………………….HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of my Asian friends! I have been told by Elaine and Rowena the easiest way to say it phonetically is….GONG HAY FAT CHOI………It’s the year of the OX which means hard work and serenity.
…………………..The August 06 group continued with some fabulous items and THREE NEW JACKETS……The first, at the bottom left, was one of the first MIXED MEDIA garments….It was a combination of BOUCLE, SATIN with SUEDE trims. The body of the jacket was in the Boucle, The side front and side back panels were in a very substantial heavy Satin that worked well with the weight of the boucle. The Strips separating the boucle from the satin were in suede. This was a very complicated jacket to make….very very designer. Again, looking at these sketches again, I’m amazed we were able to make them at all let alone at the prices we sold them for. I had a beautiful translucent carved button made fore this jacket that looked like old amber…..We offered the jacket in two colors…SIENNA and PINE……..These jackets were gems!…..The blouse above was in a jacquard silk. The pattern of the jacquard looked like a fine tweed. You can see it in the photos. It came in Light Orchid, Sage and Cream. The front ruffle was removable. It buttoned onto the skirt front, and in two places under the collar. It had tiny flat faux pearl buttons….Once again, details that would be impossible to duplicate today at a price QVC would accept……You may complain about “Made in China”, and there is much to complain about the government, but the workers made beautiful things with precision…..When I was at Anne Klein I would complain to my production people that the Anne Klein11 silk blouses were made better than the “Couture” blouses made in the Us…They had centuries of experience with sewing silk…The jacket next to the blouse on the top row was a DISTRESSED LEATHER BARN JACKET. The leather had an acid treatment that made it look naturally worn in areas as you can see in the upper right photo. The jacket had a rugged sporty, casual look. The patch pockets were sewn all around and had zippers along the top in the patch so you could get into the pocket. The teeth of the antique zipper front and on the pockets were all exposed to continue that rugged and casual look. The jacket also had side slits…….The bottom jacket was made in a beautiful VELOUR fabric. This type of fabric was something that I had often seen from the best Italian woolen mills. It had a nape to it, and thinner versions were called BILLIARD CLOTH. The thickness of the fabric varied. This one was a med. thickness, but still light.. This jacket had a very unique collar. Instead of a basic stand it had what I called a “ROLL COLLAR”. The ends of the collar were open and you could actually put your finger into it. I had actually seen something similar on an Armani jacket and thought it would be perfect for QVC. Armani also used many velour type fabrics for jackets, This jacket had body seams from shoulder to hem front and back. It had band pockets and DTM polka chip buttons. The rich colors were SPICE, ORCHID and DARK TAUPE and were deep and saturated in the velour fabric…….The last two items were in stretch SILK/RAYON VELVET!!!!! The top sketch at the extreme right was a scoop neck, elbow sleeve top. It had a short fitted shape, but because of the great amount of stretch it fit nicely to the body and was not tight. The bottom sketch was a 29 inch double pleated panel front and back skirt. The pleats were stitched down at the top and then flowed freely. This skirt had beautiful movement. The zipper was on the side so it didn’t interfere with the paneled pleats The colors of both pieces were done to work with the two main jackets…….PURPLE, SPICE and PINE………..It really was a gem of a fall 06 capsule group.
…………July was the start of the new Fall/Winter 06 season and with that a new “Designer’s Gallery”. There were 10 styles in this group…..Starting with the TWEED JACKET. The jacket was trimmed in my Black Boucle and had black jet buttons……The Black and Ivory swatch at the bottom center is the actual swatch of the fabric I had developed at Tissage des Charmes for Anne Klein….the French company that I already told you about outside of Brussels. I think the effect we achieved was quite good. Of course the French yarns were all hand spun and were thicker mixed with fine yarns to hold it all together. The polo sweater had rhinestone button, and looked wonderful under the tweed jacket……The FEATHER PRINT shirt was printed on a fine silk jacquard patterned fabric. The original print I developed with ETRO. I know this will sound horrifying, but I actually sent dead birds that I found in a milliners shop to ETRO to develop the patterns. The feathers on each of these birds was so beautiful, and were used on hats. When the package arrived Mr. Etro got a good laugh. He did an incredible job of interpreting the 4 different birds with very different feathers into beautiful prints. He also developed a “Feather Jacquard Silk” to print on. It almost gave the prints a 3-D effect. The jacket at the top was a boucle jacket a la Chanel. The black trims were boucle too I had a very special button from Anne Klein reproduced for this jacket [photo upper right]. It came in Black, Ivory and Garnet [a deep wine]….The next item was a zip front suede with ALL OVER BRASS STUDS. The studs were fancy and had grooves in them. It came in Purple, Forest Green and Black. I continued to raise the bar for every other designer at the Q…..I just saw a suede jacket being offered on ebay……I just question the condition of the suede even though they say brand new. It’s quite a few years old, so even if it hasn’t been worn, the suede just hanging there isn’t new.
………………….There were Six additional pieces in the Designer Gallery. Starting at the left….the TN sweater and sweater skirt with wide bands of different shaped large black jet beads. We did them in Black, Red and Ivory. I had saved the photo of Truman Capote and I believe the publisher of the WASHINGTON POST. He gave this extravagant “Black & White Ball” at the Plaza Hotel. Every guest had to come in either black or white or a combination of, and many came with elaborate masks, because after all….it as a BALL…………The middle top outfit was a Ballet Neck 3/4 sleeve sweater, heavily beaded with cupped and tear drop shaped sequins that fluttered. The LACE SKIRT was also re-embroidered with the same cup sequins. Though there are different color lace swatches and sequins the buyers bought it in black only [it was reordered the following year}. I still have this sample as Jac wore it on occasion…….The blouse below was in a beautiful georgette. The RUCHED COLLAR had hooks and tiny covered buttons on the collar, and the hidden placket down the front hid the buttons underneath. It came with a separate scarf to tie as you like. I showed it under the tweed blazer as an ascot…………The next jacket was in suede. It had a zip front. It was the beautiful “long Stitch” emb that stole the show! I just saw it on ebay. It said brand new with labels…..Who has stored these brand new clothes all of these years? They always seem to be from the same seller…..Since the jacket is so many years old I always question the condition of the suede. Suede is better with age if it is worn or it can dry and get stiff. Has anyone purchased a suede jacket from ebay that is more than 10 years old?
………………I honestly don’t remember what this “Designer’s Day” was about. It wasn’t the beginning of Spring, but it was my 6th year anniversary month so it was special to me. The group started with a beautiful cotton sateen open front jacket in RED, WHITE and BLACK with GOLD GROMMETS bordering the hem and sleeves….next to that was a RAYON crinkle tiered GYPSY skirt. Between each tier was a row of gold sequins. This was a fun cruise, summer skirt in RED, BLACK and WHITE…….Above the sketch of the skirt is the first BODY SUIT I did for QVC. Of course there were a lot of objections to having a “bodysuit” as part of the line, but I insisted. I think it may have been the first bodysuit they ever sold. I had done a slew of them for Anne Klein and they were always successful. It was made in a very silk fine quality cotton and spandex, and it too was a selling success. It came in RED, WHITE and BLACK…..all to go with the peasant skirt and grommet jackets…..all worn together it was a fun look…..There is NOTHING SLEEKER than a body suit. You never have to worry about things popping out from you skirts or low cut jeans and pants. They surprised women about how flattering they were. If they were made correctly with a correct pattern , the snap crotch was easy to handle……..The next sweater was a ballet neck with a 3/4 sleeve. It had bugle bead hand emb around the neckline. They were descending twists……………The next SILK chiffon tunic was a cabbage rose. It came from my archives of prints I had sampled from Europe. It had a matching SILK CREPE de CHINE printed tank so one on top of the other almost gave a 3-D effect. The colors were RED, NAVY, FUCHSIA and GREEN………………May was off to a good start.