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……………………….The second portion of the May Anniversary shows also had some great and very successful pieces…..Starting at the top….the Cotton Sateen Stretch LEOPARD PRINT Blazer. This new blazer had three Poker Chip Black buttons down the front, and turn back cuff 3/4 sleeves. It had ALL of the Linea touches. It had Princess seams front and back with the additional center back seam for shape. It had shoulder pads and was fully lined in satin. It came in FOUR COLORS which was very unusual,. The buyers and the PTB must have really believed in this print. It came in White/Black, Taupe/Black, Lavender/Black and Turquoise/Black. It sold so well the next year it was reordered in two new colors……The next two items were a tiered crinkle georgette Boho skirt and a scoop neck, short sleeve tee shirt. They were done in “TWIN PRINTS”. The inspiration for the prints came from Indonesian wood block prints. One was a small foulard type and the other a larger graphic floral. The tiers of the skirt were done in alternating prints with the larger floral always being at the bottom for balance. The poly/span tee was done in the floral print……The colors were….Black/Grey and Hot Pink/Deep Red…….Below the prints were two separate bottoms, both made in a wonderful fluid, light weight, rayon gauze. The pull-on long skirt had a yoke top and a bias cut bottom that just flowed and moved beautifully….The long wide leg pull-on pant was perfect for warn summer months. It was easy and breezy, and never clung to the leg in the most humid weather. The pant came in Azure and Dark Olive. The skirt came in Purple and Black. The next tunic shirt was in the same rayon gauze. It could be worn as a shirt or open as a shirt jacket. It came in Azure and Dark Olive. Again, two great pieces for travel. The next tee “design” was one of my favorites….How do you make a tee new and special??? I decided to make it a short raglan sleeve with inserts of sheer DTM mesh! It was very sexy without showing anything…..however….the buyers insisted we double the mesh so no bra straps showed. Our fit model was wearing a nude bra, as she always did for fittings, and you couldn’t see anything! She said she would absolutely wear it like this with the one layer. After the meeting, behind my back, they told Elaine they wouldn’t buy the tee unless the mesh were doubled. I didn’t want to loose the sale for Elaine who already invested a lot of time and money developing the sample, so I agreed. There were just some battles not worth fighting over…..Jac would always say to me, “pick your battles”….so wise. Without my Jac it’s hard for me to live by that, but sometimes when the blood rushes to my head I hear her….”pick your battles”…….I was very disappointed in this tee because it ended up looking like a basic tee ,which was fine if you didn’t know what I really wanted, but for me all the special detail of it disappeared……..The next top and skirt were both made in sheer georgette. The top had a wide V neckline and a dolmen sleeve. It had a separate lining attached at the V and the shoulder. It was on the short side to keep the proportion with the skirt perfect. The double wrap skirt had a knit liner as the top. It was a pull-on. Both the front and back panels had soft pleats. which allowed the gossamer skirt to move beautifully and float in a breeze. Both pieces were done in White and Black. They were beautiful together as a two piece dress, but both were perfect separate pieces to wear with many other things……true investment pieces.