Monthly Archives: May 2021

…………………..Within every resort collection I added a very small group of “town” and city work clothes. We delivered these clothes to the stores for January and February selling….These pieces were what we now call “essential pieces”. It usually consisted of five or six fabrics with a few sweaters, and a print or two….These pieces could be worn right into spring and summer…..The more “fashion” forward clothes would be introduced later for the big Spring Fashion Week show……..The navy blazer and sand pant above was in a beautiful wool Italian Gaberdine. It was classic Anne Klein! The embroidered crest had real gold bullion threads and was executed in India by an embroidery company who had offices in Paris and Milan. They worked for many of the top designers of the world including many in NYC. The wrap shirt was in ivory silk crepe de Chine. The trousers were in sand gaberdine…..On my last trip to the warehouse with Chantal and Angela we found this jacket! It still, after 30 years looked great…..It really didn’t get more Anne Klein than this, and was something I was pleased to do for the tradition of the house…….and the AK customers!

…………………………………..Happy Birthday my Sweetheart…………………………………………………..

………………..My nephew Chris is my oldest brother Mauro and my SIL Kathy’s son……..Every so often he comes up to CT. and spends a few days with me. He’s 6’2″….He gets his height from both parents. He likes to think he looks Italian, but he’s all Irish from his Mom’s side of the family. My brother “did have” light brown hair and hazel eyes, so there could be grounds for a little argument there! LOL. He’s a great cook, and is a very creative and a crafty guy….He must get that from me!….LOL…Jac adored Chris. When he was a little boy he was very skinny, [a runt that he certainly grew out of], with lots of blond hair in a bowl cut and blue blue eyes….He had a deep-ish raspy voice…He would have fit right in with “Spanky and his gang”. He would have no clue what I’m talking about….There definitely is a generation gap, but it’s funny what he doesn’t know, and likewise what I don’t know about his generation….Jac and Chris would go off just the two of them for ice cream cones….They looked like mother and son…..To say that he is an “A TYPE” personality is an understatement! He gets that from my brother…..He is the perfect weekend guest…..He cooks, he cleans, and he stripped the bed, washed the sheets and towels, and remade the bed perfectly! I made Friday’s dinner, and we made dinner together on Sat. We went for an early dinner on Sunday before he left. He lives out on Long Island which is about 1 and 1/2 hours away. The weather was beautiful, and we sat out on the rockers looking at the beautiful clouds and the sea. We discovered there are over 40 different cloud formations….He googled it! He made a lovely tray of Bruschetta….sliced tomato on toasted Italian pieces of bread with olive oil, oregano, a pinch of salt and pepper, a touch of grated cheese, and a drizzle of Balsamic vinegar….yum……….We had a nice drink to wash it down!…LOL

………………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.