The Wednesday Showcase

Good Morning All :)
It's a bright, sunny day here in Chicago. Not too chilly, 30 degrees, and getting above freezing a little later today.   

I began the day with a task that made me just a little nervous. The vet who did the second surgery on Gracie told me that I could easily take the stitches out of her ear and remove the stays :/ I decided that rather than take it all out at once, I would just clip the stitches and then work on taking the stays off tomorrow. Well, best laid plans...I clipped the stitches and low and behold, the stay on the back side of her ear popped right up. The stay on the inside of her ear simply fell out. Over and done! Her ear looks amazing and I can see that she is thrilled to have all of that off, and...fingers crossed, over for good. Now I can add veterinarian assistant to my list of abilities ;) Probably not!!!

Last week I introduced you to Wendy of Fashion Over Fifty. She was our featured speaker at the Haute Couture Club of Chicago's Holiday Luncheon. I thought that you might like to take a look at the post she did. You can find it HERE. 

I also thought that I would highlight a few events of the day;

Wendy, on the right in the picture below is our membership chair, membership chair extraordinaire I might add. This year we recognized our long time members with a corsage. Oddly enough, a corsage never seems to go out of style :)
This sweet lady has been a member for over 50 years. And she is not the only one. There are more!!! From the look on her face, you can see just how touched she was to be remembered.

BTW, Wendy blogs at The Couture Counsellor. She's a lawyer by day, and an avid sewist by night. I introduced her to all of you sometime back, but if by chance you missed it, or have not checked out her blog, by all means do so, as I really think you'll enjoy getting to know her.  

        
This is sweet Miss Melba. She is a tiny little woman, but a fireball. She absolutely loves beautiful, well made garments. The coat she is wearing below is one that she made quite a few years ago, and it still looks brand new! I think it is such a wonderful testament to classic, well made garments that have been made using good quality fabric. They last!!! And, they never go out of style. She's a woman after my own heart...no boring linings in her clothes ;)
  

Andrea is another who loves great fabrics. The jacket she is holding is lined in a Dolce and Gabbana silk charmeuse. Absolutely stunning. I'm not sure where she purchased the fabric, maybe while on a vacation. She purchased the silk charmeuse to line the jacket, and the embroidered fabric for a dress. She had just a few bits left over, and of course wanted to use each and every scrap, so she made the shirt she is wearing below. The embroidery was used for the front panels of the shirt, and the silk chameuse for the collar and cuffs. She said that the dress won't be worn all that often, but now that she's made the shirt, she'll get lots of wear out of the jacket. Such a great use of her fabric! 

     

Back in September, we kicked off our year with our very own member, Miss Cennetta of The Mahogany Stylist who did a wonderful presentation on shirt making. Below are a few of her inspiring makes.

One of the things we enjoy doing at the Haute Couture Club is encouraging all to sew. We challenged the members to make shirts, and here are a few of the lovely makes...

The party was so much fun. The shirt challenge was quite the success. We had a wonderful show and tell time. The ladies really pulled out all the stops with their lovely makes. Just such an inspiring day. We even inspired Wendy of Fashion Over Fifty to learn to sew!!!

If by chance you are anywhere near Chicago on May 6, 2018, we would love to have you attend our annual fashion show. It's such an inspiring day. Great to see women who not only make their clothes, but value quality.

If you would like to check out our newsletter, Tailored Tales, you can find HERE.

Happy Wednesday!

Rhonda