……………The roses along the fence are now in full bloom, as are the roses around the flag pole….It is going to be a banner year for the Hydrangeas! There are so many flowers on the bushes! I can’t wait for them to be at there peek so I can cut them, and put them in vases around the house……This is the best part of summer!
…………..For these dresses and the coat I was experimenting with NUDE MESH with clear crystals embroidered all over to make the dresses shimmer. They did have attached matching nude mesh skimpy tanks under them, but the overall look was NAKED……The experiment was WHAT to use for the bottoms, sleeve hems, and the coat……I experimented with curled feathers, and hand CURLED STRIPS of silk organza, to see which would give me the most fluff and volume. To make them properly the cost of making them was extraordinary so they never made it past the planning stage……After all this was couture work, and not in the realm of Anne Klein……AH, but to dream!
……………….”THE LITTLE BLACK DRESS”……….I was hired by Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus and Holt Renfrew of Canada to do an exclusive collection for them that was named…..”DEI TRE” which translates from Italian to mean…..”OF THREE”………The collection had a variety of clothes that ranged from day to night…..The four dresses above were sketched for a Fall 1998 collection……They were all in silk velvet from a French company called “Soies de France”….They were known for their evening fabrics, and velvets was one of there specialties…..These dresses are combined with stretch chiffon for the godets, and for the top inserts…..The slip dress had diamante straps…..There is nothing like “a little black dress”.
……………….The dress to the left was black velvet with black beading around the neck, and black beads scattered all over the sheer chiffon godet insert……The dress to the right is black matte jersey with inserts of stretch chiffon….Can anyone ever have enough BLACK!
…………………There was no end to the possibilities of designing BLACK EVENING CLOTHES…..Every season new beautiful fabrics were being designed by the finest fabric makers in the world….what designer could resist wanting to work with these fabrics………From left to right starting at the top….The velvet jacket with satin lapels, pocket flaps, and covered buttons. The blouse was made out of a ribbed silk crepe de Chine, and the skirt was made out of a black lurex tweed. Next to that sketch is another shorter jacket made from an exquisite boucle tweed with fine black lurex woven in. It had velvet trims. Under the jacket was sheer stretch bodysuit with black bugle beads scattered all over, and the skirt was a bias short tulip shape…….The next sketch at the top was a velvet double breasted swing coat with two covered buttons at the top, and a raglan sleeve….next to the coat is a dress with a lace top, and a velvet dress with a gored skirt…..The large sketch depicts a wool bolero Tuxedo jacket with satin bands on the lapels and collar . The silk shirt had a formal wing collar, and the white vest was made in a silk and wool pique fabric. The wool pants had a high rise waist……The sketch next to that shows another bolero….this time in velvet with satin lapels and collar. It has two large jet buttons with a black jet bead chain attached to the buttons. The ivory blouse is in a silk rib with a soft black bow in satin charmeuse….the skirt has a high rise waist, and is in bias velvet……The next small sketch at the extreme top right is a chiffon velvet bodysuit with a nude knit bottom….The slim pant is a black chiffon with black velvet ribbon strips……On the bottom row right is a silk shimmer taffeta belted flared tunic blouse over stretch velvet cigarette pants…….At the extreme left is a wool serge tuxedo jacket with satin lapels, collar, band pockets and covered buttons. It is shown with a black georgette pleated skirt……..and this was just the beginning!