…………………..The August 06 group continued with some fabulous items and THREE NEW JACKETS……The first, at the bottom left, was one of the first MIXED MEDIA garments….It was a combination of BOUCLE, SATIN with SUEDE trims. The body of the jacket was in the Boucle, The side front and side back panels were in a very substantial heavy Satin that worked well with the weight of the boucle. The Strips separating the boucle from the satin were in suede. This was a very complicated jacket to make….very very designer. Again, looking at these sketches again, I’m amazed we were able to make them at all let alone at the prices we sold them for. I had a beautiful translucent carved button made fore this jacket that looked like old amber…..We offered the jacket in two colors…SIENNA and PINE……..These jackets were gems!…..The blouse above was in a jacquard silk. The pattern of the jacquard looked like a fine tweed. You can see it in the photos. It came in Light Orchid, Sage and Cream. The front ruffle was removable. It buttoned onto the skirt front, and in two places under the collar. It had tiny flat faux pearl buttons….Once again, details that would be impossible to duplicate today at a price QVC would accept……You may complain about “Made in China”, and there is much to complain about the government, but the workers made beautiful things with precision…..When I was at Anne Klein I would complain to my production people that the Anne Klein11 silk blouses were made better than the “Couture” blouses made in the Us…They had centuries of experience with sewing silk…The jacket next to the blouse on the top row was a DISTRESSED LEATHER BARN JACKET. The leather had an acid treatment that made it look naturally worn in areas as you can see in the upper right photo. The jacket had a rugged sporty, casual look. The patch pockets were sewn all around and had zippers along the top in the patch so you could get into the pocket. The teeth of the antique zipper front and on the pockets were all exposed to continue that rugged and casual look. The jacket also had side slits…….The bottom jacket was made in a beautiful VELOUR fabric. This type of fabric was something that I had often seen from the best Italian woolen mills. It had a nape to it, and thinner versions were called BILLIARD CLOTH. The thickness of the fabric varied. This one was a med. thickness, but still light.. This jacket had a very unique collar. Instead of a basic stand it had what I called a “ROLL COLLAR”. The ends of the collar were open and you could actually put your finger into it. I had actually seen something similar on an Armani jacket and thought it would be perfect for QVC. Armani also used many velour type fabrics for jackets, This jacket had body seams from shoulder to hem front and back. It had band pockets and DTM polka chip buttons. The rich colors were SPICE, ORCHID and DARK TAUPE and were deep and saturated in the velour fabric…….The last two items were in stretch SILK/RAYON VELVET!!!!! The top sketch at the extreme right was a scoop neck, elbow sleeve top. It had a short fitted shape, but because of the great amount of stretch it fit nicely to the body and was not tight. The bottom sketch was a 29 inch double pleated panel front and back skirt. The pleats were stitched down at the top and then flowed freely. This skirt had beautiful movement. The zipper was on the side so it didn’t interfere with the paneled pleats The colors of both pieces were done to work with the two main jackets…….PURPLE, SPICE and PINE………..It really was a gem of a fall 06 capsule group.
OMG, Louis I just bought a pair of distressed boots the
exact match to this adorable Distressed Barn jacket which is so stylish I wish I had it! Oh, it’s a perfect look for your WK scarfs and sweaters. This whole collection is amazing though. The silk velvet skirt, the riding jacket {I think it’s a riding jacket}, the silk blouse, and the little peekaboo Neru collar jacket—all my style , and very Ralph Lauren with the woodsey rich pallet. The Sienna and Greens are TDF. All that’s missing is a riding boot, ah, and I have it!!!!
You know, if anyone has the Roll collar jacket, it might be cute to thread a silk scarf through the collar for a pop of color. Also Louis, I think I remember the stretch velvet. It’s an awesome , indestructible, easy care fabric ; but,
Never, I mean never did I see it styled like you did this
skirt, and it’s a pretty simple style, but it’s the WAY you
made it—the waistband , side zipper, the inside stitching to stay the pleats—that makes it look like a $600.00 skirt. The only thing QVC could think to do with this versatile fabric is a long tube, with elastic waist
Interesting inside the industry information. Did you go to China often? I went there in 04 and 09 and so much changed just in those 5 years. I think it has changed a lot since then, some not for the better. There is an embroidery place in Changsha that we toured and the embroideries are incredible. They could make a hand embroidery piece precisely resemble a photograph. We purchased a double sided one, so that the front and back are both on display and both sides are beautiful
Andrea, I never went to mainland China. I went to Hong Kong a few times and loved it, but it has totally changed from looking very British Colonial when I was there to very modern with high rises. The Peninsular Hotel was WATER FRONT when I was there. They have added so much land fill into the harbor to increase real estate that now there are one or two buildings in front of the hotel. I have to say I preferred the old Hong Kong. The workmanship in China is superb. They have centuries old traditions, and they still have the skilled workers to do it….but that too is changing. As the youth becomes more western oriented through social media they are not interested in doing these jobs.It gets harder and harder to keep factory workers and they have to pay them more to keep them which means higher prices. To keep prices down the volume of manufacturing has to go up which means mass production which means less specialty clothing and more sweats,tee shirts and jeans………..In the not to distant future the younger generation won’t get dressed up at all, and only the affluent will continue with designer clothing, but that’s a mere 1%.