Actually we have too much fun to really call these lessons, but the constant observation of everything around us fills us with inspiration and motivation.

Each year we have around twenty wonderful women who quickly bond. I really am not much of one to move in a herd or large group, but each year it really seems just like a bunch of friends who just decided to take a trip together. When one of us finds something interesting, we bring it to the group’s attention, and learn from each other. I've just completed the 2001 trip and have added information on the Italy homepage. These lessons are from the 1999 trip. Here’s what we’d share with all of you ... are you coming in 2002?

At Gattinoni

At Gattinoni, one in our group tried on and then purchased an evening gown. In the boutique each dress she tried on that had real potential was pin fitted by a woman who’s sole job it is to do just that. To help her she had a pin cushion on a stand ... really kind of a short cane with a pin cushion on top. How handy, we all thought, as she whisked, unnoticed, around Marsha, pinning the top close to the body, pinning up the hem, marking the side seams. As tiny as Marsha is, the dress she liked the most was a strapless confection in a pink silk crepe, but when she stood sideways, it pooched out at the tummy ... ahhh, the fitter said, and when she released it at the hip, down it came, nice and straight. Perfetto.

At Fendi

At Fendi, we learned that when one of the Fendi sisters’ daughters designed the famous Baguette handbag, she wore it so nonchalantly over her shoulder and tucked under her arm that her husband remarked that it was as though she was carrying a baguette ... thus the name stuck for those incredibly pricey bags that have waiting lists for the special editions. Imagine .... and we found them knocked off all over the place, in every city, but especially in brightly colored woolens and pony skin.

The hot new designs in leather

The hot new designs in leather are much more conventionally sewn ... without masses of topstitching. It was explained at a leather company that manufactures the leather jackets for Gucci, Prada, and Fendi, as well as the private label for Saks, that the factories are now buying a special sewing machine that actually turns the cut edges into each other, and stitches the seam shut from the outside, invisibly. Picture laying the top and bottom layers of a collar, wrong sides together, and a machine, folding in the outer edges and stitching them invisibly from the right sides. I was told that this special machine cost as much as all of the other simpler sewing machines put together. An exaggeration? Maybe, but nonetheless, all of those coats and jackets in double-faced fabrics are also being constructed this way. How much easier, than all of that handwork! Next year, I hope to take the group to watch this production at the factory itself.

At Fendi

At Fendi, we were shown the video and a live presentation of the current fur collection. They have always been known for the most weightless furs. Since Lagerfeld designs the collection, you all know how I’ve written about his enthusiasm and search for the most lightweight of all methods to produce the garments for Chanel as well. The incomparable Nina did the presentation for us ... she is too, too stunning and fabulous, and I might add a woman of a few years, yet she really knew how to wear a coat. She had on a simple sleeveless black dress, and sable cuffs on her wrists. Awesome! Many of the coats, are now much less over the top than in the past ... women who bought full length sables, now put the sable inside a cloth coat of boiled wool, for example. The luxury is hidden and only of a purpose for the wearer. One of the women in our group bought a stunning shearling long jacket ... brown leather outside, curly Persian Lamb on the reverse, in a paler brown. We drank a toast to her at Fendi ... a real fashion moment.

Ferragamo in Florence

In Florence we visited the Ferragamo Shoe Museum. We had a special tour of the collection featuring a variety of materials used this century ... some included sea creatures ... different fish skins dyed in a variety of ways that left us in awe — even children’s shoes. Other interesting materials included lace, raffia, plastic tubing, I8 kt. gold, pearls, and a variety of fabrics. There were shoes done for film personalities, as well as the designer Schiaparelli, who was known for her surrealist designs ... the famous shoe hat, had a matching shoe, though not captured in Horst’s famous portrait from that era. You’d never have known there was a match to that famous hat.

Create a Storyboard a la Mantero Silks

One idea that I think would be fun for those of you that enjoy playing with your fabrics, cutting swatches, and arranging them in a variety of ways, would be to create a storyboard of swatches like we saw at Mantero silks. When a design staff arrives there, they work with the Mantero staff to create scarves and other silk and fabric accessories. They begin by discussing the designer’s collection and watching a video of the defile ... what the French call a fashion show. Then the mood of the collection is described: romantic, folkloric, techno, etc. and the staff works up a story board, about 4 square feet of bulletin board, in all of the things that express that mood. For example, they showed us a board for Ungaro that had lots of green/blue in the palette, and a nature based/romantic mood.

On the board was a piece of Verdigris fence, plant material, as well as the swatches of fabrics, paint chips, leaves, etc. that visually set the mood. Many designers do this... it also helps with marketing the collection, styling the models, setting the theme for the advertising campaign, and so forth. When they work so far in advance of a season, all of the elements need to be very clear to define the look they’re trying to express. The designer’s vision must be very focused, and this helps everyone put the vision into reality. Use magazine pictures, fabric swatches, buttons, scraps of fabric from your home dec. projects, etc. to really help you focus a vision that you can use to create a cohesive wardrobe. If you’re thinking black and red for example, you could use pictures from an LL Bean catalogue of lumberjack plaids, a Campbell’s soup label, red geraniums, a picture of a black Mercedes, a black and white photo of a skyline, all mixed in with your fabric swatches. Get the idea? The car photo may make you realize how attractive silver buttons would look on black, as the car trim is on the car, or the red geraniums may help you see the possibility of a deep, leaf green as an accent to the red and black. The photo would ease grays into the palette. This is especially helpful in home decorating projects, and the story boards at Mantero were truly beautiful collages on their own ... real inspiration for the design teams for certain.

Other Notes:

Patent leather, in all colors, is hot — even in the winter. From loafers to handbags, don’t put it away after Labor Day anymore. It’s fresh, and it’s techno.

Fabric shopping? Lots and lots of cashmere, double-faced knits, scarves, and coatings — the kinds of fabric you want to spread out on the floor, lay on and make snow angels.... The group was so in tune that we made four separate stops on each of the bus days out of Milan ... our cashmere day, and our silk day. The most popular buy at the Armani outlet? A foreign legion type hat, in wind proof nylon ... for the ladies in the group who walk dogs in the winter time. How’s that for a chic dog walking hat?

At one of our cashmere stops, an hour or so outside of Milan, we spotted a coat with magnetic closures ... too fabulous! There were magnets sewn in place between the outer layer and the facings....no obvious closures of any kind, yet perfectly closed up ... now that was modern, with a capital M.