Designer

………………..I would like to start with the jacket and coordinating skirt at the bottom left. These two pieces were the closest I ever came to doing “Couture” for Linea. I would have made these pieces exactly the same if I had designed them for Anne Klein. What makes them “Couture”? The amount of labor, detail, tailoring, hand sewing and materials involved are just some of the things that make up a couture garment…and these pieces had all the boxes checked. The jacket was made in what now had become my “signature” boucle. Absolutely no one at QVC ever came close to trying to duplicate it…..frankly it was too expensive for them. The jacket had SIX shaping seams in the front, and SIX shaping seams in the back to give me the shape I wanted. It had a small demure collar with rounded points, and the sleeve had a cuff that also had rounded corners at the split. There were pocket flaps, but the actual pockets were in the seams…..The jacket had tiny faceted buttons down the front and on the pocket flaps….they were DTM the jacket colors…..ALL OF THE BLACK STRIPES in the sketch were SATIN!!!!!…..The collar, down the front, the  hem and cuffs were bordered with SATIN PIPING. The satin fabric covering each and every seam were first pre made into  narrow satin strips that had turned edges ready for sewing. This stripping was made into yardage. These strips were then sewn on top of each seam!!! This was EXACTING COUTURE WORK…..Elaine looked at these sketches and said “the factory will never make these complicated jackets….they will refuse….we’re not in the “designer” business”. How many times did I hear that from Elaine! She saw big head aches ahead! I said well let’s send the sketch with my speck sheets and see what they say. They said nothing and made the jacket and skirt samples…..When I saw them I was astounded!!! They were magnificent….and still at a price point that QVC would accept. The skirt, made in the same boucle, had  EIGHT GORES. Each seam had the satin strips on either side of the seam,  but they were kissing. Toward the bottom of the skirt the seams separated and a godet of georgette was inserted, so when you walked the the slits opened revealing the georgette and a hint of leg….It was a fabulous skirt and an incredible suit. It came in all Black or Forest Green……….The jacket and pant above were also very special. They were made in my new crepe with the satin back. This fabric was perfect for tailoring. It sewed beautifully and every detail was shown to perfection. It had a narrow shawl collar and a four button front that were positioned so it wasn’t necessary to wear anything under it if you so chose. It was lined in satin. Each seam and body dart were top stitched which added a dress maker look. However, it was the satin bows on the pockets that really added that dressmaker feminine look. These bows were not separate bows that were just sewn on top of the pockets….they were part of the construction of the patch. I don’t remember exactly how they were done, but the satin created a band at the top, and a band of the crepe was sewn on top holding the satin in place to create the bow…..so the satin was on the outside and inside of the pocket….If that weren’t enough I inserted a faux belt of satin in the back between the two princess seams. This was more complicated than you would think with all of the other top stitched seams….Another shake your head jacket for Elaine…LOL….At least the pants were simple!………..The blouse was in a satin charmuse….It was very romantic and had the look of a heroine in a period English book. It had a small demure collar, and a button placket front. The buttons were tiny pearl. It had a front and back yoke with shirring and the 3/4 sleeve ended with shirring going into a buttoned band…..What made this blouse very special was the wide band of SMOCKING at the waist creating a soft shirred bottom and body of the blouse. I realized this blouse wasn’t for everyone when I designed it, but I always felt nothing I designed, except for maybe a tee, was for everyone. It came in a beautiful Antique Rose and Ink, and Pearl color.

…………………………..There were some beautiful pieces in this group of Sept 09 clothes…..Starting at the top left is an open front cardigan in cotton/acrylic. I took the rose and wisteria pattern I had done on the boucle jacket which had been reordered at least two times by now. I thought it would a good idea to translate it to a more seasonal cardigan that could be worn for a longer time of the year, especially in the south wear the boucle had limited wearing…..Each different color cardigan had different color emb….The next tunic was in a beautiful soft Ponte knit…It had a 60s/70s vibe…very Audrey Hepburn. It had that narrow funnel collar that so many of her tops and dresses had. It had a button front to the horizontal seam, with special faux Horn buttons. It also had side slits and horizontal band pockets. The next jacket was all SUEDE….This was a very complicated COLOR BLOCK SUEDE jacket with approx. 22 pieces, not including the metallic leather!!!!. You have to take a good look at the sketch to see just how complicated it was. It had an exposed zipper front and zipper pockets The colors were beautiful and saturated. Spruce Green [a little lighter and brighter than a forest green], Purple, Wine and Ruby was one combination while Fuchsia, Black, Med. Steel Grey, and Violet made up the second combination………The Rayon Jersey body suit fit perfectly The draping started at the back neck and continued down the front, and from the top yokes. It was a wrap over……But what made this FIT so well was the fact that it was a BODY SUIT. The stretch and tautness kept the drapes in place, and even when you sat the wrap over never gaped or was revealing. It was offered in Spruce Green, Burgundy and Black, and was the perfect layering piece under all of the jackets. It was also a great top on it’s on!…..The next sweater had a high dolman sleeve. It was in the rayon/nylon blend [WK], and came in Raspberry and and Ink Navy.. It had a narrow ballet neckline….but….it could also be reversed to be worn as a V-neck. It too was a great layering piece under jackets and cardigans, plus a wonderful sweater on its’ own.

…………………..The three items above were perfect add ons to anyone’s wardrobe….The fleece/velour type jacket was taken from a book I have on Military clothing. It had contrast piping on the stand collar, down the front, the PIPED BUTTON HOLES down the front, on the four pocket flaps and on the sleeve band. The buttons were antique gold…….There were four pocket flaps with the gold buttons and all of the body seams were top stitched for added detail and tailoring. All of the piping especially the button holes gave the jacket a lot of pizzazz, and was authentic to the dress military British uniforms I used as inspiration…..Another jacket that very labor intensive, and was far from easy to make!……The top below was one of my favorites….It was in a beautiful quality of rayon span. I always used a heavier quality than everyone else, because I hated jerseys that clung and showed every imperfection…..that said any jersey of this type, depending on the style of the garment, should only be worn by women it flatters. TOO often I see women in jersey tops or knit pants and I cringe. Don’t they look in a mirror or have a good friend who can tell them NO. The things I have seen, and I’m sure you have too are simply horrifying!…..but I digress………The top had long raglan sleeves and a some what fitted body….but it was the shirred curved band at the top that was the magic. It was made in CRINKLE GEORGETTE. It had a piped ballet neckline. The band was approx. three inches wide so it came down onto the top of the arm and across the bodice….it was a fabulous top and still wonderful today. We did it in Purple and Smoke…..there must have been a reason that we didn’t do it in black. There must have been other Smoke things in the Sept. group…….The top at the bottom left was another rayon jersey top that had shirring details to create the design. Tops like this had to be FITTED. The measurement HAD TO BE SMALLER than the actual body measurements or the top would droop instead of stretching over the body to create the draping…..Frankly, these were the designs I had the most disagreements about. I wanted them much smaller that “they” were willing to go. Women were confused by the measurements and thought they would be too small, but that’s exactly how they should have been. Women who bought them one or even two sizes bigger were never happy with the way they fit, and always blamed the fit of the garment as being baggy rather than the fact that they bought them too big. Most of the time when measurements of STRETCH GARMENTS seam too small it is because they are STRETCH! I have often heard from women who were confused by the measurements of ENR WK sweaters because they seemed too small….but the EN is very stretchy, and if bought too big would look baggy, and sometimes that WAS the complaint. I wanted to tell them “you bought them too big” but they couldn’t hear me………LOL

……………………..August 09 was all about Fall…..Starting at the top was a jacket I reproduced from an Anne Klein jacket in the photograph.. It looked simple in the solid Java Brown and Slate Grey, but it had lots of details….from the four button hole pockets with small buttoned tabs to the TABS with button holes down the front which was a very labor intensive to make. It had a high notched collar and body seams. The entire jacket was top stitched which exaggerated every line……..The next jacket was made in a beautiful, very sophisticated men’s wear check. This was a fabric swatch I had in my archives from an Italian mill in Northern Italy. They specialized in in very fine men’s fabrics. Armani was a big user for both his men’s and women’s collections. The quality was superb. I always looked forward tom going tom this mill. The designer of the fabrics, who presented the collection to me, was incredibly handsome and always beautifully dressed. This particular check I sent off to China with fingers crossed, because the paler color yarns were heathered which gave the fabric it’s character. I was truly expecting a check in two solid colors without the heather effect, but the factory came through and duplicated the fabric perfectly. I have to give the Chines factories and designers credit. They were and are great at copying. This two button blazer was on the longer and leaner side and had slanted flaps. It had a faux breast pocket to give it the men’s wear look. It also had all of the tailoring and fit the Linea Ladies came to expect. The two tone button was created to go with the fabric…The colors were Blush heather with solid Java Brown and Oyster Heather with Black…Elaine did a beautiful job with this jacket achieving the nuance of the notch lapel and collar and the balance of the jacket….making sure the pocket flaps were just the right size and followed the line of the upward slanting hem…..and so did the very special factory that made them……The SILK Crepe de Chine blouse below had a beautiful rose design woven into the fabric…..There were areas of the fabric that looked satiny and areas that looked matte making the roses stand out. It had a hidden button placket front a smallish more feminine collar and 3/4 sleeves with buttoned cuffs……The colors were Blush, Oyster and Light Grey……..The next sweater was truly beautiful It had a V-neck and 3/4 sleeves with tubular trims for a dressier look…..However it was the intricate bugle bead design that gave this WK sweater a pure designer look. There was something antique about the pattern of the bugle beads combined with the misty colors. Black, Java Brown and a Wood Violet were the colors. The Black had steel bugle beads, the Java Brown had a dark copper color bead and the Wood Violet had iridescent purple bugle beads………….The last jacket was suede with metallic leather trims. Unfortunately I could not capture the true colors. The colors were Taupe suede with a tonal Taupe metallic leather and Wood Violet with a Gunmetal metallic leather that had a violet tint…….It was not your typical suede jacket!

………………………….Aug 09 brought on the new Fall season…….Starting at the top left was a Ponte knit tunic top. It had a wide and deep V in the front accented with zipper teeth which had by now become a Linea signature. It had a jewel neckline which is a little larger than a crew, and more feminine.The front unzipped too…The colors were Teal and Med. Purple…..The next jacket had an A-Line silhouette and was in a new fabric. As I recall it was a MELTON. It may have been slightly brushed, but I don’t remember. It had all of the “bells and whistles”. Gold or Silver Ball buttons Buttoned straps on the raglan sleeves. Trench flaps that also buttoned, and there was a flap in the back with an inverted pleat This little double breasted jacket was very successful and became a reorder……The colors were Violet and Black…The next sweater set was ribbed and fully fashioned. Both the cardigan and the short sleeve top had raglan sleeves….It came in Hot Pink, Turquoise and Black…….The next jacket was a combination of leather and suede. The placement of the suede gave the jacket it’s newness…..Besides suede strips down the front and zipper sleeve detail, the collar. the zip pockets were framed in suede, and the shoulder caps were in suede too…..The colors were Java Brown and Slate Blue.