From Louis

……………….December 06 was a very small compact group. Usually with all the gift buying many clothing lines skipped Dec and went right into spring for the following year….The group was still very fall and winter oriented….This was before buying habits changed and we started making Dec. a more wear when ever group…….The jacket at the upper right had a military bent. It was made in a fabulous wool blend TWILL, and the twill was very obvious. It really looked like a durable military fabric, but still had a softness. It was tailored beyond! Square shoulder pads, a four button front , four patch pockets and buttoned flaps……I’m surprised I didn’t put epaulets on it!!!! LOL….The jacket came in BLACK and DARK OLIVE…..I originally had a DARK KHAKI planned for this also, but it was never bought…..A great jacket with jeans…The shirt was in FUJI SILK. It had a button front with a tuxedo stand collar. It looked great under the twill jacket…..It came in a very PALE BLUE, SAGE and IVORY……..The next jacket at the lower left was in the wool boucle. It had a zip front that went into the funnel neck.. What made this jacket so wonderful was the half raglan sleeve that had a special shoulder pad that lifted but still hugged the shoulder. The body had seams from the shoulder to the hem which gave the jacket a great fit and flare shape. The sketch indicates that the jacket was to be cut on the bias, but I don’t remember if that was done….We did the jacket in BLACK, IVORY and PEACOCK BLUE…..The last 4 items were sold as sets. They were in a gorgeous rayon matte jersey. You could either buy the tunic top with the ballet neckline and side slits with a skirt or the top with a pant….It really never made sense to me, because what if you wanted the top with the two different bottoms??? You had to buy two tops?! We only did them in BLACK because they were pricey for the times. This was a one shot deal because the rayon knit fabric soared. It was so beautiful and the quality was equal to rayon matte jerseys I had used on Anne Klein. After all it was all about the quality of the yarn and the knitting, The fabric actually came from South Korea which specialized in these types of fabrics. It had to be exported to China at extra cost where the garments were made….China put high tariffs on these imported fabrics so they soon became out of reach…..though we still used them and Taiwan for poly prints that they excelled in……..but the quality was superb!…..Another year ended…onto 2007!

……………………………Before the day escapes me…….I want to wish you all a…………..HAPPY VALENTINE’s DAY!

…………………November 06 was a Holiday group. I always tried to get my Holiday clothes shown as early as they would let me, because the Holidays started with Thanksgiving…NOT CHRISTMAS! I wanted to make sure there was plenty of time to get them delivered….though I don’t remember deliveries then being the problem they are today. The first jacket at the lower left came right off my Anne Klein runway. That’s Christy Turlington, [at the height of her career], wearing the suit from my Anne Klein look book. The original fabric was again made from a company that made many of Chanel’s fabrics, but this time the company surprisingly was in Scotland. It was always fun to visit this particular mill. The outside looked like buildings you would expect to find in Scotland or something out of some old novel like Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights.  They were old stone buildings with sheep in the meadow….It was almost too bucolic….but once inside it was like Santa’s work shop. All of the different types of yarns….wool of all kinds, angoras, and mohair, and all the fancy yarns that were made by spinning different yarns together. Then there were the FANCIES…..the lurex and tinsel  yarns. I loved working with these men and women, and could listen to all of their accents…..much better than my NY accent. The fabric I used for AK had a high percentage of the tinsel yarn that made the fabric glitter…..Of course the fabric I used for Linea had a lot less tinsel in it, but still looked pretty good! I was able to use a nice rhinestone button in glass on the jacket and not a plastic one! The CAD indicates that there was also a solid skirt that went with the jackets, but I don’t remember the fabric]. The scoop neck stretch velvet top at the center top had bracelet length sleeves and went with the velvet skirt that had a fabulous wide border of large and small “dancing ” sequins with bugle beads. The dancing sequins had one hole at the edge so they weren’t sewn FLAT. They moved and fluttered when you walked…..and there were LOTS OF THEM!…[sometimes the descriptions on the sketches, like fabric suggestions, were changed in the process]……The last jacket at the upper right was very beautiful and had a somewhat period look because it buttoned high. It was in a beautiful rayon crushed velvet, and it had DTM satin trims…….The large round glass buttons had sun ray facets so they really glittered. It came in a beautiful deep MAGENTA ….a beautiful deep ROYAL PURPLE [a real purple not royal blue above] and BLACK………..the photos do the colors absolutely no justice.

Have you checked out the President’s Day Jewelry Sales. I believe Sunday will have Free Shipping & Handling so check it out. The silver will be reduced too!

…………………..The Sept 06 TSV was an embroidered Wool Boucle jacket with emb………My embroidered boucle jackets were by now highly anticipated and were quickly becoming collectors items. The coordinating TN and sweater knit pencil skirt were the upsells. I believe they were in a wool and acrylic blend…………The emb. was truly exquisite. The type of emb. is called “Bundle Thread”, because there are many threads  that make up each longish stitch…The colors were BLACK, DARK JADE and CLARET RED, and each jacket had different color emb.