Hi Everyone!!  This is another first for me!!  My first “Throw Back Thursday” post.  I thought it would be fun to show you a couple of my “early” original designs.  As a matter of fact, I still have both of these silk suits hanging in the closet and will probably never part with them. 
These suits were named, “The Starburst Collection” for obvious reasons.  They are a little bit theatrical which was indicative of the period in my life when I created these.  These were designed for a specific show in mind for a college production.  Back then, the wilder the better.  It’s just like today’s top designers will create edgy pieces in their collections not to necessarily to be sold but to attract the press.  Well, I certainly did attract the press with these 2 particular designs.  They appeared in many fashions shows. Not only did I wear the turquoise suit on a television appearance where I was invited to show pieces of my collection but I also did a photo shoot wearing this design for a newspaper article on my work.
At the time I was in love with Silk Dupioni.  I was fascinated with all the vibrant colors available in this fabrication.  As I learned, natural fibers such as silk take dye beautifully, hence the gorgeous colors available.  I knew for these designs I wanted a striking contrast between the applique  work and the body.  I considered hot pink with black, but wanted a richer feel.  Turquoise just seemed like the right choice and it was what I used when I created the sketch.  I’m sure your wondering what came first, the sketch or the design, right?? 

 
In this case, the sketch on the left with the asymmetrical jacket came first.  This was actually a class project that we so well received that I decided to design a companion piece and bring them to life for a final class project.  These are the original sketches taken right out of my portfolio.  The sketch on the right was created after the design to show the correlation between sketch and creation.   Not sure why I didn’t sketch this one in turquoise and black like the other?? 
 
These designs represent a time of my life when I was more carefree and running toward all the “possibilities” that awaited me!!  Yes, exciting times!!  So here they are!!
 
This picture was taken from a fashion in hosted at the Crown Hotel.  You may even recognize the model wearing this design.  She’s a current regular model on HSN.  She looks exactly like she did back when she modeled in my shows.  Gorgeous Carol, and a wonderful person as well.
I used contrasting self fabric to create the border applique for both of these designs.  The colors really popped against each other.  The strips were cut and then satin stitched on the edge of the areas I chose for each design.  It was super labor intensive, but so well worth the effort for the finished looks.
Here’s a close up of the applique work.  Each point was mitered by hand to create just the perfect angle to match each of the points.   Then satin stitched close to the edge for a clean finish before the facings were applied and turned.  Looking back at these designs I can see how far I’ve come and things I would do differently today.  For example,  I used large snaps as the closure on these jackets.  I didn’t cover them with self fabric.  If I were to do it again I would cover them instead of leaving them “naked”.  Those are the couture details that people love to see and are the sign of a well made garment.
 
I hope you enjoyed my first “Throw Back Thursday” post.  It was fun for me to look back and feel the same excitement I did back then about these designs.  Isn’t it funny how certain things can evoke a happy memory??