Monthly Archives: June 2021

Hi everyone, I thought I would give you a heads up about the face book live show I will be doing this coming Weds, June 9th. The time has yet to be determined, but it will be about noon or 1pm depending how fast we can get it all organized…..I will keep you posted…….Since I announced the end of Linea this past Dec. the inventory on all products has been dwindling, and many pieces have sold out in both apparel and jewelry. It has reached the point that there are many styles with fewer than 20 pieces and many fewer than 10, 5 or even 1 piece like the nugget necklace in RED. Cathy and I felt it was the perfect time, the beginning of summer, to have this show and let you all know what the inventory situation is……There will also be INCREDIBLE PRICING ON EVERYTHING!!!!!!……….plus FREE SHIPPING & HANDLING!!!! So, this will be the perfect time to get those illusive items you have been looking at but have’t ordered……..Don’t be sorry later that you didn’t make this small splurge on the very last Linea items……THIS IS IT LADIES!..There won’t be anything else left to buy. I am sure after this show what’s left will be cut by 2/3rds or more which means there will be very little let of the little there already is. When Cathy and I were putting a list together of what we thought should be on this show it kept changing because things sold out like the “Couture Earring” and the “Massai Cuff”. During the show we will have “LIGHTNING ROUNDS” of quick sells for items that have less than 10 units, so be quick…….better yet go through the inventory now and decide what you want. You can buy  before the show and still get the great prices and FS&H…..Of course we picked a day when it’s going to be in the 90s …….LOL……..Hope to see you all………………..much Love…………….Louis

………………………..It was February of 1970, and three best friends, all 22, were going to Rio for Carnival Mardi Gras. Bobby and Kenny were on Spring break, and I took time off from work. I was an assistant designer at a company named Teal Traina. It was my very first design job….I went on this trip with my best friend Bobby who is with me in the pictures above. One of Bobby’s best buddies from Wisconsin U, came with us and took all the pictures above…..Kenny lived in NYC so I already knew Ken pretty well. For the first leg of the trip Kenny and I went to Peru to see Machu Picchu. Bobby didn’t want to go!!!! It was an incredible trip….one I will never forget. During Kenny’s life he became a world traveler, and loved to travel by himself and meet people along the way. He had one of the most out going personalities of anyone I ever knew. He loved to travel and meet knew people all over the world….Sorry, I couldn’t find any pictures of Kenny , but I know I have them somewhere……Kenny and I were allowed to roam all over the grounds of Machu Pichu. There were no restrictions. At the time people even camped out to spend the night there. We were so high up in altitude that you felt you could touch the stars. We were very lucky in that we had perfect weather. Years later they stopped the tourists from camping and roaming free. Tourists had damaged the property by taking stones from the buildings as souvenirs. For visitors now, I understand it is a very organized tour where only certain areas are avail to see with a guide.  We spent four days in Peru and Cuzco, the the ancient city we took off from on our way to spend the day at Machu Pichu. I remember the air flight from Peru, which is at sea level, was totally VERTICAL the entire time until we leveled off to land at Cuzco! It was scary and we were high in the Andes Mountains……..After our wonderful time in Peru, Kenny and I boarded another flight to Brazil, and landed in the wonderful city of Rio de Janeiro. Bobby was already there and was staying with a Brazilian boy who was also a good friend of Bobby and Kenny’s from Wisconsin University. His name was Carlos….a very handsome and very rich young man. Carlos’ father was a well known politician in Rio. He had his own house and three servants who treated Carlos like their own son……What a privileged life for a 22 year old! In Rio you were either rich or poor or worked for the rich, hotels, restaurants, clubs and shops. When Kenny and I arrived the three of us moved into the Palace Hotel right on the beach! WOW, what a dream. I have never in my life seen anything like Carnival…..It was unbelievable. I have never seen so many beautiful, almost completely nude people in my life. The “String Bathing Suit” came from Rio….. Most of the women on the beach were topless and the “string” covered very little. Men also wore “string” bathing suits or suits that were very very little. Our suits were very conservative! For the most part the people had great toned and tanned bodies…..What a place!…Paradise for a 22 year old!! Carlos invited us to parties every night and they were wild. There were parties in old wooden buildings packed with people dancing like crazy to samba music. At one place the floor was bouncing up and down. I swear I don’t know how it didn’t collapse. Carlos had many rich friends, and we went to incredible multi level homes built into the sides of the hills, all with pools!……..Let me just say the booze was flowing and everyone always ended up in the pool in all states of dress, or I should say undress….Hey we were 22! When it was PARADE time we all went to see this spectacle. It went on for 24 hours straight with many “Schools Of Samba” dancing down the 2 mile parade route. There were about 200 people in each of these “Schools”, and they were competing against one another. These schools practiced for a whole year planing the dancing the music and the costumes. When Carnival was over they started to plan for the next year….Along the route there were “Blue Sections” where the judges sat. As each school passed the judges the Schools really put it on! The music got louder and the dancing was wild. The costumes basically consisted of feathers and jewels, and the dancers wearing them in the street and on floats, were amazing. We were warned at the hotel not to wear any jewelry and to keep our money in our shoes. Crime, especially during Carnival was rampant. Pick pockets worked in teams, and it could be very dangerous. After three or so hours Bobby and Kenny had enough, but I wanted to stay. I could never get enough of this spectacle. After seeing 2 or 3 more schools pass by I too left and met them at a party I knew they would be at. I think we only went to our hotel room to shower! I don’t remember sleeping there, actually, I don’t remember sleeping at all. We probably slept on the Ipanema Beach where we went every day. In the picture at the lower right, you can see the two peaks in the back ground which are famous landmarks of Ipanema. When carnival ended on Ash Wednesday the entire attitude of the city changed. This was a very religious Catholic country, and the revelry was OVER. No more topless, no more dancing in the streets…..everything went back to the way it was…..It was still paradise but it was clear hedonism was over……..Bobby and Kenny have both passed, but my memories of these three young and crazy guys will stay with me forever………….This was a trip of a life time.

…………….Dec. was not the ideal month to sell apparel since most women were concentrating on Holiday presents, not themselves, but this was the the time frame I was given. None the less there were so many beautiful and special pieces in the Dec 2011 group….Starting at the bottom left was a magnificent suit. As you can see from the sketch the design was simple and unadorned except for a beautiful button I had made for the jackets. It was a V-neck 3 button front with a cutaway bottom. It had body seams from shoulders to hems with inseam pockets. The entire jacket had clean lines, and had a beautifully sculptured shape. It was the amazing fabric that was the star. This crinkled surface was something I had seen in Europe, and was obviously copied by the Chinese because it was identical. To keep this crinkled surface PERMANENT it was be done in  polyester or poly blend. Poly is the ONLY fiber that will permanently maintain this texture, and pleats for pleated garments. Not only did this fabric remind me of European fabrics but it also reminded me of fabrics I had seen on very avant garde Japanese designer collections who did outrageous shaped clothing with these types of fabrics. It came in black and a deep forest green. The colors above came out very pale. The buttons had domed half ball DTM centers with thin metal rims. Unfortunately, the fabrics wouldn’t photograph accurately…There was also a matching short pencil skirt. I thought this was one of the most CHIC and SOPHISTICATED suits I had done, and I STILL think so today!!!!.The next item was a snake print rayon/poly jersey. The sleeves had ruched seams at the bottom, and it draped from the back neck across the body to the opposite side seams creating a V-neckline. The colors were charcoal grey, navy, green and raspberry……The long skirt and the shirt tunic above [pink sketch] were in FAUX SUEDE, and the colors were Espresso, Dark Violet and Avocado. The body of the shirt was taken from my cotton tunic. The long skirt had a wide top yoke and a wrap bottom. The seams were done as a real suede skirt would have been done to give the look of real……I loved the water color abstract print. It had a marvelous modern edge to it, and appealed to real fashionistas. I tried to bring the newest most current prints to my customers. Some didn’t understand them, while others appreciated the beauty of these unique designer prints. The prints were on a silk satin charmeuse which only brought out the beauty of the colors and the fine printing. Again, the silhouette was kept simple so the print was the focal point. The small shirt sketch was a new addition and worked with EVERYTHING! It had a classic shirt collar with a button stand, but the front had a hidden button placket so no buttons showed. It had body darts for shape and a classic button cuff. The bottom was curved, which I always felt was very flattering. It too was in a silk satin charmeuse, and was avail. in ivory, perfectly pink and avocado……….Another year had come to an end.

……………..in addition to the Dec. 2011 group were a group of knits. There were three pieces in an Acrylic/Wool blend. These were ENR sweater knits. The “VEST” styled cardigan was fully fashion to create the V-neckline and the cut away bottom….The ENR pencil skirt came in at 26 inches long. The third item was a knit “blouse” with a tie neck, puff sleeves and a placket front. It also had wide rib borders to give the wearer a wonderful waist whittling shape. The three pieces came in black, fawn and perfectly pink. Chartreuse was also added to the shirt I loved that color with the avocado faux suede skirt. The cowl neck tunic and matching pull-on pant was in a Ponte Knit. They came in Merlot, sand, slate blue and black. These were all easy pack-able clothes.

……………………………..Since it is graduation time, I though I would post this picture of my two best friends from high school, and through out my life…..When this picture at my house was taken by Jac,we were going to our 40th High School reunion!…..Mary Claudia Donnelly Chandler was my high school sweetheart. We met when we were in 7th grade and became friends right away…She was a fantastic artist, and I though she was just great. She was very beautiful…very tall, thin with long hair, and huge blue eyes…..She was very bohemian in spirit, and loved all that went with that….folk music and all. We went every where together, and every Sat. you could find us in the Village in NYC. I took Mary to both our junior and senior proms. I have a picture some where. I’ll have to search for it. While all of the other girls wore typical long prom dresses, Mary made a silver Mylar mini dress [she had great long legs]. Needless to say she stood out like a beacon, and I loved it. For our senior prom we triple dated with Bobby [in the photo above] and Phyllis, and another couple, Andrea and Eric. We went into the city and heard Edie Adams at the Royal Box. She made a big fuss over us as we were definitely the youngest people in the room. After that we went to a place called “Cheetah” a fabulous new disco. It was 1966! Mary went on to NYU and Bobby went to Wisconsin, and I went to Parsons…….We always remained close. Mary and I eventually broke up as a couple, but never as friends. When I designed at AK she would always come up to buy clothes, and later she became one of my best Linea customers! which she is wearing in the picture. She met a wonderful man named Ralph Chandler of the Chandler’s of California….think of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. They had two beautiful daughters. Unfortunately, Ralph died in his 50s from kidney disease leaving Mary a very young widow. She never remarried. Mary and I continued our friendship over the years and we would text and speak on the phone regularly…..I was always an ear she could talk to. Jac would joke and say that I should have married Mary……Whenever she would come to NYC we would always meet in the village or Soho, and spend the day together….Jac knew and liked Mary, and was fine with us spending time together…….She loved to visit the art galleries and go shopping. She and Jac became good friends, and Mary thought Jac was the perfect girl for me….She was right…………….Bobby Tirman was my BFF. We were brothers. We too met at Elmont Memorial High School in the 7th grade. At 13 I went to my very first Broadway show with Bobby, “How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying” with Robert Morse. I have a very faded picture of the three of us at the stage door. Going to Broadway Saturday matinee shows became a thing we loved to do. We always ate at a restaurant called Toffenetti’s on Broadway in the center of Times Square….It was a 1000 seat restaurant and was a destination for 30 years…..It is long gone…….Through the years we did everything together. We traveled to Europe and went to Carnival in Rio when we were 20 [I have some great pictures of us]. When he moved back to NY after graduating from Wisconsin we rented our first apartment in NYC together. Many of our friends were the same, and we went out to the clubs together…..We were naughty boys!!!! but had great times….We rented summer houses together, and eventually he joined Jac and I in renting houses too…..Eventually, these two wild and crazy guys grew up, and our lives went in separate directions. No matter what we were up to or where we were we always spoke, and he would tell me of his new loves and what was going on in his life……….This past year I lost both of them………….Mary died from complications from diabetes…..She had it since she was a child….I remember being at her house after school. She was getting me something to drink from the refrigerator, and there were all of these vials lined up on the door. I asked her what they were and she explained that they were hers and what they were for. She never ever made a big deal of it, and no one would have ever known she had diabetes……….Bobby passed away from kidney failure…He was sick for a long time and at the end was in a care facility. I wanted to visit him so badly, but because of Covid I wasn’t allowed. It haunts me that my best friend died alone……..Other than Jac these are the people I loved most in my life, and it is so hard to loose them. Sometimes I find myself thinking, “Oh, I have to give Mary a call”, or “I wonder what Bobby is up to?” and then I remember. There is a very large hole in my heart where my friends belong. I know they are all together, Jac, Mary and Bobby….and someday I will be with them again.