Monthly Archives: May 2021

………………..These photos of Jac and myself were pictures I took from an Elsa Klench video. Elsa had a wonderful TV show every week on CNN [I think Sat. morning] about fashion. It was called “Style with Elsa Klench”….She was and is a fabulous lady! This particular show was about how models were cutting off their long hair and going short. The two pictures of Jac at the extreme left in my Anne Klein Fall 1989 show Jac in my Camel Hair coat over a camel cashmere TN and a black suede shirt tunic. She also had Camel Hair trousers. The suede shirt had beautiful gold and ebony buttons. The interview pictures of Jac and me were taken back stage right after the Fall show. Elsa asked us both, but separately about the short hair trend….Jac came off great as she always did….Jac had actually been wearing her hair short for a while already. At one time she had hair the length of Grace Kelly, think “Rear Window” or “To Catch a Thief”. Bill Blass loved her hair this length and used Jac for all of his fittings…..She was doing a show in Italy and the designer wanted all of the models to have “crimped” hair. If you don’t know what that means just google crimped hair and you’ll see lots of examples. It is done with a heat iron that has a crimping attachment to get these tight frizzy waves…..The minuet they put the iron to Jac’s super fine baby hair it BURNED RIGHT OFF!!! Needless to say Jac was in tears. Not only did she have this show to do, but many many more shows she was booked for in Italy and Paris and America to follow. The head hair dresser came running over and told Jac not to worry….he would give her a magnificent haircut right on the spot! Which he did. He loved the new look, but more import Jac loved it too…..She was the only model in the show to have short hair. The rest of her clients in Italy LOVED it and thought it was so new…..fickle designers! Sometimes it was a model that started a trend…The French designers all loved it too. When she came back to NY she was afraid of the reaction she would get, but when I saw her I thought it was fabulous. Almost all of her designers did….except one……..When Bill Blass saw her he was horrified…….”What did you do?! Where is my Carol Lombard, where is my Grace Kelly!!!!!!!” Thank God Tom Fallon was there, Bill’s right arm, and said to Bill….”what are you talking about, Jac looks great, she looks modern and new. Get your head out of OLD HOLLYWOOD GLAMOUR and get MODERN!!!” That did it…..When Bill calmed down and listened to what Tom said  Bill finally acknowledged that Jac did look terrific. The last thing a designer wants to be told is that he or she is old fashioned and isn’t modern……..Many models started to cut their hair. You can still see this interview on You Tube. It’s about models going short, and we are at the end of the interviews.

A correction…..I wrote oatmeal when  I meant CORNMEAL…..Please correct that ingredient!

…………………………I found this receipt in the April 2021 “bon appetite” magazine. If you like corn bread you’ll love this. I have made this cake three times to spectacular accolades. I highly recommend it. Bon appetite calls it the “Strawberry Snacking Cake”. Trust me it will be hard passing it without sneaking a piece.

The Ingredients: 8 oz of strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced lengthwise. In order to get a goodly amount on top of the cake don’t get big berries……..3 Tbsp plus 1 cup [238 g] sugar, divided plus more for pan…..1 tsp kosher salt, plus more…………1/2 cup LIGHT Virgin Olive oil, plus some for basting pan……..1 1/4 cup all purpose flour…….3/4 to a 1 cup of fine-ground cornmeal…..1/2 tsp baking soda…..1/2 tsp baking powder…..3 large eggs…….2 large egg yokes……..1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. sour cream……..zest of 2 lemons…….3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice……2 tsp. vanilla extract 3/4 cups strawberry jam [preferably Bonne Maman INTENSE!!!} You can add more if you like [I found I needed to increase it from 1/2 cup]

Preheat oven to 350 degrees……Gently toss strawberries 1 Tbsp sugar and a pinch of salt in a med. bowl, let sit and toss occasionally until ready to use……….Lightly coat a 13 x 9 pan with olive oil. Line with parchment paper leaving overhang on the long sides. Coat parchment paper with oil. Generously sprinkle with sugar and tilt pan to coat evenly….tap out excess………Whisk flour, cornmeal, baking power, baking soda, 1 cup sugar and 1 tsp salt in a med. bowl…………………Whisk eggs, egg yokes, sour cream, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla in a large bowl…….Add dry ingredients and whisk gently to combine……Gradually add olive oil a little at a time folding in with a rubber spatula until incorporated and batter is smooth. Scrape batter into prepared pan, and spread evenly to edges. Smooth surface using a small spoon. Dollop jam on top in rows.. Gently swirl jam into batter with a butter knife. I spread it horizontal and then vertically to get an even distribution, but you may have your own method……Arrange cut strawberries on top in even rows then sprinkle entire top with remaining 2 Tbsp of sugar……….BAKE cake until golden brown, and use a tester inserted into the center to see if it comes out clean. 40 to 45 minutes is recommended, but I had to cook it longer to get it golden brown………..Let cake cool in pan before slicing. If you’re having a party this cake can be made up to four days before lightly wrapped in the pan……..I like to serve with fresh cut strawberries, and strawberry ice cream…………..I guarantee a big hit.

…………………July is always a hard time of year to sell new apparel. It’s too late to sell summery clothes even though it’s only July, but it is also too early to sell true fall apparel. No one wants to think of fall clothes when it’s 80 plus degrees and humid…….It’s a dilemma…..We added four styles for July that would be good transition pieces. The first was a brushed stretch cotton jacket with all of the Linea touches. The fabric had a warm  hand with the touch of suede….perfect for the cool days of autumn right through winter…It had body darts and body seams all top stitched on each side of the seam. Flap pockets with half ball gold buttons and down a two button front along with gold zippers added sparkle. There were inseam pockets just below the flaps and exposed zipper pockets about the flaps. The sleeves had three gold buttons which could be unbuttoned so the sleeves could turn back. I often sent detailed drawings called “flats” with all the measurements to China so they would know exactly what I wanted the jacket to look like.The colors were an olive and a black….There was also an ankle pant in the same fabric and colors to coordinate with the jackets. These pants were also great separate pants to wear with many things including the peasant blouses in the group…..The next two pieces were in crinkle georgette, same as the boho skirt and safari shirt with tank. One was the boho skirt and the other a peasant blouse with a piped scoop neckline and long sleeves with a circular ruffle at the bottom. There was an elastic between the ruffle and the billowy sleeve so it could easily be pushed up. The two pieces were in a beautiful, colorful, and intricately detailed paisley print. One had an olive ground and the other a black ground so they worked with the new cotton jackets as well as many many Linea pieces that had already been done and many to come… They were both multi color and looked very different from each other. They were perfect to wear right then . They were also wonderful with sweaters and boots in the fall and winter. These may be 10 years old, but I’d repeat them today!