…………In 1993, Niki Taylor was quickly becoming a super star model. I remember the first time I saw her. She came to my show room with her father on a “go see”. She couldn’t have been more than 16 or 17 years old…She was a natural beauty! Sweet and charming and so young!!…..a real talent. Niki is still modeling and does commercials for Cover Girl and many other things….Good for her!…She has two grown twin sons from her first husband, and two more, a boy and a girl, with her second husband! Can you imagine having Niki as your mother!!!……Slip dresses were relegated for evening only, but I treated it as a modern jumper dress. I layered the button front slip dress over a straight leg pant, both in my exclusive lighter weight wool crepe. Under the dress was another version of the silk blouse with the elongated collar. This new version had an easy bell sleeve. Another version of the black jet brooch was placed under the collar. Of course you could wear the dress for evening without any blouse…..I love two for ones!…The required cuff hat and jersey glove finished the look……..Carla, at right, wore a wool jersey flared cape. Under the cape, Carla wore a beautiful heavy silk tunic blouse with a cutaway bottom, and a buttoned high stand collar….She wore it all over black leggings and shoe boots….The leggings just weren’t your normal legging! They were made in a heavier weight rayon and elastane and had a deep black matte finish. I remember the models LOVED them!!!They held you in , and made your legs look great….They were made in a knit factory in Italy that specialized in leggings…….Super long black jet faceted necklaces and a jet cross were the perfect accessories for the tunic……..For me, the cape was a great way to add swagger and drama to any outfit……When I was a student at Parsons one of my best friends was also a super talented student named Donna Barnet [we used to call her “Little Donna” because she was petite, and Donna Karan was called “Big Donna”]. I digress….Donna B dated a guy named Luigi, and he was the head manager of Gucci in NYC. It was the hottest store at the time. Luigi was a tall thin, extremely good looking man with an incredibly winning personality…We used to go out with Luigi every where because he got in EVERY WHERE…Everyone knew Luigi!…..He used to really rock a cape! I was always impressed with his outgoing European personality, and his over the top style! Always an inspiration! Years later I ran into Luigi in Florence Italy! He owned his own men’s store! It was wonderfully chic! He was married with two boys of his own!…..Small world!
That cape!!!!