Eleni in Florida
Voices: Life Stories Wearing Ivey Abitz
Real people share stories and ideas about fashion, culture, and wearing Ivey Abitz garments.
eleni from florida, final entry
Hollywood Treatment
posted 04.09.08
how many people can say that they have personal advice from the actual designer of their
clothing!? i love the entire concept of what Ivey Abitz, the company, does, and they do it so very well. doesn't
it just make you feel so very special knowing that you can get this kind of assistance and advice? i mean....we
are talking hollywood treatment here!
Ivey Abitz devotees have this in common: we are lucky to have found Ivey Abitz, and we don't mind
spending money for quality clothing. but the consideration and individual treatment and advice that we
get puts us all in the same category with people in the limelight, people who get followed around by cameras -
people who walk down red carpets (and some Ivey Abitz clients are actually are in the limelight!) i get all that
special treatment, except that i get the benefit of not being followed around by cameras or having my personal
life splashed all over the covers of cheap tabloids. to me, that would be such an invasion in addition to a giant
pain. to me, this is the only welcome difference.
i don't like to use the word bargain because it sounds cheap and i don't like that word - but think about it. i
think we get more than what we pay for with Ivey Abitz, so a bargain it is in this respect. it is a bargain
and then some! i will say it again: think about it.
in closing, i hope to continue participating in this blog. i have no doubt said it before, but i think Ivey Abitz
patrons are an exclusive group of style-conscious people. i will follow this fabulous company with avid interest
and look forward to the future of Ivey Abitz and to wearing their designs for a long, long time. i have enjoyed
writing about how Ivey Abitz designs and how the designer, Cynthia, has influenced my life. i look forward to
reading more from some of you. what i have read so far i have enjoyed very much.
in an earlier entry, i wrote something like "people who wear Ivey Abitz designs are intelligent, unique women
and men proud of their individuality." i will end near the beginning and say that as time goes on, i find this to
be as true as it ever was.
joie de vivre!
-eleni
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From Eleni in Florida, entry 10
Self Expression with Mother Superior and Ivey Abitz
posted 04.03.08
i have always had an unusual (sometimes downright weird) unique style and taste.
eclectic. that's a good word.
since i was a kid, i remember my clothes were important to me in defining who i was. i even went to
catholic school and quit because of the uniforms they made us wear every day.
once i made a deal with the mother superior that i would clean up the staff kitchen and another room (the art
room, i think) in exchange for her letting me wear my regular clothes. it was worth it just for one day out
of that horrible uniform. i simply couldn't handle it, even though my very best friends went to school
there. i missed a lot of fun with them after leaving this school, but it was that important to me. not only for my
self expression, but my identity. or at least how i saw myself. or maybe how i thought i wanted the world
to see me.
i am that way to this day. everyone i know comments on the way i put my clothes together. now cynthia
helps me do that through her personal design consultations, always making sure that what we choose
together is still me. i love that about the process of working one-on-one with the designer herself. i
really do. it is inspiring as well. i am celebrating my individual self, and Ivey Abitz helps me celebrate.
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From Eleni in Florida, entry 9
Staying Cool in the Florida Heat - in Ivey Abitz
posted 03.31.08
it is getting to be that time of year in florida that i dread.
i know this makes no sense at all except maybe to someone who has grown up and lived in this state year in
and year out, because it is quite beautiful at the moment. the sun is out and the air is coolish, or at least it
isn't humid yet. the orange blossoms are blooming as are all the citrus trees. so is the jasmine. so why do i
dread this time of year?
because i know in a month it's going to get hot. then it will be scorching. then....right around july and
august, just when you think it can't get any hotter - and this gets me every year - it does get just that
much hotter. yes, you can fry an egg on the sidewalk. you could burn one on the highway, if there wasn't so
much traffic on u.s. 19, a major highway thru this state. it's like a highway going right down the middle of
shopping centers and strip malls for hundreds of miles.
so what does this have to do with clothes and design, you might ask?
you will see quite an array of hot weather fashion here. from polyester with elastic waist pants to loud flower
print moo moo's. i could go on, but you get the picture. i remember the days of straw handbags with shells
stuck to them, or woven wood purses with decoupage city scapes painted on them. eek. in some ways, though,
i must say i do get a bit nostalgic for the kitschy 50's and 60's florida style. even the 40's. i wasn't around for
most of those decades (maybe one), but it survived here for a long time. i mean, who doesn't miss the
alligator ashtrays and pink flamingo drinking glasses? now it's just sad, in my opinion. overbuilt, cheap
sadness. i even miss the neon and the dinosaurs. i digress.
the point about clothing?
well, it is also the time of year that i start thinking about what i can possibly wear to stay cool enough that i
don't pass out when i walk out of my house (the heat sometimes literally takes my breath away - it's like
walking into a furnace) but stylish enough that i can still live with myself. this is where Ivey Abitz comes in.
sometimes it is difficult to plan a wardrobe under these hot conditions, but not with Ivey Abitz. the process is
simple. i know that i will get a fabric book and a look book (i have a special place for all of mine) and the
website with all of the new ensembles and separates.
believe it or not, i can wear (with a heat absorbing tank) the ivey abitz silk spun taffeta in floridian heat. i can
wear a bartholdi overlay like a top with nothing underneath-except the tank, otherwise it may be a bit x-rated
for me. back in the day a bathing suit top would have worked....oh to be young again (ewwww i sound like my
grandmother-yikes!). but even if 40's are the new 30's (that's plural because i'm over 40) i still can't bring
myself to do it. i never thought it would happen to me (i don't think anyone ever sees this coming), but it did.
i hate to admit it but there are things that i think might be too young for me.
god forbid that my father-in-law, who is english, calls me or even thinks "mutton dressed as lamb," in regard
to me. it doesn't really matter because i can't think of a design in the pack that would make me feel that way
(minus the bartholdi overlay w/out a tank under it). Ivey Abitz designs are ageless.
i can dress (or loan for a very short time) my 15 year old niece (in) something of mine that i would wear and
we would both look good. they are neither too old or too young....ageless. i love it. i like to think of myself that
way so there you go. again, i'm off the subject. i was writing about fabrics and the heat.....so.....let me get back
to it. i am sure everyone reading this knows that natural fabrics are best. they breathe in the heat and are
warm in the cold weather. they look...well, natural. it doesn't matter what synthetics are invented - and there
even are some good new ones - natural fabrics have that certain quality that is classic in every way.
in this floridian heat, i can and have worn linen hemstitch jacquard, a silk linen doubleweave, and the ribbed
silk linen - all from 2007's autum 2 collection. at that time of year, florida is still quite warm, but i can wear
them in comfort. i can wear any linen because they are light enough for summer. when it does (finally) get a
little cold here, i can layer linen with any of the fabrics - i look for texture because i don't have to really worry
about "warmth fabrics," they are perfect for our climate in winter. i do wish i could wear the Ivey Abitz
velvets and the wools here, but i can't remember a winter in recent history where i could wear those fabrics
more than once. maybe next year, if they are offered. on the other hand, there is so much in fabric to choose
from that i can't see not being able to find something to work in any climate, in any season, for myself.
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From Eleni in Florida, entry 8
gushing about eleanor. the shirt, that is.
posted 03.26.08
now have i mentioned the eleanor? how many times? i love, love, love (how many times have i said that?) my
eleanor shirts! they are so perfectly simple and practical, in fact i may actually have one for every day of the
week. but who's counting? there are so many fabric choices that all of the clothing pieces look completely
different!
where do you stop? how can you stop? i am so excited that cynthia came out with another shirt based on the
same cut. i will no doubt be in double trouble now with the trelawny shirt (don't you love the name?).
you know how they say you can never have too many...what is it? shoes & bags? well, i can never have too
many shirts. the eleanor i can definitely wear anytime, anywhere, and i never have to worry about anything
because it hangs perfectly, in or out. tied in the back or the front or even with the ties wrapped on the sides.
i can say that about all of the ivey abitz shirts, and i especially love the baedeker, the bartholdi & the eleanor. i
am sure that soon i will have some new favorites (from the newly released designs) as well.
i think i may even have a forerunner of eleanor -- i think she was called "ella" and had a black silk trim, and i
love, love (etc.) that one too!
i am not usually a gushy type of person but i do have to admit that i can talk about these designs with extra
enthusiasm because i do love & admire so many different aspects of them.
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Eleni from Florida, entry 7
The Versatility of the Sophia Camisole
posted 03.25.08
ahhh...the sophia camisole. a BIG success for such a little piece.
if you have read any of my previous entries, you will know i like to experiment with cynthia's designs. i am
always doing something with something and this has nothing to do with me really -- it's because the clothes
are so very versatile and they are naturally made to wear in many different ways. their versatility is one of the
many things that i like about the designs in addition to the "perfection of imperfection", the "art to wear", and
the fact that you cannot find clothes like this anywhere but here. well, at the moment. i wouldn't be surprised
one day if this was a worldwide label -- though i really don't know what the "house of ivey abitz" has in mind
for the future. but i do think that whatever the Ivey Abitz's do with their line, it will be as big and renowned
as they want it to be.
as i was saying.....sorry i do tend to go off on tangents!
but anyway the other day i was wearing my sophia camisole.....i had it over an eleanor shirt. i can go on & on
about eleanor, too. she is just one of my favorites of all times -- and i probably will go on more about her later!
but my dilemma, and what got me thinking of how to wear the sophia different ways, was the fact that i
happened to want to tuck the eleanor in and tie it in back but then i had the problem of what to do with the tie
to the sophia camisole. i love the fact that the strings on this are very long (i can wrap it around twice if i
want), but i didn't want to do that this time either so i started experimenting with the wrap. what i finally did
was criss-cross the tie in front. then i brought the ends of the tie and wrapped them each around the
sleeveless part of the camisole at the shoulder. after that i tucked in the ends and made a tie -- not a bow, but a
tie -- and tucked that in so it looked wrapped. very cool. it stayed that way all day, and i didn't have to fuss
with it once.
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Eleni from Florida, entry 6
Comrades in Ivey Abitz
posted 03.21.08
i would just like to comment here about some of the other writers' points of view on ivey abitz designs. i really
liked reading their input. we don't know each other, but when it comes to this clothing, we have a lot in
common.
i loved maeve's description of the baedeker shirt. i have several of these from a lichen (dark) striped taffeta to
an irish linen, a ribbed silk and a black cotton jacuard (what a score that was!) everything that maeve said
about the elegance and panache is right on. the only thing i can basically repeat -- as she has really already
said it all -- is that this design is so versatile because it is elegant but casual all at once.
in addition, maeve wrote about the camilla shirt. this is one i haven't tried yet and am looking forward to this
now, too. to say that ivey abitz really helped to change your identity is saying a lot -- i can't imagine what you
have gone thru with such a traumatic loss that you have suffered. i send you my sincere sympathy and thanks,
maeve.
then there is karen from british columbia and her stories of growing up in beverly hills that made for great
reading. i love the from beverly hills to organic farming in b.c. -- in ivey abitz! some of that reminded me of
myself. i am in a small florida town where the people i know shop the gamut, from big box discount stores to
high end department stores, and there aren't a lot of choices in between these extremes. this is why i started
shopping on line in the first place. online is where i discovered ivey abitz.
before that and when i was younger, we perused the thrift shops in search of the vintage treasure that used to
be widely available (i am just up the way from st. petersburg, florida!) now, all of those are picked over -- not
even the old florida kitsch is left. at least that had its charm. i am glad i did have a chance to get the stuff when
it was available. wealthy retirees from all over the country moving down to florida used to make thrift
shopping an exciting -- and profitable in many ways -- hunt for treasure.
i would like to thank you both - i think this blog is a great idea!
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Eleni from Florida, entry 5
I Have Worn It Backwards
posted 03.18.08
How many bartholdi overlays does one need?
A LOT!
i have many pieces of Ivey Abitz and as i have said before, i rarely if ever wear anything else. the designs i
used to wear before discovering Ivey Abitz went to the dry cleaner and then were carefully covered - to the
back of the closet went the *designer name removed*, the *designer name removed*, and even the other art
to wear designers that i dearly loved and looked forward to every season (and bought way too much of). some
are brand new with the tags still attached. anyway, that is another story for another time, maybe but you get
the idea. there is no other designer out there that even comes close to Ivey Abitz.
so the bartholdi overlay -- first let me give you an idea of what i look like because i have "special needs". it is
because i am short. not just short. short is what? 5' 3'? i wish! no, i am really short. i am 5 ft. -- just. i weigh
between 100 and 105, so i am considered normal, but of course i am never happy (95 lbs. is perfection to me).
that is still another story, but my point is that i do have short legs, so i am considered petite and i find it
difficult to buy clothes. some tall gals think that it is a drag being tall and would rather be petite but it isn't.
no way-i think most people would agree that it is better for wearing certain clothes to be taller. the bartholdi
overlay is great for everything every day and because of all the fabrics available.....well i have quite a few. the
design is more than a vest but not quite a shirt or top. it is something like a tunic but more creative and with
more options. it is....well, an original.
as small as i am, i can wear it for many occasions and for many reasons. a fat day - they make you look thinner
and taller. a thin day - they just make you look good. i wear platforms - i have discovered some comfy ones, so
i won't look so short. they give me a good 3 inches, and i pull jeans way down as far as possible and scrunch
them, too. combined with the bartholdi overlay, i become magically....normal sized!
i have worn the bartholdi overlay the way it is designed, and i have worn it backwards. i have worn it to
formal occasions - i had the misfortune to attend 3 funerals over the summer, and in our community a funeral
is a week long event, so i got a lot of use out of my overlays in the more formal fabrics and the taffetas. i went
to my neice's school play and wore my cotton yarn dyed bartholdi over a bartholdi shirt. i can and do wear
them with just about anything. i love them with the eleanor shirts, which is a staple piece and i have several
of those as well.
then, in my mind is the mini me version of the bartholdi overlay, and that is the camilla vest. the day before
yesterday i wore a camilla vest...somehow i managed to pull the ties under the sides of the vest, then over the
cross piece in front and tied it over that piece. it is hard to explain, but it illustrates how versatile these
whimsical pieces - out of the endless imagination of cynthia's - really are.
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Eleni from Florida, entry 4
The Perfection of Imperfection
posted 03.15.08
yesterday i wore my celia shirt. i haven't worn it in awhile and because i love it so much, i wondered why.
certain pieces are so beautiful to me that i tend to treat them like treasure. this is one of those pieces. the first
time i wore the celia shirt, i pulled off that beautiful tie with the three brooches attached and tied it up and
wore it as a necklace with the shirt. in fact i have used the necklace with other shirts, too. yesterday i used the
tie for the shirt the way it was meant to be worn. sometimes i wear a belt with it, but again it had been
awhile. by mid-day i said to myself, "oh, i really do have to have another celia shirt."
one of the reasons that a piece of clothing will go into the treasure chest (figuratively speaking) is what i call
the perfection of imperfection. in my opinion, the human hand is the true quality of a piece of art. what i
mean by that is that when you see the frayed edges -- or the parts of the piece of art to wear and what makes it
look handmade -- they are the parts that you know were not made by a machine but have the permanent
embellishment or stamp of the human touch. it may not be obvious because those seams are perfect so it is a
little hard to describe. but it is there. they are, for instance, the pleats and folds in the sleeves of the bartholdi
shirt. the frayed edges of the duomo jacket and the celia shirt. the sleeves and neckline of the cozette jacket.
and the fact that many of the pieces are washed and dyed by hand to give a more vintage quality. all of these
very special touches are to me what makes ivey abitz designs art. it is the essence of all art. the human hand,
the human touch.
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Eleni from Florida, entry 3
simple everyday laundering methods for ivey abitz garments
posted 03.13.08
i really do believe that these ivey abitz clothes are made to wear every day, and i do wear them every day. i
wear them to work at our soap company where i am making things by hand. i am getting into all sorts of
creams, essential oils, carrier oils, soaps, body products and experiments in general -- things that we make,
and overall to do the things i do every day. i pick up my cats wearing them, i pet my dogs and take them here
and there. i don't really worry about it because the garments wash beautifully. some pieces i wash by hand
and they come out perfectly. i have never had a piece lose its color or otherwise look any different when i put
them on the delicates or handwash cycle. some pieces i dry clean even though i know i don't have to -- i just
do. usually because the dry cleaner presses them better than i do, or i don't want to iron them at all. a lot of
pieces don't need it. depends on the look you want from the fabric. sometimes i prefer the crinkled look of silk
taffeta, and sometimes i like it to show off the smooth, almost reflective sheen of this fabric. a lot of other
fabrics fall into place without having to do a thing, right out of the wash.
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Eleni from Florida, entry 2
postmodern capitalist hippie
posted 03.11.08
i really discovered art to wear thru cynthia. i met her online through her gallery of fine art, and when she said
she was coming out with her own line--well, truthfully i didn't know what to expect, but in the meantime i felt
i had come to know cynthia quite well, her knowledge of style & quality, her ethics of what she would & would
not accept. i didn't know what to expect but i knew to expect all of this & more so i anticipated her first
collection like a child waiting for christmas.
well, i'm off to do this & that for work. i have only dressed once & i am wearing an ivey abitz bartholdi shirt
in very deep vintage rose georgette with a bartholdi overlay in vintage rose silk taffeta. i have a belt -- an ivey
abitz cozette jacket belt -- that i used to wrap around a black knit cabbie hat. this fabric is made from striped
vintage rose silk taffeta. with a pair of true religion joey jeans. i'm a jeans queen by the way. i must own 100
pair of jeans of course they are categorized as fat jeans & skinny jeans & at the moment i have a combo of
baggy ones, ones that fit and tight ones. i could wish for better but at least i can get them all on if i have to.
the outfits that i put together do define who i am & at the moment i would define myself & my look as
postmodern capitalist hippie.
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Eleni from Florida, entry 1
What is more important than how you present yourself to the world?
posted 03.08.08
i have already decided that people who wear art are smart, strong, unique women & men, proud of their
individuality. in adopting a handmade identity wouldn't that by its very nature be the case?
my favorite thing that maeve from minnesota wrote is: the bad news is, identity is fluid. the good news is
identity is fluid.
i love that!
i guess i should at this point id myself. i was born & raised an artist. a lot of my family are in the arts, and i
grew up surrounded by art. i decided very early on that i would be a painter mostly, but painting branches out
to other art forms, too.
my husband & i own a soap company called get a guru. people often ask what this means...to me it means so
many things, it can mean believe in something spiritual or believe in what you do, whatever it may be or
have a philosophy-any philosophy it is a personal kind of statement that can be interpreted in many ways,
kind of like interpreting a work of art.
i think cynthia ivey abitz gets it. i think her entire philosophy gets it - that she loves and believes in what she
is doing is reflected in her nature and in her designs - which brings me to what i love about Ivey Abitz
designs, what they are to me, and why they are important in the larger scheme of things.
i had a friend who i worked with & was a clothing designer. unfortunately, he passed away at a young age - he
was 36.
i guess i thought of his designs as couture - not as art to wear & not as being the same thing. Ivey Abitz
designs, to me, characterize that term. art to wear it is. it allows one to appreciate art in a very basic way. it
allows one to include art and to be creative in everyday life. what can be more basic than dressing for your
day?
in a way, what is more important than how you present yourself to the world? this says who we are before we
do. i guess i'm the type that won't go out in sweats, etc. i have one friend who even goes out in her
pajamas! this to me is really hilarious....& good for her, whatever. i just couldn't do it.
this same friend, who is really as close to me as a sister--we grew up together like family--anyway, one time
after a particularly bodacious evening out she got up to go in her nightgown, high heels & pearls! on the other
hand i sometimes change 5 times while dressing for the day. i mean from top to bottom. entire outfits.
yes, i'm late to work every day. i am late to every event & my friends just expect it at this point. i have so
many of cynthia's clothes that i don't know what to wear first! i love them all so much that i change & change
again and again, deciding what to wear. so many options! they are made to work together so the possibilities
are endless. i have so much fun that dressing has almost become one of my hobbies. in terms of collecting
beautiful handmade designs, with gorgeous fabrics, this certainly has become a hobby. i seriously cannot get
enough of them. i love them so much that i won't wear anything else. if Ivey Abitz made underwear i would
have them, too.
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