“MAY 09 EVE”

……………………..The May 09 evening show introduced a brand new fabric….a LINEN/LYOCEL blend….I called it Panama Linen because it was a gutsy fabric with a pronounced weave. The linen gave it the “look”, and the Lyocel gave it the softness and drape. I could just envision Marlene Dietrich in some cafe in Cuba in the 30s! It had lots of soigne!! It had four gold buttons down the front and on the sleeves. The pockets had button flaps, and the bottom pockets had box pleats. The jacket was beautifully lined in satin. The trouser pant was also lined, but had no pockets due to them showing through. It had a wide leg, but the pressed front crease kept them from looking big and they draped and were very languid….just what you would want from a “Panama Linen” pant…..The Silk Crepe de Chine peasant blouse had a scoop neckline with shirring, a raglan sleeve with a drop seam and shirring on the 3/4 sleeve, and a two button band cuff. It had a dropped waist line draw string and side slits. It was a wonderful spring/summer blouse….The colors were Lime, Azure and Cocoa. The three tier ruffle top was another fun spring/summer top…perfect for take away vacations. It was in georgette and came in Cream and Black………The next shirt was in the same Silk Shantung as the window pane. It was the exact same body with the contrast under collar and turn back cuff. This new version came in a plaid. It was offered in White multi and Navy multi. The shirt/jacket was very fresh, but was never quite as popular as the windowpane, even though the colors of the plaid went with more things.

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“APRIL 09 SKETCHES”

……………………….April 09 was a very large group of clothes and they were in shown in different shows during the month. The sketches above are a representation of what was to come in the month.

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“APRIL 09 EVE”

……………………….April 09 had a day show and an evening PRIME TIME SHOW…..yes in 09 I still had prime time evening shows! Starting on the top row at the left was a brand new fabric. It was a CROCODILE pattern jacquard in Cotton/Nylon. The square scales of the crocodile were in the cotton and the lines in between the scales were in the SHINY NYLON giving the pattern dimension. It had a wing collar and body seams from shoulder to hem which gave the jacket a nice shape. The back had three seams for a sculptured look. It had 3/4 sleeves with split turn back cuffs The jacket had inset band pockets and covered fabric buttons. The jacket was fully lined. Th colors were Ivory, Pale Melon and Chocolate…..The next jacket was a cotton twill. The look of the jacket had a MILITARY vibe. The band collar had a zipper set in. The body was A-Line with seams from the top yoke and back yoke, It had two breast pockets with button flaps, and band pockets. The sleeves had zippers for an added detail. The GOLD buttons were flat, and there were tiny flat studs on the yokes and the pockets……The lined jacket came in White, Chino [I actually sent a pair of my Brooks Brother’s Chino pants to china to match the color], and a delicious Tangerine……The cotton/span knit BODY SUIT had an elbow length sleeve and a scoop neckline. There is nothing as sleek to wear as a body suit, and is much more flattering than many might think……The colors were black, white and tangerine…..The crop pant was also in the cotton twill as the jacket in white, black and tangerine. It had a jean cut with all of the details of a jean………The BUTTER CUP and PETAL PINK cardigan had a hook and eye closure…..It was in a cotton/acrylic blend, and had 3/4 sleeves. What was special about this cardigan was the very interesting PEARLIZED beads. The came in three shapes and bordered the neckline and down the fronts…….The next sketch to the left was a draped rayon jersey top in Hot Pink and Navy…….The Floral blouse was in CRINKLE GEORGETTE, and came in two colors….a combination of blues and greens, and a multi combination of pale yellow, green, turquoise, purple, grey, tangerine, black and white. It was a very classic shirt with a curved bottom. It was light weight and breezy….perfect for spring and warm summer days……The next shirt/jacket was a Safari tunic. It was made in a new fabric blended with poly/rayon and nylon. It had a band collar, top yokes front and back, four patch pockets with button flaps. It had a button front placket, a classic cuffed sleeve and a self tied belt. There were also two pleats in the back which gave the shirt more ease. It was avail in Cactus and Jade……….The jacket at the bottom left was made in a cotton stretch twill….It had lots of Linea touches. The shaped jacket had a scoop neckline and 3/4 length sleeves….However,it was all of the contrast bands…..,.,PLUS the piping and ZIPPER TEEH detail in the body seams and the cuff band. The gold exposed zipper front just added more of an exclamation to the total look of the jacket…..The coordinating tank in the cotton/span knit had a very special gold piping. I needed a gold STRETCH fabric….not easy to find….so I called in bathing suit fabric companies and found the perfect color gold stretch fabric. This was the type of bathing suit fabric that you lounge in or wear with skirts as a bodysuit…it’s not really for swimming…of course you can at your own risk….you may attract a few SHARKS……The jacket came in yellow/white, aqua/white and black/white. The tank came in white, yellow and aqua…..all with gold.

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“APRIL 09 DAY”

…………………..The second group for April 09 had a color block cardigan with small gold buttons. It came in Red/White/Navy and Green/Navy/ Cornflower Blue. It was a very complicated sweater to manufacture…..The cotton stretch blazer was fully lined. It had gold domed buttons down the front, and on the sleeve. Since the sleeve was 3/4 length we made them working so you could turn them back for a more casual look. It had a nice shape due to the body seams in the front and the three seams in the back. The patch pockets also had flaps with the gold buttons…..There was a matching slim leg pant with little slits at the bottom. The jacket came in White, Red and Lime….the pant came in White and Navy…….The wrap shirt was in a satin faced cotton. It had 3/4 sleeves with French cuffs and gold ball cuff links . The shirt had a notch collar and body darts for shape The tied at the side. It had a very chip look over any bottom from shorts to any style pant and skirts….The next blouse was in Silk Crepe de Chine…It had a short sleeve without any arm hole so it was all one piece with the body of the blouse. It was banded around the ballet neck and at the bottom in contrast color. The sleeve had a single fold up cuff in the contrast color with a tab and gold button. There was also a contrast tab extending from the neck frame also in the contrast color with the button. This was for decoration. The blouse zipped up the back with an exposed gold zipper. There were contrast bands on either side of the zipper……This was a fun, modern blouse with an edge. You could easily pull it on over the head or open the back zipper part way. It was also fun to leave the zipper a little opened too. I find when a garment has an exposed zipper it ALWAYS looks today, and never dated……….It came in Navy with Red, Yellow with Orange and Khaki with Turquoise.

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“APRIL 09 CON’T”

…………………………There were three more styles for April 09…..At the left is a square neck, zip front peasant shirt. It had self fabric bands framing the neckline, and down the front. It had princess seams for shape, so it looked good with or without the self tie belt. The 3/4 sleeve had pleats at the cap and at the bottom going into a two button band cuff. The exposed zipper added a modern look and the side slits added hip ease. The colors were light tan, turquoise and purple……The center jacket was in a cotton twill. It was a short shaped jacket. It had 3/4 sleeves with wide band cuffs The spread collar had a back stand. The front had a wonderful detail of large sewn on tabs big enough for the double breasted jacket……………The tunic shirt was in silk. It was an easy loose tunic with a wide contrast border. The shirt had a ballet neckline and a button front to the wide border.. It had side slits for a breezy look. The contrast bands at the bottom of the shirt and the 3/4 sleeve were in chino with a tangerine body, pink with a mocha body and spring green with a navy body.

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