Designer

………………One of the most influential and inspiring actresses, for me, has always been Marlene Dietrich…………Nothing beats a beautifully tailored LINEN WHITE SUIT in the Spring. A STRONG SHOULDER and a carved waistline paired with languid trousers is IT!!….One of the linens I used was a blend with rayon which kept the linen softer and not ridged, which also helped with wrinkles….The small collar and peaked lapel with the flap pockets and slanted band breast pocket were all taken from a man’s blazer…Working buttons on the sleeve were a luxury detail. The fully lined blazer in a cotton batiste came with half lined pants to keep them cool, and flowy……The fine cotton pinstripe shirt had all of the menswear details including collar stays. The silk tie had a striped polka dot design…….The halter silk georgette polka dot top had a bra top and draped from the center front…..The puffed short puffed sleeve georgette blouse had a three streamer tie. The three streamers were long enough to tie in a generous bow…..The sweater vest over the blouse was at the high hip length, and had contrast banding….The georgette pleated skirt also had a black band at the bottom………….Travis Banton, one of the most famous Hollywood costume designers of the Golden Age of Hollywood, had a long collaboration with Dietrich and did most of her costumes.

………………………..Is there really a better combination than BLACK & WHITE?…..and if you add a color my choice will always be RED!……..Starting with the center sketch…….The RED stretch cotton crepe three button shaped jacket with a WING COLLAR and a cutaway bottom with flap pockets worn with a WING COLLAR stretch cotton fitted shirt. The pant is a black stretch cotton crepe slim pant……Next is a WING COLLAR cotton crepe zip front, halter jumpsuit. The princess seams go all the way down the legs, front and back for a perfect fit…….Next a short red stretch cotton crepe deep V-neck, halter dress with three seams front and back for a great fit. Over the dress is a white open front cardigan…….The three sketches at the right show….a black and white stripe short sleeve knit top without any armhole. On the bottom a bold red and black striped cotton/elastane  pull-on short skirt…..In the center a mitered V-neck, cap sleeve knit top with a stretch cotton crepe pant……..and to the extreme right….a one button stretch cotton crepe blazer with black banding worn over a bold stripe cotton/elastane tank, and a cotton stretch crepe tulip skirt…………..Remember, these croquis were done well over 30 years ago, but still look modern, relevant, and wearable today.

………………….WHITE CLOTHES are some of the most difficult to design and to manufacture……When a sample room or factory is making white clothes the rooms, and the machines have to be spotless. A little dirt or oil from a sewing machine can ruin a garment….When I was designing for QVC there were factories in China that REFUSED to make white clothes, because it was too much trouble. Those that did charged more $$$$$…..The selection of the right fabric for each design was also a challenge…..See through of certain garments was always a problem to manufacture, but many times a lining solved the problem….However, for unlined garments like the cotton poplin wrap trench jacket to the left, and the wrap georgette dress to the right….the insides had to be as clean finished as the outside……Sometimes the seam allowances were piped or turned back enough to be stitched to give the desired clean finish. Sometimes they were just marrow stitched which was not ideal for me……Sometimes price was the deciding factor……Sheer clothes like the georgette dress had French seams…..All of this extra work cost $$$$ which is the reason that sometimes a white garment costs more $$$$ than a color garment…..There is a white unitard under the dress which had its’ own set of manufacturing problems….If a style is sold in white and color, which many are, and a factory charges more for the white to be made, usually an average price is reached for the garments so two different priced don’t have to be assigned. Try and explain two different prices for the same garment to a customer!…..The stretch cotton Pea jacket in the center, and the matching skirt were fully lined, which for me wasn’t ideal, because the lining added weight and made the garments warmer to wear….Also, to make them correctly the lining should be stretch too, or it defeats the purpose of a stretch garment…If a stretch lining wasn’t avail or too costly sometimes extra ease was added to the lining to compensate…Sometimes to get around this problem I would line the front only, half line the back to cover the shoulder pads, and leave the sleeves unlined. I would pipe the exposed back seams and armhole for a clean finish…..It always amused me when certain women would complain that the jacket wasn’t fully lined! They misguidedly thought this was a cheaper way to make a garment…..What they didn’t realize was this was a much more expensive, time consuming way to finish the jackets. Putting a full lining in a jacket covered many sins, but an unlined garment, or partially lined garment  had to be clean finished on the inside, which was more labor intensive…..Plus, these half lined jackets were more COMFORTABE and cooler to wear in warmer weather…….Like I always say…….”KNOWLEDGE is a powerful thing!”

………………..I always loved the combination of ribbed knit with different fabrics, and mixing it with sheer was one of my favorites. I also loved rib knit garments on their own…I do admit, ideally you should have a fit body to wear them successfully….However, I have seen plenty of women with less than fit bodies who look pretty good in ribbed garments…Starting at the left is a rib knit tunic with band pockets and a leather belt worn over a sheer midi length georgette tulip skirt…..Next a rib knit jacket combined with a smooth Milano knit collar, lapel and band front. It also had band pockets and Milano knit sleeves. This is an example of one garment using different types of knit in the same yarn…..It too is worn over a sheer tulip midi skirt….Next is a “romper”, which truly is a terrible name for a garment, but it is not a bodysuit which would have a snap crotch which this did not. The rib knit short sleeve top is attached to a jersey knit bottom…The neckline is a sort of fully fashioned square, but not totally square…..It is shown with a sheer short tulip shaped hip hugger skirt, and a wide contour belt……The next three items are different versions of  rib knit dresses…..The sketch to the extreme right is a short, single button stretch denim jacket, with rib knit sleeves worn over a sheer shirt, and low slung denim slim pants……I always played with different types of ribs for different effects for different styles of garments and fabrics…..Some ribs were cut and sewn, and others were fully fashioned…….What ever the combination I always thought they looked fresh and new, and gave off a chic casual vibe.

…………………Using different rib knits as a detail , and part of a garment was always something I liked to design for many reasons…..Firstly, I liked the look of mixing rib knit with many different fabrics and styles. The STRETCH FACTOR of the knit always made any garment comfortable to wear, because the stretch of the knit gave unrestricted movement. Lastly, due to the stretch knit ir always fit the body beautifully…..From left to right……The leather three button jacket with rib knit sleeves worn over a rib knit skirt. I always tried to add a little lycra to the knit so the knit would always keep its’ shape……Next is the leather button front dress with the rib knit back, and the self leather belt…..At the upper right is a dress with a rib knit, short sleeve top with a jewel neckline and a swing georgette skirt…..At the bottom right is a zip front leather jacket with rib knit sleeves and a rib knit bottom. It too had a matching leather belt……….When I did my Linea for QVC collection I continued designing garments with rib knit trims. I used leather, suede and boiled wool often with the rib knit……….It was always successful!