I Know What Boys Want

Okay, not that. I'm talking clothes. Menswear. Menswear in Fairfield. Why bother, right? I just can't help it. If you make clothes, and you have male friends, and you don't make clothes for your male friends, then you're bad friend. Or at least that's what mine claim. But mostly, it's part of the big picture. Man/Woman/Child. I love the way they look coming down the runway. I love to see how an idea from one end of the spectrum works on the other. I love the off kilter nuclear family in my store window. I look at menswear from a different perspective-a woman's. Which can really work in a guy's favor. Not to fly the sexist flag here, but why are 98% of the world's 'big names' in women's design men? Can you tell me what a man brings to that table a woman can't do in reverse? I ask, I listen, and I learn. And sometimes I hear the best things, like the guy who told me people constantly say "Nice Pants!" when he wears my trousers. Or another who said he always hears "Wow-where did you get that shirt?" and not in a "and how long will you be travelling with the circus?" vibe. Sometimes I have to really, really rack my brain thinking does the world really need a red knit shirt with a red/white seersucker placket? Apparently, I decided the answer was yes, because I couldn't get it out of my head, and made it today. I think it's just the tweak you need to not be the10,000 guy in a plain polo shirt. My first 'date' with my husband, a man with a refined funky style, was vintage clothes shopping in our hometown of Providence, R.I., many, many years ago. I still ask his opinion on most men's things I do with the simple "Would you wear that?" He's not always going to say yes, and I don't swear by it. And sometimes I revel in the "Are you high?" or "No, because I'm not one of the Monkeys" wisecracks I get back, and run with it. Like this month, when I wanted to do a pale, pale yellow rubberized linen rain jacket and he said "Nah, too buttery". Two hours later, I was fitting the newly christened "Like Butta" on one of my male models, and enjoying it's Steve McQueen meets Jack White joy, as was the model who said "This is really cool". It's a stretch, but if you see a guy walking down Post road in a really cool zip front raincoat, tell him "Nice jacket!". Maybe he'll think outside the box more often.

Dude, we are going to get soooo waisted....

We have been deep into fittings for spring, and it appears it's time for some crunches, my friends. As you may have noticed, in the general fashion zeitgeist, focus has shifted from low slung plumber butt to empire waistline and back to actual waistline. Now going by where many wear their pants, there is definitely some waistline confusion out there. Some people think their waistline is that grey(hopefully not actual) area where your thong comes out of your jeans when you bend down. Uh, no. Big no. Short crotch pants are a blight on the earth. I think I can speak for all of us when I say I have seen far too much unwanted backside in the last few years. Who's idea was this? Angry plumber's unions? But enough anger. If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. So people, let me tell you- your waist-it's the smallest part of your torso when you look in the mirror. Case closed. And it's in heavy rotation this year. And this does not mean slap a belt on and hop out the door. "I think I'll just wear a belt with it." is a statement that fills me with fear almost as much as "I'm voting for Huckabee." Proportion is everything, and every body has different needs. I will not leave you high and dry, and I have lots of silhouettes going on, but the actual attenuated waistline is looking fresh, clean, and a welcome sign of spring. Or maybe I just want to choose who's bum I see. I wonder if Daniel Craig needs any trousers....

Aaah Spring?

That fleeting moment, that Northeastern myth. Try designing a collection for it. Talk about your bad dates.."It was going so well, warming up, smiling, happy, then, cold, rainy, hostile, prickly, Africa hot and sweaty for all the wrong reasons." Fall, Winter? Piece of cake. Layer it on, take it off. A perfect relationship. Texture, color...boots! Boots fix everything. Every one's 5'10" in boots. But Spring? It's hot, it's cold, it's rainy. It's hot and rainy. It's cold and rainy, and your feet are freezing because you're wearing open toe slides. Why? Because it's Spring, and it seemed sensible at 7:30 AM when it was warm and sunny. Ah, but look at the flowers! I love flowers! But do I want to dress like a flower? Uhhh...well, um, some people would like you to. And it's okay to give in, and be the girl in the pink dress once in a while. But only once in a while. I spent a lot of time last spring and summer listening to everyone who stepped foot in my store, or went to one of my shows. Sure, the floral dresses you will find in heaps and piles this season in many places will turn your heads, but you told me what I found out myself when I scrambled to get to work everyday, picking out my clothes in the dark, on the way to the gym. You need to get dressed in a hurry(like me). You need to get off the train looking like you didn't sleep in your dress or your suit(even if you did) You need to look amazing for a wedding or a party. And, oh yes, you need to look ten pounds thinner. It's very easy to design a fun summer dress. Even the misfits on Project Runway can pull it off on a regular basis. But it's not easy to battle the reality show that is most people's lives-A great suit, a perfect occasion get-up you'll wear again and again, something cool, aesthetically and physically for the weekend, and male or female, a great fitting pair of pants that make your rear view as sweet at a flower. Spring, I take you on!

Inspiration

So I've been scouting locations for the spring shoot with Peter Baker, since he suggested we hit the road and get out of the studio for the next shoot. I emailed Kate, my friend/super model/commercial real estate agent and said we're looking for a raw space on a top floor, hopefully with open space next to us, and she hooked us up with an amazing space in Bridgeport- a factory on the river being converted into multi-use by a great guy, Ed Piquette. I was floored. When we reached the top level, it hit to me- Gorodish's loft apartment in one of my favorite movies, Diva. The scene, where he's in the claw foot bath tub-the one in the middle of the room, and the moonlight is falling through all the windows, making a path of rectangle's on the floor , as Alba walks in, late, barefoot, inspired from the "amazing trip" she's gone on with Jules, through the Diva's music. So I rented it, and it held up. Big time. That doesn't happen often. I'd like to think I could pull a dress out of the closet I made in 1982 and wear it out the door, but I fear I'd look more Patti Smyth than Patti Smith. Inspiration comes from every where-from the creative people you have the pleasure of working with, from a song you heard, a fabric you stumble across. And sometimes it hits you upside the head when you least expect it. Cause God knows I've got Spring's menswear muse cemented in my brain. He's Gorodish. Except it's 2008, he's out of the tub, and he's wearing my pants.

Whether the weather

So it may be winter outside, but it's spring at the shop. We're getting ready for the show on February 28th at the Fairfield Theatre Company (tickets are on sale now) and have been whipping up a lot of great things. My latest favorite is Velvet Underpass, a skirt I've been thinking about for a long, long time- bias cut cream organza with frosty sherbet colored velvet ribbons running in irregular diagonal lines, like and aerial view of a candy colored highway. And dresses. Dresses, dresses, dresses. Super feminine, not confining, in off beat color combos. Just did a great royal(don't be afraid),sapphire and periwinkle gown called Blues Explosion that I think will knock the socks off anyone within a 10 mile radius. And don't even get me started on all the green/blue combos I'm cooking. So despite the fact that I appear to have become a weather wuss-that is me shouting "Hurry up and get in the car because Mommy can't feel her hands to do your seat belts"every night when the girls and I leave work, it's nice to know there are some delicious things to look forward to.