Designer

…………………Cherish every moment.

…………………….On October 15TH, 1938, 84 years ago today, my parents were married. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad.

………………….I hope during my life I’ve helped others to succeed and reach their dreams.

………………..In 1970 I was 22 years old. I was designing for a company named Giorgini. I had already started to travel to Italy developing sweaters with a fabulous young woman named Giovanna Ciampini, who I am still close with today……On one of those trips, during the spring/summer, I traveled with another designer named Ed Carracci. He designed for another of the divisions called Ginori. We were the same age. Ed was a character! He had the most beautiful green eyes with the longest lashes I had ever seen, and everyone told him so. He also had peaches and cream skin so he was quite good looking. He had blond hair, but his hairline was receding which drove him crazy….ESPECIALLY SINCE I HAD A FULL HEAD OF DARK HAIR….It was his personality that won everyone over. He was gregarious, friendly with everyone and made friends with everyone too. When I traveled to Italy, even at 22, it was all about work….but not Ed. He found out about every club in Florence, and made sure we went to every one! He befriended many art students who lived in Sante Croce [pictures above]. At the time the rents there were inexpensive and three or four students lived together in a walk up apartment. We spent many a night “hanging” with our new friends. On one of these evenings, after spending some time at a club, we hit the empty quiet streets of Florence. We ended up on the Ponte Vecchio Bridge right in the center where it was all open. We had many bottles of cheap wine, and frankly we were pretty drunk! We had been there a good 40 minutes, drinking, singing and dancing when three police men showed up! Oh oh…were we  going to be arrested in Florence for disturbing the peace and being drunk? They wanted to see all of our papers. There were probably 8 of us, and no one had papers….Italian was being bantered so Ed and I hadn’t a clue what was going on. They told the police they were students just having a good time. When they got to us we just said we don’t speak Italian and that we were American. They made some hand gestures and told us all to leave which we did……but it was a night I will always remember, and I will always remember Ed…that wild and crazy guy. When I moved on to Anne Klein a year later I lost touch with Ed. I never partied like that again! I heard many years later that he had passed away. RIP dear Ed.

…………………It’s a sad day when one of the greats leaves us……….Angela Lansbury passed away on Oct 11th. She was in her 90s and had a career that spanned 70 years. She is one of the last of the “Old Hollywood Stars”. I was lucky to see her as “MAME” and as MRS. LOVETT in “SWEENY TODD”. For me she owned those roles on Broadway. During her long career she did everything. She was a wonderful dramatic actress, “The Manchurian Candidate”, a wonderful comedienne, and had a sweet voice as the character of Mrs. Pots in the Disney classic “Beauty and the Beast”………….There are so many wonderful roles that we can watch over and over. What a rich legacy!