Designer

…………………June 10 was short and brief…..Three new pieces plus a few reorders…….The top tunic shirt/jacket was made in my very successful Linen/Rayon blend. It had a stand collar, 3/4 sleeves, bust darts and side slits. Both the collar, which had a separate emb. design, and the front were done in a satin stitch emb…….The panel in the photo at the extreme right was the emb. sample I had to approve, which I did. It had tiny jet buttons down the front…………….It came in White with Black emb, Linen with Taupe emb. and Purple with tonal emb….It was reordered the following season and new colors were added……The design was Moroccan…..The peasant blouse below, since it was over 10 years ago, may very well have been the first ‘cold shoulder” shown on QVC. The trend didn’t start for years later. As you can see it had a square neckline, with shoulder straps. It had a button front with side slits and a self tie belt. It was the sleeve that brought the newness. It had a loose elastic at the top with shirring and a tight elastic at the bottom to catch the forearm……..The belt was made up of three streamers attached at the center back with a stitch so they couldn’t come apart, but the belt was separate from the blouse. The colors were Deep Fuchsia, Azure and Black……..The next tank was made in the rayon jersey fabric. I was always thinking of new ways to make a tank look new. I loved when jackets were worn open and there was some sort of surprise underneath. I thought this pleated neckline was it……It came in Taupe, Purple and Black……perfect to wear under the new Emb shirt/jacket, and the May Leopard print blazer too….There were also four reorders for June…the WINDOWPANE shirt/jacket being one of them!

Cathy told me QVC is having a “Friends and Family Sale” and the fish pendant is part of the sale [40% off]. They already sold close to 90 of them since the sale began….maybe more by now! Cathy told me there were about 200 left. There are only two colors….Rose Gold and Green Patina….. Get them now before they swim out to sea forever…..LOL

………………….The May 10 Anniversary show was all about BOLD PRINTS and BOLD COLOR…….The top row was all about the “STATUS PRINT”. The two button blazer with the 3/4 length sleeve had turn back cuffs. The matching skirt and jacket were made in a beautiful stretch COTTON SATEEN. The scoop neck 3/4 sleeve Tee was made in my poly jersey…….They were made in two different factories, but matched perfectly. The print was inspired by status type prints that Versace, the Italian designer, was making very popular, and still uses them to this day! The print is a combination of circles, Acanthus leaves [ also known as Baroque leaves], and Flowers to delineate areas of  bold color. The print was done in two color combinations. The Blue/Green combo had blues, turquoise, green, lime. black, white and golds, and Pink/Purple combo had purple. bright pink, fuchsia, lavender, black, white and golds. There was also a coordinating sweater knit tank. The body was a solid color, blue or pink, and the tubular trims were in different colors of the print. For those women who loved European designer clothes these were a must have, and to wear them all together was a MUST! Then there were those who felt is was too much for them to wear it as a suit, so they bought the jacket and tank or picked up the skirt to wear as a separate with the tank and a white or solid jacket. However they chose to wear it…it sold out and was reordered. I remember we brought back both colors and added a neutral of brown, tan, khaki, and I think a med grey with white and again the golds…I loved this print then, and I love it now. It still looks current and modern, and it brings a smile to my face…..The georgette peasant top below had an elastic ruffled top that could be worn several ways. The puff sleeves had elastic bottoms. I had two sketches, one with the smocked waist and one plain with a self tie belt. I don’t remember which we did??? It came in Purple, Teal and Black……It looked great with the print skirt…..The next V-neck Tee shirt top with the short sleeves was in a cotton/span knit. It had BUNDLE STITCH multi color emb. What is “Bundle Stitch”? It is a method of emb. where you use many ends of thread to create one stitch. This makes the longer stitches much thicker and pronounced. The colors show up much stronger. The tee was sold in Yellow, Azure, and Black….all with multi color emb…….The V-neck sleeveless jumpsuit to the left was made in Rayon/Span jersey. The colors were Azure and Dark Olive. The sketch shows a separate Obi belt in self fabric, but I don’t remember if we offered it….. Many times it came down to price, and Elaine was always worried that if it was returned the belt wouldn’t be sent back with it. This happened often when garments were sold with separate pieces………….The next dress was also in Rayon/Span knit This was a beauty and fit great. It had a twist bra top attached to shoulder straps and an EIGHT GORE fit and flare skirt. It fit through the hips and then flared out….The perfect travel dance dress in VIOLET and BLACK………The next item to the left was a tiered Boho, crinkle georgette dress. Between each tier was a mini ruffle.Talk about the perfect take away travel dress. Twist it into a ball and pack it away in the luggage or a beach tote. It came in Black and Bright Blue…….The 10th Anniversary was off to a great start…..in spite of “them”….. Every single piece was a success!

……………………….The second portion of the May Anniversary shows also had some great and very successful pieces…..Starting at the top….the Cotton Sateen Stretch LEOPARD PRINT Blazer. This new blazer had three Poker Chip Black buttons down the front, and turn back cuff 3/4 sleeves. It had ALL of the Linea touches. It had Princess seams front and back with the additional center back seam for shape. It had shoulder pads and was fully lined in satin. It came in FOUR COLORS which was very unusual,. The buyers and the PTB must have really believed in this print. It came in White/Black, Taupe/Black, Lavender/Black and Turquoise/Black. It sold so well the next year it was reordered in two new colors……The next two items were a tiered crinkle georgette Boho skirt and a scoop neck, short sleeve tee shirt. They were done in “TWIN PRINTS”. The inspiration for the prints came from Indonesian wood block prints. One was a small foulard type and the other a larger graphic floral. The tiers of the skirt were done in alternating prints with the larger floral always being at the bottom for balance. The poly/span tee was done in the floral print……The colors were….Black/Grey and Hot Pink/Deep Red…….Below the prints were two separate bottoms, both made in a wonderful fluid, light weight, rayon gauze. The pull-on long skirt had a yoke top and a bias cut bottom that just flowed and moved beautifully….The long wide leg pull-on pant was perfect for warn summer months. It was easy and breezy, and never clung to the leg in the most humid weather. The pant came in Azure and Dark Olive. The skirt came in Purple and Black. The next tunic shirt was in the same rayon gauze. It could be worn as a shirt or open as a shirt jacket. It came in Azure and Dark Olive. Again, two great pieces for travel. The next tee “design” was one of my favorites….How do you make a tee new and special??? I decided to make it a short raglan sleeve with inserts of sheer DTM mesh! It was very sexy without showing anything…..however….the buyers insisted we double the mesh so no bra straps showed. Our fit model was wearing a nude bra, as she always did for fittings, and you couldn’t see anything! She said she would absolutely wear it like this with the one layer. After the meeting, behind my back, they told Elaine they wouldn’t buy the tee unless the mesh were doubled. I didn’t want to loose the sale for Elaine who already invested a lot of time and money developing the sample, so I agreed. There were just some battles not worth fighting over…..Jac would always say to me, “pick your battles”….so wise. Without my Jac it’s hard for me to live by that, but sometimes when the blood rushes to my head I hear her….”pick your battles”…….I was very disappointed in this tee because it ended up looking like a basic tee ,which was fine if you didn’t know what I really wanted, but for me all the special detail of it disappeared……..The next top and skirt were both made in sheer georgette. The top had a wide V neckline and a dolmen sleeve. It had a separate lining attached at the V and the shoulder. It was on the short side to keep the proportion with the skirt perfect. The double wrap skirt had a knit liner as the top. It was a pull-on. Both the front and back panels had soft pleats. which allowed the gossamer skirt to move beautifully and float in a breeze. Both pieces were done in White and Black. They were beautiful together as a two piece dress, but both were perfect separate pieces to wear with many other things……true investment pieces.

……………………………..Happy Easter Everyone……….The Day of the Resurrection…..the Holiest day of the year…. May God’s blessings shine on each and everyone of us………………much Love……………..Louis