it was super soft against the skin………or you could wear it down as a lush cowl neck. Angela still has this sweater and it still looks great. It’s one of her favorites!…………The next and last jacket was in another new and special fabric. It was made in a very pronounced NUBBY wool and poly blend. The nubs were made of wool and the fine black background was a polyester yarn that held it together and gave the fabric strength.. You really can’t tell from the photos just how beautiful this fabric was……The body of the jacket was a COCOON SHAPE….no armholes that I remember, and if there were they were very dropped…….All of the trims were in a BLACK wool and acrylic 3 gauge RIB KNIT so they balanced well with the fabric.. It gave the jacket the look of a big comfortable sweater!…..The colors were CHOCOLATE wool with BLACK TRIMS, and TAUPE wool. with BLACK TRIMS. They both had black buttons.