Monthly Archives: June 2022

…………….”REAL IS RARE & FAKE IS EVERYWHERE”

…………For the Easter Holiday in 1977, I went to visit my parents in Florida for a long weekend. My older brother Mauro, my SIL Kathy and their three children, John, Christopher and Jeannine [in the stroller], also came to spend a week with my parents. Kathy was pregnant with my nephew Mathew. The proud grandpa is in the middle. I can’t figure out what my father is wearing??? Does he have something on with long black sleeves under his shirt or is it just the photo??? I was 29…..still smoking, with a head full of hair, and thin…..That July I was turning 30 and was to have a big surprise birthday party at Studio 54……Those were the days!

…………..The beginning of the road……We often ask ourselves as we move through life….”where have all the years gone?” It’s been many many years since this picture was taken, and I’m grateful that pictures like this exist to help me remember parts of my life that I would never have thought about…..that have escaped me….This is a picture of Donna and myself after one of our early shows taking our bows. It must have been in the mid 70s, and we were in our mid 20s. In those days shows weren’t the elaborate affairs they were in the 80s, and we did them in the show room as everyone else did. This was the old Anne Klein showroom with the white stucco walls that Anne Klein designed and had built. It was on the third floor, and part of the entire floor that housed the AK business at 205 West 39th Street. We had four floors in that building. The model in the back is Betty Gill. A raven haired beauty with ice blue eyes. She was our “House Model” and we fit the collection on her. She worked for us every day. A model named Peggy Butler was our regular fitting model, but she worked for other designers too, so Betty was always there for us to fit on if we needed her……..She was a sweet heart. I have wondered over the years what happened to her……As you can see I was a smoker then….we both were. It took many years before I was able to break that horrible habit………Those were the GOLDEN DAYS of SPORTSWEAR……and we were the “New Kids on the block”….as Bill Cunningham used to call us……….It amazes me how times have changed….how the business of fashion has changed….how the world has changed…………….unfortunately not for the better…….I am glad I lived during those glory days.

………………..The second print I was developing to go along with the “LEMON” group was my Orange print group….it to had a tee shirt the tiered skirt and Capri pant, but I also made a cotton short blazer, and a tank tiered peasant dress to choose from……Unfortunately, I don’t have any of those samples.

……………………GOOD NEWS!!!!! This HOOP reorder….J407814…..is back in stock on the Linea QVC Jewelry site in ALL COLORS……..GOLD……SILVER……ROSE GOLD………made in Italy! I know, from inquires, that many of you have been hoping they would be back…..and they literally were just posted yesterday…..Not only are they PERFECT….for you, but anyone you may want to get a present for…………The reviews of this super light hoop are all stellar…..FIVE STAR!