Monthly Archives: May 2021

……………………….Another print I absolutely loved was the “CHAIN PRINT”…….The Chain print was as Iconic as any Leopard or animal print. European companies like Hermes, Gucci, YSL, Dolce & Gabanna had been doing their versions for years……I created my version by taking two different sizes of curb link chain and placing them randomly on a printer machine. I did a few versions until I decided on the one I liked. I then took it into the Lai Apparel office and worked with the print person. She put it into the computer and worked on the proper repeat. Then we worked on the colors. The chains would all be in shaded of GOLD. The background would be ivory, perfectly pink and blue. Then shading was added under the chain to give dimension…..and voila….a chain print was born. I printed the design on a beautiful quality of stretch cotton sateen for the jacket and skirt, and a cotton lawn for the shirt. On trips to Italy I had purchased cotton lawn shirts for myself in a wonderful men’s store in Florence. They were thin, light weight and comfortable in the humid heat. I decided the short sleeve shirt would be perfect in this fabric….similar in weight to a handkerchief linen. There were some women who thought the fabric was cheap because the fabric was thin! First of all I would never deliberately use a cheap fabric, and second of all they obviously knew nothing about fabrics. To make a lawn fabric, which is thin on purpose to keep the wearer cool, the cotton yarn must be of the fines quality….or when it is woven slubs and knots would appear as damages, and the fabric would have to be discarded. Now that I’ve cleared that misconception up I can move on after 10 years…LOL….The cotton knit Tee shirt had a short sleeve, almost a cap sleeve, and it had a scoop neck. For the gold piping I used a very expensive bathing suit fabric in metallic gold. No one swam in these suits…they just wore them around the pool or as body suits. We were only going to use it as a piping so Elaine said we could afford it…..YEAH!……It was with this collection that I introduced the “Wind Chime Necklace and Earring”, and the multi Chain Necklace, Chain Hoop Earring and Bracelet………..The prints at the lower left were the reorder colors for the crinkle georgette Boho skirt.

…………………………..In addition to the chain group there were seven other new styles for June. From the top left, the sleeveless tunic,  crop pant and the sleeveless swing dress. The fabric had a two tone linen look like a chambray linen. The tunic and crop pant came in blue and green and the dress in green and toasted almond. The following picture of Jac and Angela is in this dress. I originally did this dress for Anne Klein in silk linen. It came in vivid tropical colors……The short raglan sleeve peasant top with the elastic neckline and the short ruffle skirt were in the crinkle georgette. They were light and breezy and perfect for the summer. The came in yellow, aquamarine and black……The stand collar shirt/jacket was in the Pebble Crepe It had a military look due to the collar and the two patch pockets and flaps,. It had a straight 3/4 sleeve and a curved bottom…..The colors were white, light tan and aquamarine.

…………………..Jac and Angela during one of my QVC shows wearing the new sleeveless dress in the toasted almond and green. Jac has it on with the coffee bean cotton/span legging. After so many years of working together, Jac and Angela became BFF! We still are!!

……………………May was my 11th Anniversary……….I introduced a wonderful “Trench” shirt/jacket. It came in ivory and chino. There were lots to fun details to give it interest…It had a wing collar with a stand. There was a trench flap with a gold half ball snap, and on the opposite side a horizontal zip breast pocket and lower down a small change pocket with a flap and snap. It had 3/4 sleeves with a narrow band cuff and snaps plus in the upper part of the sleeve there was a zipper to look like another pocket…..it was faux. The jacket had an exposed zipper front and deep side slits. A self fabric belt came with it too, but it was optional……To coordinate or wear on it’s own there was a crop cargo pant. It came in the same two colors, ivory and chino. There were three reorders plus the new “Essentials” program which was sold on line only. It consisted of a ribbed fully fashioned cardigan and V-neck tank. These two styles were done in ivory and navy. The other three pieces, the ruffle front short blouse, the boho skirt and the baroque print top were all reorders. I had shown the Baroque top on Jac under the sage cotton jacket earlier as a “sneak peek” as to what was coming.

………………………CHEETAH was a major theme for April 2011. There were three styles in the same print…..a cotton “safari” blazer, a poly jersey print v-neck 3/4 sleeve top and a printed elbow sleeve sweater…..Two very important shirts were introduced…….”The Kate” shirt in my signature cotton. A men’s styled shirt made for a woman, and the safari crinkle georgette shirt with the tank reordered and reordered for years…..The poly/rayon knit sleeve top in sage, black and ivory was a fun summer top. It had three sizes of hand sewn brass discs down the front. A great top with white jeans…..The faux de chine shirt dress in Khaki, Olive, Aqua. In addition to the new there were four reorders, the blazer, the cotton S/S shirt with the sheer yoke, the legging and the floral jacket.