Monthly Archives: January 2012

“Sneak Peek #5,  is a new Whisper Knit essential, A221796! It has a beautiful ballet neckline and 3/4  length sleeves. It is SLIGHTLY shaped to avoid being boxy. The XS is 24 inches long. What I love about this sweater and what makes it distinctive from other classic sweaters of this type, [if you could find them], is the width of the tubular bands that trim the neckline and hems of the sleeve and bottom of the sweater. Instead of doing very narrow bands or the usual 1 inch bands I have chosen to do aprox. 1 and 3/4 inch bands that really frame the sweater and give it importance……a subtle designer detail but an important one. Again, this is a sweater you can wear all year and it never has to be store away. This is the perfect sweater for layering or wearing on its own, and it is the perfect sweater for accessorizing  as you can see from the photos. Wear it dressed up or casual with jeans, Capri pants, Boho skirts, shorts etc.. The colors are Ivory, a true RED and my signature Navy which is deep and dark. Three essential colors in one essential shape. I know you will get years of pleasure wearing this sweater………………………………………………………………………………………………………………much Love, Louis

Sneak Peek #4 is the A221802, “Cotton PEPLUM Shirt”. I’m calling it the “Lily” shirt. The cotton/span is the exact same fabric as the Kate, Robyn and Poet shirts. This shirt has a wing collar and a classic  button cuffed sleeve….. and that’s where it departs from your classic shirt. It has a zip front, always a gold zipper. The body of the blouse, front and back, is seamed for shape. The peplum at the bottom of the shirt creates a gentle ruffle [not too much], which gives the silhouette of the shirt a feminine flare effect.The seam where the peplum is attached dips slightly in the back to follow the natural curve of the body. The colors are white and my “signature navy”. With each group of clothes I try to balance out the dressy portion with a more casual selection. Sometimes, the line between dressy and casual gets blurred. This shirt is a prime example of this. As you can see from the photos I have the shirt paired with a Linea navy pencil skirt and ropes of pearls…..perfect for a board meeting, charity function, or a dinner out. In another photo I have it paired with jeans and Capri pants. Whatever your lifestyle, this is one item that will work for most of you. You can even leave it totally unzipped, worn over a “NEW NAVY TANK”. as an up dated shirt jacket….perfect for the hot summer months and air conditioned rooms. This is a SHAPED shirt, so for my “Apples”, take note of the “click here measurements”…….again it always looks good worn open as a shirt jacket. This is one “Lily” I think many of you are going to fall in love with…………..much Love, Louis

“Sneak Peek # 3” is the A221793, cotton/ rayon sweater. It is aprox. 23 inches long for the XS size. The sleeves are aprox. 11 1/4 inches long. The sleeve hem and the bottom of the sweater is started with a fine rib. It is a true cardigan and totally unbuttons. Of course, it is a fully fashioned garment. The exciting feature of this sweater is a trompe l’oeil lace…..which means, in French, “trick of the eye”. It isn’t lace at all!….it’s emb. to look like lace. Why did I do emb. instead of using real lace? ….because I would never have been able to have lace appliques in the pattern and shape that I wanted to achieve the design I wanted…….so, I designed the pattern I wanted and had it emb. I think it came out sensational and is PURE DESIGNER! That’s what a designer garment is all about. From a distance it looks like real lace, and only when you get very close you realize it is emb….tromp l’oeil. Even up close someone may not even realize it isn’t lace. The colors are Black with sand color emb. which gives it an antique and vintage look…… Blush, which is a very peachy pink and does NOT match or blend with the perfectly pink!!!!It’s a new color and is very beautiful and very  flattering…..again a vintage color. The last color is Aqua which is pale, soft and has more than a little mint in it….again, a new and fresh color. Both the Blush and Aqua have black “lace” emb., so they coordinate very easily with any black pieces you may own…i.e. black Boho etc. The new sand tank and pant looks perfect with the black sweater as does the black paisley skirt. I know the question will come up so I will answer it before it does…..no, the blush sweater does not look good with the paisley skirt. This sweater looks wonderful layered under jackets such as the black crepe [sneak peek #1], unbuttoned and layered with tanks for summer dressing, or buttoned up on it’s own. This is a year round piece….dressy or casual [black cotton capris in the spring/summer, black velvet in the winter]. About the colors….they are fragile, soft colors, and they are very sophisticated pastels that can be pumped up with black, black, black. For my non pastel ladies…….give one a try….you may be pleasantly surprised, and again, when the weather starts to heat up they will not only be cool to wear, they will look cool………………hope you enjoy sneak peek #3…………..much love, Louis

Sneak Peak #2

Hello Everyone,

Sneak Peak # 2 has two items in a georgette paisley print.

1- A221759, is the georgette top. It has a slight scoop neckline which has shirring and it is finished off with self fabric piping. It has long raglan sleeves with elastic cuffs so they can be pushed up if desired. The entire body of the blouse and sleeves are lined in georgette. The body of the blouse has side slits. The fabric is 100% polyester so the blouse is washable. It also comes with a self tie belt that is optional. The colors are Blush [a peachy pink], Lavender and Black which is basically grays, taupes and a touch of a DEEP magenta. The print comes from my archives and it originally came from Italy……so it is very detailed and intricate. It is very unusual to find such fine and complicated printing at these price points. This top goes with the skirt described below, but also makes for a terrific separate that will go with many other things. In the photos above you can see the “Black” paisely top with the black crepe blazer and sand crepe pants from Sneak Peek #1. Also, the “Lavender” top [shown without a belt], is  with the lavender crepe pant from Sneak Peek #1. Navy, black, gray, and taupe are some of the other bottom colors that will work with the prints.

2-A221794, is the paisley print 6 gored skirt. This is a pull on skirt with a full elastic waist……no zippers, no closures. The xs measures 26 inches from the bottom of the 1 inch waist band. It has a graceful, fragile shape and movement. The sweep is kept at a minimum…..just enough, but not too much. It is  proportioned to work  with the top so it makes a great two piece dress…..perfect for spring/summer occasions. The skirt is fully lined in the same georgette as the top. Again, the colors are Blush, Lavender and Black. Please do not think of this skirt as only a companion to the top. As you can see from the photos,  it will make a wonderful spring/summer print skirt. For a more casual attitude….. look at the photo with the lavender skirt, the lavender tank from sneak peek #1 and the white Kate shirt [which will be coming back in July]. I have paired the black paisley skirt with two different tops. The first is the black faux de chine classic shirt that was sold this past Dec and is still avail. It would also look great with the sand tank and the black shirt worn open for warmer temperatures. The second photo is a sneak peek of a sneak peek….LOL. The black paisley skirt is shown with a new short sleeve sweater with taupe lace…..but that will be SNEAK PEEK #3 it is a beautiful sweater which will come in three colors…….enough said.

That is all for Sneak Peek #2 but I wanted to UPDATE you about the Jan shows!!!!!!! As you already know I will be on 1/20 at 9:00am with Sandra. I will be on 1/21 at 2:00am with Rachel……my first time working with her and I’m looking forward to it. I have seen her at the Q and she she quite beautiful as well as intelligent. THEN, I will also be on 1/21 at 8:00am for AM Style with Leah!!!! I don’t know at this point what garments will be on which shows, but I do know……THERE WILL BE NEW garments on each show…..yes even on the 2am show……so I hope to see as many of you as possible…….I know it’s not easy…..except for my west coast ladies….LOL.

P.S. Remember to see a larger image of the above pictures click once on the picture…it shrinks….click again and it gets BIG…..click again and it will show some closer details.

If you have any questions…..I am, as always, at your service………………much Love, Louis

“SNEAK PEEK #1”

This is the first sneak peek of 2012. The shows will take place on 1/20 at 9:00am and 1/21 at 2:00am. I have chosen this as my first sneak peek because it is a jacket that was extremely successful last spring and now it is back as a reorder.

A213215, is the crepe jacket which has three of the prettiest pearl buttons with gold rims. It has two band pockets and a 3/4 sleeve with a split at the hem. The sleeve is meant to be turned back. The jacket is fully lined in satin. The colors are Black, which is the reorder color, Pale Sand [which does NOT match any other sand colors] and Pale Lavender, which  is also a new color. I know the question will come up, “do these colors match other Linea colors?”…..no, they do not. How does it compare with the “Frosted Lilac”? The new P. Lavender is bluer and the sand is slightly more gray than previous sand colors. The jacket runs true to size, but I would suggest you read the reviews of this jacket for fit and size guidance.

A221798, is the matching crepe pant. This is a new item. It is a zip front pant with trouser pockets and has elastic in the waist band for some stretch. It is a classic straight leg pant and is the perfect proportion and drape to work with the jacket and also works well as a separate. This pant will be avail. in regular and petite lengths. The colors are Black, Pale Sand and Lavender [for some reason it is named Lavender and not Pale Lavender like the jacket, but they are  the same].

A221797, is the tank top to match. It is in the Whisper Knit and is the same body as the essential WK tank A217627. The colors are Lavender, Pale Sand and “NAVY”. I chose to do navy as the third color instead of black because black is already avail in the A217627. The navy is going to be very important with my Feb. grouping so don’t let it slip through your fingers if you need a good dark navy tank.

There will be other pieces to work and coordinate with the jacket pant, and tank on this show…….. for instance a wonderful paisley print georgette blouse and skirt, to be worn as a two piece dress or separately. This jacket sold out in a flash the first time we presented it in Ivory, Pink and Black and we only brought back the black so we could introduce new colors……….so don’t hesitate too long if you REALLY like one of them.

I know many of you like to mark your calenders with future show dates so the following are dates I have received for Feb. and March…….of course write them in pencil because they are subject to change.

Feb.3rd,  1:00pm

March 29th, 6:00am and 11:00am

P.S. Don’t forget…..if you want to see the above picture bigger, click on it once….. wait for it to shrink and click on it again and it will grow…..like “ALICE”.

Looking forward to a WONDERFUL NEW YEAR!…………much Love, Louis