……………….There were FIVE addition new pieces to the January group…….Starting at the bottom left was a wonderful BRUSHED COTTON TWILL PEA JACKET. I have always loved a good Pea jacket! When I was a student at Parsons I used to buy them at an Army/Navy store. They were cheap and the small fit like a glove…..YES, at 19 I was a small! I had special gold knot buttons reproduced from originals I used at Anne Klein. They really elevated the whole look of the jacket. It came in ivory, green and cobalt blue. The next jacket was a real designer jacket…meaning it was very unique in shape and detail. As you can see from the sketch the collar spread open creating a trapezoid open neckline It had princess seams to give it a gentle shape. The jacket had 3/4 sleeves and band pockets. It had a unique closure of “hidden snaps”…What made it very special was the Tegu Lizard print and the piping in every seam, hems, armhole, pockets and darts coming down from the neckline. It was printed on a cotton/linen blend and had a fine basket weave effect which gave the print dimension. It came in three color combinations….shades of Grey, shades of Olive, and shade of Blue……The “SIGNATURE COTTON” shirt above had a zip front, a classic shirt collar without a stand, and classic long sleeves with a 2 button cuff. The shirt had body seams and princess seams for a shaped fit……However, it was the peplum bottom that was set into a curved seam that made the shirt. The curved seam was higher in the front and lower in the back. I always found a peplum or ruffle set into a curved seam was much more FLATTERING than a horizontal seam. It kept the ruffle from looking like the “dancing hippos in Fantasia”. The shirt came in white and navy….The next two pieces, the drawstring funnel neck tunic, and the long skirt with the side slit were done in a new version of “Pebble Crepe”. I had started to have the pocket bags on many tops sewn through and through so they were clean inside and the bags didn’t flop around…..I have noticed that a certain QVC designer has adapted this technique and makes a big deal explaining her new procedure. What’s the saying, “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”. The two light weight pieces were done in sand, pale terracotta and black. They were wonderful worn together, but made terrific separate pieces mixing with white, tan, navy etc.
Wow Sylvia, now I KNOW I’m going to love it lol! Louis I had no idea this “copy” nonsense had been going on like this for so many years, what a crazy thing! Here I thought it was just the recent “jogger set” and “jumpsuit” trend…who knew! Seems unfair to me as all brands are definitely not marketed equally…quite obvious. Their loss as they are making themselves into Target with LESS quality, value, and convenience.
As I’ve been watching these retrospectives, I’ve been waiting to see when I finally woke up to start buying your clothes. It looks like it was January 2012. It sure seems like I had been watching longer than that. Maybe that was the case and I was slow to buy. I guess I was dropping my money into some other things (home, travel and pets) in the previous years. I have two of the zippered shirts. Unfortunately I put on some weight and haven’t worn them for a long time. But, I’ve lost some now and should try them on again. I was not about to give them up! I also have a couple of the lace cardigans and the pink paisley skirt. I love all of it! We were so fortunate to have your wonderful designs at such affordable prices for as long as we did!
Dear Marie, as I too put together these new collages, and look at what I’ve created over the last 20 years, what is very clear to me is that any one of these pieces could have been sold today. There is nothing dated about any of them and they look as modern, as new and as relevant today as they were when I first showed them. If you just rotate your closest what is old will be new again, and probably very few have seen them on you. There is always new ways to wear them with the 10 years of clothes that was to come.
Absolutely a copy of yours!!!!
Mine was 8 to 9 screens to accomplish the ombre effect….her’s maybe 4 screens. When you enlarge them you can really see the difference. The more screens the better the effect, and the more money
I used to catch certain designers going through my show rack when we were both had upcoming shows, and they thought no one was looking. I always thought it was funny.
I have noticed this also, and have wondered if Louis was the actual designer. I figured he wasn’t, but the style was VERY similar. One specifically was the ombre tops. But there have been others also.
Sylvia…the actual designer of what. I think i can clear up your question with more info.
These are particular items I’ve noted. I really don’t look through a lot of clothing at QVC. Now that you’re not there, it won’t be much at all. I’m really not interested in what they have to offer.
A373433, A369705, A350499.
I know YOU didn’t design these, but they are very similar (to me), and I own the Linea versions 😉
Last weekend I read that B J Thomas died. I have always loved his music. I didn’t realize he had written so many songs for other artists! I just wondered if you ever designed things for others…
Sylvia, if you mean others like actresses ….yes…..they would come up all the time and we would do special things for them, but it always started with something from the line. Helen Gurley Brown was a frequent visitor. She really had a “difficult” body and many times her clothes always had to be made to fit her. Barbara Walters, and many actresses paid me a visit…..plus some first ladies like Mrs Reagan.
Oh yes Sylvia….TOO SIMILAR! It just so happens that Elaine made ALL OF THESE TOPS for Kim who is not a designer and doesn’t design anything! I only saw the ombre leopard print being developed after mine and let’s just say Elaine and I had a “conversation” about it. Not only is the print very similar….they even used my colors! I never saw the others…..I’m sure they were hidden from me. This happened all the time. SG used to copy me all the time and we all knew it, but it was always a season or two later so you couldn’t say anything about it. What really bothered me was the fact she used to sell more of my designs than I did. She had way more exposure and had a much bigger customer base. That’s what happens when QVC owns the brand. I remember when she copied my Boho skirt, but did it in a horrible cotton stiff gauze…it bombed. The one thing they couldn’t copy were my blazers and coats.
I was just reading Q forum, former Linea shopper saying that without Linea, she was now enjoying Kim. I wanted to say why LOL!
I suspect many other designers on QVC have “borrowed” many of your ideas. Awhile after you presented your lace pants, another designer “created” the very same kind of thing. There was a lot of hoopla about them and they were a TSV! I remember thinking that was very nervy to do that so conspicuously. I noticed that high profile individual got considerable attention for (copying) other ideas you had presented some time previously. Long enough to have been copied as opposed to coincidence. It makes me wonder if any of them are scouring your retrospectives now for more “new” brilliant ideas! I’m no longer watching, so very unlikely I will see them in the future. It is true, that old adage about imitation! But even so, their versions do not compare to yours! The quality and attention to detail is just not the same!
Elaine recently texted me about a top that was directly copied from one of mine A397049, and my A263353 in blue look way too similar to be a coincidence…..What do you think a coincidence or not? Now you know how many years I’ve been doing this top and so many reorders.
The good news is, I actually LOVE A263353, and the blue is on it’s way to me! A397049….not so much so…looks like a pattern copy but I definitely have a more positive response to your tunic Louis. Thank you for sharing.
Not anaymous LOL!
The Blue was and is one of my most favorite colorations of all the ones I did. It always reminds me of the Caribbean….I will never understand why it didn’t get a great response??????I’m glad you will have it.
The Blue was the only one in my size which was a SURPRISE because I agree, it was my favorite one! I don’t wear a lot of long sleeves here in CA, but the pattern was too great to pass up. I could tell yours had many more colors in it. I have noticed alot of “copying” across brands lately. It’s as if they are just making the same combinations, the styles that “sell”. But alas, all brands look the same now, nothing special or interesting. I thought it was because the Q owned the patterns or something and was telling these vendors to “make something like this” but apparently not!
Ok Kim S… I went and bought a blue in my size… now I have 10 of them! But they are VERY COMFY! I wore the black/white one yesterday…
Actually…yes….if they see something from a brand is hot and sells out quickly and has few returns, word gets around that, for instance we need more Boho type skirts. There were times when every brand put out their version of a “HOT” item….It was almost laughable…..You didn’t want to be the last vendor trying to sell it ,because it was already over saturated…..Remember “The Cold Shoulder”. there were hundreds of versions until they dropped dead and QVC wouldn’t let anyone do another. I had a print cold shoulder top in a wild flower print that was supposed to be a reorder. It didn’t look like everyone’s basic solid jersey top, but they said no more cold shoulders. We used to say they went to the well one time too many until they killed it!
I just went to look that one up. Definitely a copy! I’ve seen additional copies of that same top by other people as well. I cannot even remember specifically who it was, not that I would say so here if I did. You were always so gracious in your presentations, an elegant gentleman, while many others are very bold and brazen with their bragging. I find that off putting. In my past several months shopping the Linea items, I’ve found at least one of the newer hosts to be quite over dramatic and typically gets sidetracked onto personal stories unrelated to the Linea garments she is presenting. I like to see the items modeled, so often look at the videos. But, with that particular host, I just leave the sound off. On silent it looks utterly absurd to me, the gesturing and over dramatic acting. I think many have pretty much lost it there. I have enough clothes to last a lifetime at this point. If I decide to shop for anything in the future, it will not be there.
oh my! Just looked at that one. Not a coincidence!