Monthly Archives: April 2021

………………….The May 10 Anniversary show was all about BOLD PRINTS and BOLD COLOR…….The top row was all about the “STATUS PRINT”. The two button blazer with the 3/4 length sleeve had turn back cuffs. The matching skirt and jacket were made in a beautiful stretch COTTON SATEEN. The scoop neck 3/4 sleeve Tee was made in my poly jersey…….They were made in two different factories, but matched perfectly. The print was inspired by status type prints that Versace, the Italian designer, was making very popular, and still uses them to this day! The print is a combination of circles, Acanthus leaves [ also known as Baroque leaves], and Flowers to delineate areas of  bold color. The print was done in two color combinations. The Blue/Green combo had blues, turquoise, green, lime. black, white and golds, and Pink/Purple combo had purple. bright pink, fuchsia, lavender, black, white and golds. There was also a coordinating sweater knit tank. The body was a solid color, blue or pink, and the tubular trims were in different colors of the print. For those women who loved European designer clothes these were a must have, and to wear them all together was a MUST! Then there were those who felt is was too much for them to wear it as a suit, so they bought the jacket and tank or picked up the skirt to wear as a separate with the tank and a white or solid jacket. However they chose to wear it…it sold out and was reordered. I remember we brought back both colors and added a neutral of brown, tan, khaki, and I think a med grey with white and again the golds…I loved this print then, and I love it now. It still looks current and modern, and it brings a smile to my face…..The georgette peasant top below had an elastic ruffled top that could be worn several ways. The puff sleeves had elastic bottoms. I had two sketches, one with the smocked waist and one plain with a self tie belt. I don’t remember which we did??? It came in Purple, Teal and Black……It looked great with the print skirt…..The next V-neck Tee shirt top with the short sleeves was in a cotton/span knit. It had BUNDLE STITCH multi color emb. What is “Bundle Stitch”? It is a method of emb. where you use many ends of thread to create one stitch. This makes the longer stitches much thicker and pronounced. The colors show up much stronger. The tee was sold in Yellow, Azure, and Black….all with multi color emb…….The V-neck sleeveless jumpsuit to the left was made in Rayon/Span jersey. The colors were Azure and Dark Olive. The sketch shows a separate Obi belt in self fabric, but I don’t remember if we offered it….. Many times it came down to price, and Elaine was always worried that if it was returned the belt wouldn’t be sent back with it. This happened often when garments were sold with separate pieces………….The next dress was also in Rayon/Span knit This was a beauty and fit great. It had a twist bra top attached to shoulder straps and an EIGHT GORE fit and flare skirt. It fit through the hips and then flared out….The perfect travel dance dress in VIOLET and BLACK………The next item to the left was a tiered Boho, crinkle georgette dress. Between each tier was a mini ruffle.Talk about the perfect take away travel dress. Twist it into a ball and pack it away in the luggage or a beach tote. It came in Black and Bright Blue…….The 10th Anniversary was off to a great start…..in spite of “them”….. Every single piece was a success!

……………………….The second portion of the May Anniversary shows also had some great and very successful pieces…..Starting at the top….the Cotton Sateen Stretch LEOPARD PRINT Blazer. This new blazer had three Poker Chip Black buttons down the front, and turn back cuff 3/4 sleeves. It had ALL of the Linea touches. It had Princess seams front and back with the additional center back seam for shape. It had shoulder pads and was fully lined in satin. It came in FOUR COLORS which was very unusual,. The buyers and the PTB must have really believed in this print. It came in White/Black, Taupe/Black, Lavender/Black and Turquoise/Black. It sold so well the next year it was reordered in two new colors……The next two items were a tiered crinkle georgette Boho skirt and a scoop neck, short sleeve tee shirt. They were done in “TWIN PRINTS”. The inspiration for the prints came from Indonesian wood block prints. One was a small foulard type and the other a larger graphic floral. The tiers of the skirt were done in alternating prints with the larger floral always being at the bottom for balance. The poly/span tee was done in the floral print……The colors were….Black/Grey and Hot Pink/Deep Red…….Below the prints were two separate bottoms, both made in a wonderful fluid, light weight, rayon gauze. The pull-on long skirt had a yoke top and a bias cut bottom that just flowed and moved beautifully….The long wide leg pull-on pant was perfect for warn summer months. It was easy and breezy, and never clung to the leg in the most humid weather. The pant came in Azure and Dark Olive. The skirt came in Purple and Black. The next tunic shirt was in the same rayon gauze. It could be worn as a shirt or open as a shirt jacket. It came in Azure and Dark Olive. Again, two great pieces for travel. The next tee “design” was one of my favorites….How do you make a tee new and special??? I decided to make it a short raglan sleeve with inserts of sheer DTM mesh! It was very sexy without showing anything…..however….the buyers insisted we double the mesh so no bra straps showed. Our fit model was wearing a nude bra, as she always did for fittings, and you couldn’t see anything! She said she would absolutely wear it like this with the one layer. After the meeting, behind my back, they told Elaine they wouldn’t buy the tee unless the mesh were doubled. I didn’t want to loose the sale for Elaine who already invested a lot of time and money developing the sample, so I agreed. There were just some battles not worth fighting over…..Jac would always say to me, “pick your battles”….so wise. Without my Jac it’s hard for me to live by that, but sometimes when the blood rushes to my head I hear her….”pick your battles”…….I was very disappointed in this tee because it ended up looking like a basic tee ,which was fine if you didn’t know what I really wanted, but for me all the special detail of it disappeared……..The next top and skirt were both made in sheer georgette. The top had a wide V neckline and a dolmen sleeve. It had a separate lining attached at the V and the shoulder. It was on the short side to keep the proportion with the skirt perfect. The double wrap skirt had a knit liner as the top. It was a pull-on. Both the front and back panels had soft pleats. which allowed the gossamer skirt to move beautifully and float in a breeze. Both pieces were done in White and Black. They were beautiful together as a two piece dress, but both were perfect separate pieces to wear with many other things……true investment pieces.

……………………………..Happy Easter Everyone……….The Day of the Resurrection…..the Holiest day of the year…. May God’s blessings shine on each and everyone of us………………much Love……………..Louis

……………………All I can say about these eggs is……………….WOW…………The earliest I ever did was dipping boiled eggs in hot water with vinegar and Easter egg dyes with my Mom………..Happy Easter!

It was sometime in April that Elaine and I were notified QVC was planning not to go forward with the Linea Brand. We were in shock because just a few weeks earlier we had a meeting with the buyers on how well the line was selling! We were dumb founded……absolutely blindsided…What could have happened in a matter of two weeks? The Spring shows were set through June,the buys were done and approved, and production was in the works, but Fall was still up in the air. They called a separate meeting at Elaine’s which we thought was a strategy meeting about Fall, and to show them sketches of what was planned. At this Thursday meeting they gave us the news! After they left Elaine, Rowena and I sat in her office in a state of shock, and tried to come up with different scenarios as to why this turn about had happened!? We had suspicions but no proof. We knew they were bringing in new “Designers”, and the on air time and money had to come from somewhere…..We guessed it was Linea, but we couldn’t be sure. All we new for sure was we were OUT. I posted on my website that Friday what had happened, and you ladies took over!!!!! By that next Weds. TPTB called for a “meeting”, and I agreed to meet, but not at QVC. We would meet at Elaine’s….my turf! You all know what happened! The uproar you all created shook them to the core. Nothing like this had ever happened, and they were shocked by the back lash….We met that following Thursday and I was back, but it was never the same. The buys became smaller, I had very few prime time shows, and then my time slot became 1:00pm. The TSVs stopped. It was evident to Elaine and me that they brought us back at a very diminished level, and just to appease the customers. You will notice how the fall line up was very small….Many of you noticed the difference and commented on the lack of TSVs and no evening hours…..but we were back, and we were back for another TEN YEARS!