Cold Weather Warm Colors

Chiffon, the lightest silk used at Carter Smith designs this material is sheer and can be picked up by the slightest breeze.  It flows beautifully.

I am going off to meet the owner of a beautiful gallery today.  On these kinds of trips I try to do my best to bring something that the person I am meeting with will connect strongly with.  Every person is keyed into different thing visually, and some are just much more visually aware than others.  When asking the lovely woman I will be meeting with today what colors really work for her she replied that she likes warm colors, reds, oranges, yellows.  I can't fully express how happy this made me.  It's that whole grass is greener thing.  I can't wear any of those colors, god knows I try anyway because I love them.  Getting to pick out some beautiful warm colored pieces makes my day.  


In sharing work today I thought it might be fun to show warm colored pieces with an emphasis on the fabric.  Carter only works with silk but he works with many different kinds of silks.  Here are examples of the materials he works with dyed in some fun warm colorways. 

Cut Satin (also know as burned out satin) the elegance of this fabric can be partially attributed to the contrast between the sheer and opaque.   With it's high sheen it can be quite showy with bold colors but quickly appears more elegant and demure in black.

 Embroidered silk, is an upholstry weight fabric.  The heaviest silk used at Carter Smith designs, this is the hardest to dye and the most expensive.  We feel that the outcome is completely worth the investment.

Satin, Carter's shibori is incredible.  Having it on satin is like always walking around with the perfect lighting following you.  This fabric catches light in a beautiful, delicate way.

 

 Four ply silk is the second heaviest weight silk that is used in our studio.  Imagine this as "winter weight"  it is thick and warm without loosing the luxury factor.  This is a take it or leave it fabric some people love it some not so much.  I think it's beautiful and I love the extra structure that it gives pieces constructed with it.

Cut velvet (also know as burned out velvet) is a tactile delight.  Silky smooth on the inside, with a beautiful tactile pattern on the outside.  Watch out if you wear this people may just want to pet you.  The weight of the velvet pulls the silk in all of the right directions. Every piece made in this material feel like wearing a hug.

 Double Georgette Silk is our stand by here.  Nothing cuts a more flattering shape.  The weight and flexibility of this fabric flows over womanly curves floating in some places and hanging in others.  It shows the things we want and hides some of those other things rather splendidly.

Custom Work

Here at Carter Smith Designs we produce a good amount of custom work. We can make almost any custom piece in a matter of days and when one of these comes through, it really is a lot of fun. To see someone else’s vision of the perfect garment go together is wonderful, and the obvious excitement of a client waiting for their custom work is catching. In the end, we are almost as excited as the client.

Here the wonderful and ever so talented Maria works on a butterfly top for a custom order. Maria is an amazing seamstress she is attentive to every detail.

A beautiful Butterfly Top one of Carter's origional designs.

Something old, something new, something barrowed, something blue.

We are so happy to announce that we have some new beautiful boutiques carrying Carter Smith Designs, as well as a few old friends coming back on board.

New work has gone out to:

Lisa Todd, in Coral Gables, FL

Deborah James, Boca Raton, FL

Deborah James, Fort Lauderdale, FL

The wonderful new shops who've come on board are:

Harari, Los Angeles, CA

Harari, Scottsdale, AZ

Harari, Beverly Hills, CA

Harari, Santa Monica, CA

The Katie Gingras Gallery, Milwaukee, WI

Betsy Prince, Birmingham, AL

As promised here is my first pick for the Holidays:

When I saw Maria, one of our very talented seamstresses, cutting out this blue silk I oooed and ahhhed.  When she told me it was going to be edged in magenta I practically swooned.  This is a stunning, show stopper of a piece.

 

If you would like to see the Opera Coat moving check out Style-It Up's video of the Carter Smith Designs show the Opera coat comes on at the 6:55ish point of the video.

Pretty 'n Pink

When this beautiful embroidered coat came downstairs the other day it made me think of Meghan.  Meghan, Carter's beautiful assistant and model, keeps the wheels well greased and rolling here at Carter Smith Designs.  Megan is also a pink girl.  Not rose or magenta mind you, PINK.  She doesn't have a monochromatic wardrobe by any means, and she may be one of the most sweet low maintenance girls I have ever had the pleasure of working with, but I do feel like she smiles just a little more brightly in pink.  Therefore I always think of her when I see it.  So this one is for all of you bold and beautiful  women out there who are not afraid of the most girly of colors.  Some bright pink  fun from Carter Smith Designs.

 Strap K Dress with Wrap Top

 Typically Carter dyes fabric and then has it made into clothing.  This is a very cool example of what happens when he does the opposite this dress was made in black and white mosaic and then dyed.

A beautiful pink scarf coat.

Full length Holly Coat, (Meghan is actually hiding behind this holding it up for the picture :).

Sanity for the Holidays

One of the most effective ways that I have found to be my best self around the holidays, is to have my shopping out of the way.  I find that, if I can focus on baking and visiting I enjoy the whole season more.  Don't get me wrong, I am right there with everyone else groaning when the shops start to put out their Christmas goodies before we've even hit Halloween, but I do shop for gifts year round.  I love pick things up as they remind me of the people I love, instead of going out with a list of names and trying to conjure up the perfect gift for each person on it. 

I encourage you to visit our website and look at all of the colors and shapes.  Each pieces is as different as the woman who ends up the wearer of it.  If you see a fabric or cut that you think would be perfect for someone you love, feel free to make a special request.  We do many special orders and can usually turn them around in a matter of days.  All of our wonderful boutiques are well versed in this process and would be happy to help you get just the right thing for you, or someone you love to shine in.

Keep checking back in as I will be posting some amazing one of a kind gift picks every Friday from now until Christmas.  These will be  show stoppers so if you like what you see make sure that you snap them up right away.

The first teaser for this project is this set the pants and shawl are made using the same piece of chiffon.  The top is separate so it could be pared with several of our different tops giving you short or long sleeved options.  The feeling of the two weights of silk in one garment is luxurious, and the colors are wearable year round.  This is an amazingly beautiful and versatile set.

Custom K Pant with chiffon edge and matching shawl. Shown with Andrea top and sash.

Cut Velvet, a Cut Above.

Cut Velvet Strap K Dress

Mosaic Cut Velvet Shawl

Mosaic Cut Velvet Kimono

Mosaic Cut Velvet K Dress

Cut Velvet Cocoon with ruched placard.

All of the pieces produced by Carter Smith designs are one of a kind, most of them are hand dyed, and all of them are sewn by hand at our studio in Nahant, MA.  Many of our cut velvet and satin pieces go one design step further, their patterns are chosen by Carter from one of his shibori pieces and sent off to be made into the cut or burned out fabric pattern. 

See for yourself!

Though our Boston Fashion Week video is not edited and up yet, Althea of Style It Up managed to beat us to the punch.  Sit back relax and enjoy watching the Boston Fashion Week 2011 Carter Smith Design runway show.