What’s driving me this week is an exciting, innovative new sports car.
While working in the automobile industry I worked on low-emission vehicle projects and was crushed when the development of electric cars was abandoned; if interested you can watch “Who Killed the Electric Car”. Basically, electric cars lost public interest due to their slow speeds and short range between recharges.
Leaping forward a few years you now find vehicles like the Toyota Prius, seen on highways everywhere, especially among the environmentally conscious Hollywood set. The Prius and various other new cars like the new Lexus and Honda vehicles are called Hybrids. Hybrid cars are powered by a combination of traditional gasoline engines coupled with an electric motor.
And now here comes the “Belle of the Ball” the Tesla. Tesla is a true electric car that is not only sexy and exciting but it’s also a little rocket! Using cutting-edge technology, you’ll be launched from 0 – 60 in four seconds (like a Ferrari) and hit a top speed of 135 mph - silently and with no emissions! You’ll be able to go over 200 miles between charges and you car can be recharged in your garage while you sleep! The Tesla will initially be marketed to affluent buyers willing to drop around $90K.
You can read more about the Tesla at www.teslamotors.com.
For those of you who don’t share my passion for cars you don’t have to worry, my next blog will be all about shirts!
Welcome to my new blog! (For those of you who don’t know, “blog” is short for “web-log”, a log [journal] that is posted on the web).
Article from O’Connell’s. Posted Spring 2007.
Craig Taylor offers a wide variety of ladies shirts, from slimming vertical stripes to fresh florals to a flawlessly fitted clean white tailored top. Far beyond the basic oxford, these figure flattering shirts will quickly become your favorites. See a full collection at O’Connell’s.
Pulp Fiction
A crisp classic, perfectly tailored with front and back seaming and styled with an open V-neck (Cotton with a hint of Nylon and Spandex).
Secret Hideaway
Show off in this lavish floral print. Shapely feminine fit. Finely spun breathable Egyptian cotton.
Hi, It’s Me!
Say it with stripes! Soft pinks in awning stripe pattern. Cotton with Lycra and a trace of spandex.
http://www.oconnellsclothing.com/ftp_only/Listserv%20and%20Newsletter/newsletter_spring_2007_web.pdf
Article from The O Magazine: Posted on August 01, 2006
Veronica Frazier
Sales associate
Age 56
BEFORE
When jeans fit Veronica's hips, they usually squeeze her waist--which is why she took scissors to her old pair and wore shirts untucked to hide the damage. But what her boyish figure needs is more waist definition, not less, as well as a bit of abdominal camouflage.
AFTER
Subtle control via a stretch-fabric panel in front (Tummy Tuck Jeans by Not Your Daughter's Jeans, $118) and a midrange waistband give Veronica instant sophistication. Add a little sparkle, and she's set for the evening. Craig Taylor shirt. Reinstein/Ross earrings. Marnie Rocks necklace. Avignon belt. Kate Spade shoes.
http://www.oprah.com/style/Jean-Dos-and-Donts
Article from CBS News: Posted on May 31, 2006
Splurge on look #1: Grand total of $710
Shoshana eyelet pencil skirt, $240
Imported eyelet lace, grosgrain band, and scalloped lace trim add to the cost of the skirt.
Craig Taylor special shirt with ruffled placket in navy, $195
Thicker cotton sateen and heavier weight make this shirt a better quality.
Nikki Jaggs "Babylon" woven belt in gold, $35
Actual leather with high-end touches: a precise weave, covered buckle.
Stuart Weitzman "slice" pumps, $249
High-grade patent leather, thick, stacked wooden heel.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/28/earlyshow/living/chic_on_a_shoestring/main1758635.shtml
Article from Pulse Culture: Posted on Apr 29, 2006
Craig Taylor Announces Underpinnings for Spring
Lovely camisoles and soft tank tops produced from the same delectable fabrics as his highly coveted tailored shirts.
For Spring, Craig Taylor introduces an alluring collection of camisoles and tank tops into his eponymous collection of finely tailored shirts. Fashion cognoscenti will be delighted to find charming camisoles produced from select patterns of the same exquisite European fabrics as offered in the tailored shirt collection.
Soft cotton tank tops in coordinating colors – available in three styles (spaghetti strap, narrow shoulder and sleeveless shell) – round out the underpinnings offerings for Spring.
“With fashion consistently presenting a more casual approach to dressing, we have found that our customers are drawn to the evolution of softer silhouettes and more lighthearted patterns and prints that we consistently offer in our collection,” says Craig Taylor. “A natural progression for us going into Spring 2006 is to present a range of underpinnings that complement our shirts.”
While sexy and feminine offerings – eyelet shirts, printed silk georgette, ultra soft cottons and tie cuffs - resonate throughout Taylor’s SS06 collection of shirts and underpinnings, a classic and confident persona is still the backbone of this collection.
Impeccable tailoring is accented and brought to life with bold prints and stripes in a color palette that is rich and intoxicating – bright reds and oranges reflective of an island sunrise, rich jewel toned hues of the ocean and the muted blues, greens and pinks of a romantic sunset – reminiscent of the ultra glamour of early 1960’s St. Tropez.
Craig Taylor has been a leader in innovative shirt design for more than a decade – refining and redefining what was once perceived as buttoned up office attire. Lush fabrics, bold prints and body slimming silhouettes will maintain Craig Taylor’s relevance in today’s fashion market.
This Spring, the tailored shirt will be on the forefront of contemporary fashion. Craig Taylor reaches new heights by providing the underpinnings to complement an already definitive wardrobe piece.
http://pulseculture.com/article/120/style/Designer_Craig_Taylor.html
Article from Baby and Me Boutique: Posted on March 4, 2006
…If you shop at stores such as Neiman Marcus or Bergdorf Goodman then you are familiar with Designer Craig Taylor. He is now offering his beautiful shirts in an awesome array of irresistible fabrics for babies, toddlers, and kids! Craig Taylor has been the talk of the fashion industry, receiving press recognition in many publications. Start your child out with the best baby clothes designers so they learn early what style is all about. Select one of Craig Taylor's fine shirts today…
http://www.babyandmeboutique.com/babyfashion.htm
Article from Women's Health Magazine: Posted on Feb 16, 2006
Bright White: Casual And Dress Shirts
A fitted dress shirt is the easiest way to look sharp
Nicole Beland
…Classic
Talk about cuff love! These shirts may be conservative enough for the boardroom, but the clever details at the sleeves' ends make them anything but ordinary.
Cotton blouse with tie-close cuffs, Craig Taylor ($220, (212)334-1041)…
…Cut It Out
The last time this look was big was in the '60s, when chic women wore eyelet dresses and bolero jackets to garden parties. But the same ladylike trend from this past winter that had us all wearing tweed blazers is now making eyelet hot for spring and summer. This cotton shirt we love the split bracelet-length cuffs is casual enough to wear with jeans on a Friday, but still feels special. And it's an ideal fit for a rainy March day, when you'd rather be sipping a Bellini in the sun than sitting under the fluorescent light of your office.
Eyelet 3/4-sleeve shirt, Craig Taylor ($275,(212)334-1041)…
http://www.womenshealthmag.com/beauty-and-style/the-best-white-shirts
Article from The Wall Street Journal: Posted on June 30, 2005
Thread-count snobbery has made the leap from bedsheets to men's dress shirts.
…In an effort to justify higher prices, high-end retailers have started selling men's cotton shirts with thread-counts as high as 220. On a typical men's shirt, thread-counts, which measure the number of threads per square inch, are about 100 or less, retailers say. Generally, the higher the thread-count, the softer and lighter the shirt.
A Charles Tyrwhitt 180-thread-count shirt ($195).
Craig Taylor recently started using 220-thread-count Egyptian cotton in its "Luxury Collection" line of striped, solid and checked shirts for men and women. They go for $395 to $525, while shirts in Taylor's main collection generally retail for $165 to $245 (call 212-334-1041 to order).…
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB112009336309473669.html
Article from Chicago Tribune - Q Style: Posted on June 05, 2005
Not so long ago, a white button-down shirt ensured anonymity, and a fine button-down shirt implied "men's."
Two accidental shirt designers, Anne Fontaine and Craig Taylor, have nixed those notions, giving rise to an extraordinary specimen: a $200-plus button-down that women will buy--and buy again and again, if they have the means.
Q asked their fans why at recent events for each designer.
The sum of the answers: Perfection in fit, fabric, fashion and functionality. These shirts go from jeans to job to ****tails to washing machine. (If they're cotton, they don't need to go to the dry cleaner--if you know your way around an iron.)
"They're almost a second skin," Stephanie Fisher, a mother of two children in Lake Forest, said of Craig Taylor's shirts at the Lake Forest Shop. "I wear them day to day."
"You know how you shop and maybe 70 percent of your purchases are good?" Grace Tsao-Wu said at Anne Fontaine's shop on Michigan Avenue. "With her shirts, everything has been a hit. I have not screwed up."
MEET Anne Fontaine
Mary Tyree was picking out a sapphire necklace at Bulgari, which she had won the right to borrow for a dinner she had bid on at a Latin School auction.
"I was thinking it would be gorgeous with a white blouse," Tyree, a retired endodontist, said.
Fate led her next door to Anne Fontaine, where she found the perfect one--the "Phoebe," an off-the-shoulder ruffled blouse with a corseted back, to wear with Armani cropped pants.
"There is nothing better," Tyree said, "than a crisp white blouse."
Few have fueled investment in that belief like Fontaine.
A native of Brazil who moved to Paris when she was 16, Fontaine, 32, started designing women's shirts about a decade ago solely to save her husband's family factory, which had lost contracts with other companies as France became expensive for manufacturing.
Never mind that she had wanted to be a biologist and that she had no fashion education. She turned her organic instincts to design.
A line of feminine white blouses--and a fan base--was born.
Her first shop opened in Paris in 1994, later in Boston and New York, where Carole Frick of Addison discovered her. Frick's work wardrobe for LaSalle Bank depends heavily on suits.
"So blouses that have a little more flair are perfect," Frick said.
Frick and other fans were delighted when Fontaine opened a Chicago shop last year, carrying her signature white blouses, along with black and one or two colors each season (pink and blue for spring/summer).
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2005-06-05/features/0506050511_1_blouse-shirt-button-down
