Designer

………………..After the “Designer Gallery” show was over I was scheduled for another full hour show in Feb……For many the gallery show was the only presentation they would be scheduled for, but I was lucky to get a second go……..Starting at the top is a suede jackets with borders of metal grommets and studs. It came in turquoise, lime and pink…..There are two swatches of grommet designs I was to pick from …..I think we went with the circle grommets……Next to that was a boucle suit with gold buttons I believe it came in the Linea Navy and Ivory….below the suit is a cotton shirt that had small flat gold buttons, and gold flat heat processed studs on the sleeves…..the flat studs graduated to nothing as they went up the sleeve…..It was a fun spring/summer shirt with just a little glitz!……to the left is a short sleeve ribbed sweater with gold lurex trim to coordinate with the suede jacket and the suit…..The gored skirt was made in georgette with a fine gold lurex stripe. There were tiny ruffles set into the gores as the sketch illustrates. It was in the ivory lime and pink…..It was definitely a girly skirt, but not too much……The last sketch is a cardigan with tonal pearl emb. in pink, turquoise and lime. The emb. was all over with a little more concentration around the neckline. It had matching round pearl buttons. This was all hand emb.

……………………The TSV Sequin trimmed cardigan. tank and skirt was reordered for the Holiday season of 05 in all of the colors I had originally wanted…..BLACK, RED, CAMEL and FUCHSIA….and they all sold out!

………………..November 05 featured TWO BOUCLE WOOL jackets and many reorders [not shown above]……….The large sketch at the top right was really spectacular, and still is one of my all time favorites. The emb. design I had originally created for a shearling coat. The coat is Jac’s and it is now in storage. It will go to my niece Danielle…….I designed a line of furs and shearlings while I was designing for QVC. I worked with a small company owned by a husband and wife who both migrated here from Russia. The quality of their garments was superb, but they needed a lot of design help….A mutual friend asked me if I would like to work with them, and have a small line with my name on the label. For many years I designed furs for Anne Klein…..so this was not knew to me. After a few years I decided I didn’t want to design in fur anymore and left them. It was a hard decision, because I knew it would put them right back in the position I found them. I also brought big name stores to them, and I developed a robust business with them, but it was something I could no longer do. I heard through our mutual friend that after a while they decided to close the business and both worked for different fur companies…The combination of the richly textured boucle and the embroidery gave these jackets a very expensive designer look. The fact that we could sell these jackets for under $90 amazed me. I know if I sold the exact same jacket at Anne Klein they would have been $800 easy……The narrow banding around the collar, down the front, around the bottom and the border of the sleeve were all embroidered. The body of the jacket, front and back and the sleeves were completely embroidered in paisleys, flowers, berries and leaves. The buttons were DTM. The jacket came in Forest Green, Burgundy and Black………..The second boucle jacket had a stand collar with a button front. It too had an emb. banding edging the collar down the front and at the hems of the jacket and sleeve. The emb. came from an antique wall stencil design…….The emb was a combination of tonal thread and lurex…….The Sienna had a bright copper tread with copper lurex, the black had golds, and the purple had a brighter purple thread with gold lurex…………….The cardigan at the far left came in ivory and black with a coordinating tank. The “kissing” front closed with hook and eyes. It had a jewel neckline and 3/4 sleeves……The emb was a beautiful combination of pearls, black round beads, gold round beads and small gold and black sequins. What made my sweater so different from others on QVC or even in retail stores was the lavish amount of emb. It NEVER looked skimpy, and always looked so much more expensive than what they were. This sweater and the paisley boucle were both reordered the next year…….There were five additional reorders with this Nov. group to end the year!!

……………………I noticed that QVC’s TSV is a mask to prevent catching the virus……These Linea chains will make life easier when you have to go out. Speaking from experience I never go out without one with my mask attached……..On a side note…….I just saw the Dolce & Gabbana Men’s Couture show on Vogue . Com…… Forget the clothes and accessories….they were better suited for women, but all of the men had chains [double the size of mine in many colors] with masks and eyeglasses……it was interesting to watch

…………………..The September 05 group had one of my all time most successful jackets. The fabric was a wool boucle. It had a flat shirt collar long sleeves with a slight flare, button hole  pockets and a lovely shape that glided over the body……It had the most beautiful embroidery of roses, wisteria and vines…on the front, back and sleeves….it was abundant. I still have these toppers….I just can’t part with them…….yet! It was reordered so many times in so many colors…..black, ivory, red, sapphire blue, forest green and chocolate are the ones I remember. EACH JACKET had different color embroidery! These were so much fun to create. The sketches and charts of the embroidery took forever to do. Every single thing had to be detailed…….The coordinating TN sweater had a gently shaped body, but it was the flared embroidered sleeves that closed the deal…..These sweaters sold very well and were reordered too……..The suede and rib knit jacket had a shawl collar and knit sleeves…..I think this was a reorder?………….The pinstripe suit was right up my alley. We did the matching trouser and not the pencil skirt. They were made in a beautiful rayon/poly/span woven gaberdine….The fabric looked and felt like an Italian fabric I had used at AK……The blazer had all of the “Linea” touches……beautifully shaped and tailored, fully lined, working buttons on the sleeves that could be turned back and button hole pockets…..To give the jacket an edge I embroidered a “corsage” of flowers down from one shoulder and the top of the sleeve. The emb. was blue on the navy and blue pinstripe and grey on the black and grey pinstripe……to layer under the suit I did a “POLO SWEATER” in CASHMERE and SILK!….those were the days!…..The buttons on the placket down the front and on the sleeves were small RHINESTONES. It came in Black, Ivory, Pale Pink and a Soft Blue…….It looked marvelous under the pinstripe suit, but was a wonderful separate sweater too………..The last sweater was something special…..It was a rayon/nylon blend. It had a ballet neckline and raglan long sleeves…….but it was the emb that made it so special. The emb. was a combination of silver cupped sequins, each with a center bead, and scattered through out were small crystal and rhinestone beads. We did this sweater in Black, Ivory and Grey.