Designer

……………MORE choices for black evening clothes……From the left….Two black matte jersey dresses with black stretch sheer…One has a swing skirt and is belted. The sheer top has long sleeves and a scoop neckline…..The other is a formfitting column of black with black matte jersey sleeves attached to the sheer stretch top that has a jewel neckline…….The sketch to the right is a jersey form fitting shirt with an open neckline, and black jet buttons….The shirt has ivory satin collar, facings and turn back French cuffs on a 3/4 sleeve. The cuff has a large diamond cuff link…..The full long skirt is in a silk blend faille…..The contour belt is in black satin.

………………….Is there anything more ICONIC, or androgynous than a woman wearing a TUXEDO….or……the question begs to be asked….”Is there anything more SEXY?”……..My earliest recollections of seeing a woman in a tuxedo are of MARLENA DIETRICH in her early movies……WOW…..She created such a powerful image!…..I have been designing all kinds of Tuxedos in a myriad of fabrics for all seasons….for many many years……I have even designed a beautifully tailored tuxedo for my Linea collection at QVC……They simply never go out of style, and always look fabulous……I’ve designed them with matching tuxedo pants and skirts, and even matching dresses…….I have designed a slew of separates to go with them such as a simple georgette pleated skirt with a banded satin border…..or very elaborate bugle beaded or sequin separates……The one thing all tuxedos MUST have in common is…….They must be SUPERBLY TAILORED!!!

………………As you can see from the sketches this was an exercise in different ways to use buttons……..What more is there to say?

……………..The fabric manufacturer……..FILA….made the most beautiful woolen fabrics….Their wool crepe fabrics were the absolute best…..They came in all different weights from gossamer to coating weights and everything in between…Many of the qualities had stretch, and they were always willing to develop something exclusive for me…which they did many times. Foe one of my Fall AK Collections they made giant windowpane coatings, and a Zebra jacquard coating out of cashmere and wool that were spectacular……..Here are garments in navy stretch wool crepe using the multi button idea.

……………..I always get my best ideas when I’m just playing!………..In this case I was playing with a strip of satin that I started pinning to a random jacket in different ways. Then I sat down to sketch as ideas came to me…..These croquis illustrate some of the thoughts I had. I sketched the loops on a variety of jackets…..eventually on skirts and dresses, and the ivory silk blouse sketched here……It’s always good to play!